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9 of the Craziest State Foods

You should definitely drink these four things in London.

Chefs bring fresh flavors from Portugal’s former colonies to Lisbon’s plates.

Musicians Aimee Mann, Joe Henry, and Loudon Wainwright III gather in Louisville to indulge in raw oysters, dry martinis, and unscripted conversation.

In a square mile of West Texas, Chris Colin finds family and traces his roots back to a wilder America.

A once-impenetrable country reveals itself to writer Matt Gross one meal at a time.

Overview

Overview

Every year in early June, Charleston‘s Sweetgrass Festival in Mt. Pleasant’s Waterfront Park (about a 15-minute drive from the historic district, on the other side of the Cooper River) provides a fascinating introduction to sweetgrass baskets and Gullah culture more broadly. (In 2017, the festival will take place on June 3.) Charleston’s beautiful sweetgrass baskets have a long history. The techniques used in weaving, or sewing, these baskets were brought by slaves from Africa more than 300 years ago. On plantations, the baskets were used to winnow grains; following Emancipation, they were crucial for storing dried grain, okra, fish and other foods during a time of extremely limited resources. At the festival you can purchase baskets from over 20 artisans, as well as learn more about the techniques used to make them and Gullah culture more broadly. The itineraries created by the AFAR Travel Advisory Council include six focused on the city’s most interesting celebrations and festivals. Read more at AFAR Journeys.

Some dispute that okra originates from West Africa but there’s no denying that the word okra is of Western African origin. Okra soup and banku is a traditional recipe from western Africa and is most popular in Ghana. Banku is made from partially-fermented ground maize and grated Cassava. We met the Okra Lady in Mallam Atta market (also known as Malata market). If you want a true local market experience, you’ll find it here. In the three hours we were there we didn’t see any other tourist and you won’t find African masks or other tourist handcrafts at this market.

As soon as the sun peeks out in Seattle, locals flock to anywhere with a patio, the better to soak up some precious vitamin D. Captain Black’s, in Capitol Hill, is a nautical-themed and mostly outdoor bar with a front and back patio that always fill up fast. If you can grab a coveted table, settle in with some fried okra or chicken and waffles, and sip a glass of their signature Captain’s Tea. Happy hour is from 4-6 p.m., with food specials from 10 p.m. to midnight (long after the sun-seeking Seattleites have moved on).

Most restaurants jumping on the farm-to-table trend are elegant (if not fancy) affairs, often in an urban environment. Cahill’s is a barn in the country, next to the world’s largest boiled peanut. After shopping for fresh produce at the market, you can tuck into a “meat and three” of fried chicken or catfish, okra and tomatoes, sweet potato soufflé, and other Southern delicacies. Be sure to order a fruit cobbler for dessert, as everything in it was likely grown and baked on the premises. The market and “chicken kitchen” are open daily, with evening hours on the weekend for supper (Southern speak for dinner).

Located in a former home built more than 100 years ago, this intimate restaurant excels in ambience and Caribbean specialties. Outdoor tables sit next to a pool and pretty tropical gardens, while the dining room boasts an array of European antiques. A son of the restaurant’s original owners, the current chef specializes in such dishes as bouillabaisse, crunchy okra, and cinnamon-and-brown-sugar sweet potato mash. Also on offer is seafood prepared with local spices and coconut milk. Whatever you choose, don’t miss the wine cellar, which once functioned as the home’s cheese room and now features nearly 2,000 bottles by 120 labels.

In many cities, this elegant but casual, ingredient-focused mainstay would be the best-known restaurant in town. The Upper King Street location is prime, and tall windows make the high-ceilinged dining room feel palatial. But despite chef-owner Kevin Johnson’s 2014 nomination as the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast, the warm, chic dining room still feels like a well-kept local secret, even as it fills with smiling diners eager to feast on shareable family-style plates of local beef short rib, fresh triggerfish, or bone marrow brûlée. The open kitchen, centered around a majestic wood-fired oven and framed by jars of preserved vegetables, delivers magic. The Grocery helped bring farm-to-table sourcing to the city before it was easy to do, and introduced pickled onions, celery, and okra to fine dining plates. Even the light, crispy table bread—with extra salty creamed butter—speaks to the detailed approach and fine balance found in each dish and cocktail served at this must-visit on a Charleston dining itinerary.

Greg Johnsman is well known in Charleston kitchens for his Geechie Boy Grits, which he mills on Edisto Island and ships around the world. A partnership with Nathan Thurston, who launched Stars on Upper King, lured Johnsman into the restaurant business. Their breakfast-all-day joint was a rare opening on Lower King when it debuted in early 2018. There’s no need to wait until the weekend for brunch—Millers’s Southern-focused kitchen dishes out biscuits and gravy, waffles doused in caramel and sorghum, and a towering bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on brioche until 3 p.m. every weekday. It’s also one of the few spots in town where Hoppin’ John is on the regular menu, a local heritage dish that features Carolina Gold rice and Sea Island red peas, bolstered by a corn muffin. The small assortment of grocery items makes for excellent take-home gifts: a jar of hot pickled okra, hickory syrup, or their trademark grits.