Every year, Southern Living’s Food Hall of Fame unveils a list of 50 iconic foods and drinks, and some popular foods from South Carolina are on the list.
This year, three popular staples from the Palmetto State earned a place in Southern Living’s Southern Food Hall of Fame. The list includes pantry staples and condiments, pickles, sodas, breakfast essentials, and road‑trip snacks from all over the South.
Out of the three from South Carolina, one sticks out as a widely popular staple not just in the Lowcountry, but across the South itself.
Duke’s Mayonnaise
Ranked at #10 in Southern Living’s Southern Food Hall of Fame, Duke’s Mayonnaise is a South Carolina original with roots stretching back in Greenville, SC to the early 1900s.
Founder Eugenia Duke first crafted her egg‑and‑olive oil sandwiches for World War I soldiers stationed at Camp Sevier, according to Duke Mayo’s website. The spread became so popular that she bottled it in 1923. By 1929, the recipe was sold to the Virginia‑based C.F. Sauer Company, but Duke’s tangy flavor remained a Southern staple.
Today, Duke’s jars line grocery store shelves across the country, used for sandwiches, salads, deviled eggs, and countless dishes worldwide.
Duke’s. We put that on EVERYTHING around these parts!
“Southerners always seem to be thinking about good food,” Southern Living said in its article. “We dream about breakfast in our sleep. Then, while we fight over the last piece of bacon, we make a plan for lunch, during which the supper menu is proposed, debated, and ratified.”
The two other South Carolina staples to make the list are:
Ranked at No. 8 in Southern Living’s Southern Food Hall of Fame, Anson Mills Cornmeal was founded in 1998 by Glenn Roberts in Columbia. The mill was built on heirloom grains like Carolina Gold Rice and heritage corn.
Ranked at No. 30 in Southern Living’s list, Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit has become a Charleston success story built on family tradition.
Other notable items on the list include Cheerwine, Old Bay Seasoning, and Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets.
