SPECIAL EVENTS : LOWCOUNTRY CELEBRATION

The weekend-long Lowcountry Celebration, held each November, honors the region’s abundance of local flavors and the Lowcountry’s rich culinary history with intimate cooking demonstrations, wine and spirit tastings, wine pairing dinners, an old-fashioned block-party and traditional oyster roast. We bring together some of the most recognized chefs, known for their Southern fare including Food Network Chef and Author Tyler Florence, Donald Barickman, recognized as a pioneer in Lowcountry cuisine for bringing “uptown” flare to familiar Southern staples; Ted Huffman, master of Southern barbecue and owner of Bluffton BBQ; and James Beard nominated chefs Chris Hastings and his partner pastry chef Idie Hastings of Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham; Hugh Acheson of Five & Ten in Athens, GA; Mike Lata of FIG Restaurant in Charleston; and Tom Condron of Mimosa Grill in Charlotte, NC; among others. For more visit www.musictoyourmouth.com.

Food and Palmetto Bluff
Southern food, perhaps more than any other regional cuisine in America, has long been recognized for its diversity and history, and for the stew pot of cultural influences that history has brought to it. A quick review of the history of Palmetto Bluff shows that people here have eaten well for a very long time. The earliest Native Americans, the Altamaha and Yemassee, found sustenance in the remarkable bounty of fish and game. Their shell middens on the high bluffs are testament to the first oyster roasts—a social and culinary tradition still carried on with great relish here today.

Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, R.T. Wilson, Jr. entertained lavishly in his magnificent “Palmetto Lodge,” which burned in 1926. One can only imagine the elegance and bounty of the meals served there, with the freshest of ingredients harvested from the surrounding waters and woods, and the produce of his extensive farms.

In the 1950s, Union Camp Paper Company built a rustic but charming hunting lodge overlooking the May River. In the long, wood-paneled “Trophy Room” sumptuous game dinners and feasts of local seafood were presented nightly. Prepared by lifelong Lowcountry cooks, an evening’s meal might include quail, venison, boar, shrimp, crabs and oysters—all harvested on the property or from the adjacent waterways. As many as 28 guests would visit the 14-bedroom lodge at one time.

Presently, as a residential community and resort, Palmetto Bluff continues to bring people together through food and drink.