Culinary historian “Hoppin’ John” Taylor sketches the evolution of South Carolina’s Lowcountry cuisine over 300 years, painting the historical, geographical, and cultural foundations from which Lowcountry cooking arose.

 This early Creole cuisine combines African, European, West Indian, and Mediterranean influences and adaptations.

Nowhere in America did the culinary traditions of the colonizing and enslaved communities combine as fully as they did in the Lowcountry kitchen. West African stewpot cooking replaced the large roasts of the English and French tables; basket weaving from Africa’s Rice Coast continues today; and many African foods, such as benne (sesame seeds), gumbo, yam, and goober (peanuts), entered kitchens—and the language.

Trade introduced the hot pepper of the West Indies. Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal brought tomatoes and Mediterranean techniques to the table. Lowcountry cooking also drew on the bounty of the ocean, rivers, marshes, and ponds that define the area, and is reflected in the farmers who continue to grow American corn, African cowpeas and okra, European vegetables, and West Indian peppers.

Taylor is the author of four cookbooks; a founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance; and a contributor to The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Food & Wine. His book Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking (Houghton Mifflin) is available for signing.

This program features Hoppin’ John’s heirloom cornmeal, provided by John Taylor, and Carolina Gold rice, supplied by the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation.

For more information on Lowcountry culture, see the online exhibition Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art on the African Art Museum Website.

Connect with the Authors is a continuously updated listing of past, present, and future author visits. Through this site, each publication can be purchased in advance of, or following, the program.