You’re exploring the Lowcountry of South Carolina because it has a perfect southern vibe that makes it the perfect escape from everyday life. Not only does the area have scenic views and a one-of-a-kind local charm in abundance, but it’s also becoming known as a food lover’s paradise with Lowcountry dishes that help make sure you eat like a local with their one-of-a-kind taste.
Part of taking a vacation is your desire to soak in your surroundings, and it always helps to find food that envelopes the culture of the area you’re visiting.
One of those dishes that says you’re in the Lowcountry is Shrimp & Grits.
Shrimp & grits is a simple meal that traditionally started out as a breakfast dish, but most folks prefer it as a lunch or dinner dish today.
It was invented by local South Carolina fishermen as an easy-to-get, very inexpensive seasonal dish of shrimp cooked in bacon grease served over creamy grits. Others say shrimp & grits was carried in the minds of the enslaved who were forcefully brought to the New World during the centuries of the transatlantic slave trade. Because much of that trade landed in the Charleston and other Southern ports, it makes sense that the dish gets pinned to the region. But the threads that should connect today’s shrimp and grits to those African origins have all but disappeared.
Today, the kitchens in many of our homes here along the coast really know how to make the dish, and you’ll find it in many of our restaurants, too.
Shrimp and grits is a classic, sought after Lowcountry dish consisting of locally caught wild Atlantic shrimp, and grits (stone ground dried corn). You can also use polenta, since it is also made from dried corn.
Everyone does it differently, adding bacon, cheese, butter, bacon grease and other individualized ingredients; but everyone is different and there is no “correct” way to prepare the dish.
Although you certainly could, you don’t have to have it for breakfast.
Shrimp and grits, it’s classic Lowcountry comfort food, and it’s a perfect taste of the Lowcountry, and of Beaufort, SC.
