Undiscovered Charleston
Culture. Tradition. History. Dishes that reflect the taste of time and place.
Chef Forrest Parker invited me to visit his kitchen at the Vendue several years ago. At the time, he was the Executive Chef at Revival, the restaurant inside this charming boutique hotel in Historic Charleston.
I couldn’t get there fast enough because I had been noticing him for a long time and knew all his dishes draw heavily from a culturally rich Lowcountry history.
Late fall is that special time of year when the city streets take on a special glow with doorways and window sashes garlanded in evergreen, magnolia leaves, and bright red holly berries. I love to visit every November when the festive vibe comes alive everywhere. Along Venue Range, a palmetto-lined street nestled into Charleston’s French Quarter Art District a magical transportation is taking place with twinkling lights that end at the edge of the Cooper River waterfront.
Once inside the hotel I was greeted and taken to the kitchen where the aroma of She-Crab Soup filled the air in the most wonderful way. Chef Parker welcomed me and said, “This She-Crab Soup is one of our most significant dishes in the entire history of Charleston.” Today I’m going to tell you the story.
Charleston’s culinary renaissance all began in the 1990s and Chef Forrest Parker was at the forefront.
“The city was ebbing away from the “Age of Fed-Ex” when chefs routinely had ingredients shipped into their restaurants from far-flung places - and started cresting toward a new focus on locally sourced and heirloom foods,” says Parker.
Chef Sean Brock was another chef involved in the repatriation of the Southern pantry and Executive chef at Husk, who started welcoming guests in 2011.
Since the 90s Parker has been leaving his unique footprint on the nation’s culinary map.
“I was immediately caught up in the energy,” says Parker. “We began to assemble a trusted network of farmers and purveyors, celebrating a longstanding legacy of Southern flavors, ingredients, good traditions, and communities while adding subtle global influences on the region's seasonal bounty and culinary heritage to reflect the modern American South - its people and its palate.” He did it well.
During my time with him at the Vendue he shared the story of Charleston’s culinary hero Nat Fuller. Fuller, a former slave, was renowned for his hospitality and for hosting events even throughout the Civil War, and at the time it was the longest siege in military history.
Nat Fuller is revered as the renowned presiding genius over many a fine dinner and supper in the 1800s. This is truly amazing considering the War was raging all around them.
The Reconciliation Feast
A historic and remarkable untold event took place soon after the War’s end.
Just weeks after the War’s end in 1865, Nat Fuller hosted a grand Reconciliation Feast - bringing together freed blacks and whites to sit at the same communal table and break bread. Extraordinary.
Chef Parker continued: “As a Charlestonian, a chef, and a tour guide, all this has been eye-opening - seeing previously untold stories of our shared history unfold.
Fuller would pass on shortly thereafter, in 1866, and his legacy continued in that of his protege and successor Tom Tully. Tully would continue, taking over his market stalls and assuming Fuller’s role in society events, until he passed on in turn.”
“Tom R. Tully went on to become Charleston’s most noted caterer after Fuller’s death and he trained an entire generation of African-American chefs who led the kitchens at Charleston’s finest hotels straight into the 20th century. He is one of the most prominent black caterers of Reconstruction-era Charleston. His legacy was carried on by William Deas.
The Inventor of Charleston’s Signature She-Crab Soup
William Deas, the inventor of Charleston’s signature she-crab soup, transitioned from a career cooking in the homes of the city’s elite white families to being the head chef at the famed Everett’s Restaurant.”
So there it is. Nat Fuller isn’t just a dusty footnote to Charleston’s culinary history, He is, in many ways, why we enjoy she-crab soup today. Let’s raise a glass to Mr. Deas and Nat Fuller.
I will never again enjoy eating She-Crab soup without thinking of this amazing story and the men who brought it to us.
Included for paid subscribers is the recipe for She-Crab Soup.
I am also including the lost recipe for Mr. Dea’s Shrimp Soup.
Thank you, Mr. Deas! Both are treasured recipes we may all enjoy time and time again.
xxoo Pat
Chef Forrest Parker is no longer at the Vendue but is hosting culinary tours of Charleston. His tour is Undiscovered Charleston.
https://undiscoveredcharleston.com/
Charleston She-Crab Soup
Serves 4
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 ½ cups half-and-half cream
4 teaspoons finely grated onion
¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon ground mace
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest
½ pound flaked blue crab meat
¼ cup crab roe ( see note)
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
In a large, heavy pot over low heat, melt butter, then add flour and blend until smooth. Slowly add milk and half-and-half cream, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook until thickened. Add onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, white pepper, mace, cayenne pepper, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, add crab meat and crab roe (or crumbled hard-cooked egg yolks), and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Do not allow this to boil. Remove from heat and add sherry, stirring to mix. Let sit for 3-4 minutes before serving.
Immerse yourself in the experience by pouring the soup into individual heated soup bowls, each one a canvas for the rich flavors. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, savoring each bite.
Cook’s Note. If you live in parts of the country where blue crab is unavailable, other types of crabmeat, such as Dungeness, snow, king, or rock crab, may be substituted.
William Deas’ Shrimp Soup
2 cups cooked, shelled shrimp
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1-quart milk
1 cup cream
Salt
1 tablespoon sherry seasoning
Put the shrimp through the meat grinder. Turn into a double boiler and add the butter, onion and black pepper. Simmer for five minutes, add the milk gradually, stirring constantly, and then add the cream. Salt to taste, using less salt than usual if a salted sherry is to be added. Cook for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the sherry just before serving.
This shrimp soup resembles a lobster stew more than anything else I could think of and is a medium-thick soup. Without the sherry, it would be a fine soup for the children, while the addition of the sherry makes the soup just the thing to serve for a “party” luncheon. The flavor is both delicate and unusual. Six generous servings.