SAVANNAH TASTES like shrimp, cooked just until the insides are firm. The leftovers are made into mayonnaise-based shrimp salad.

Savannah tastes like blue crab meat, boiled with Old Bay seasonings, picked while hot and dunked in butter. The leftovers turn up in deviled crab, or crab au gratin.

Savannah tastes like tiny, salty oysters, roasted over an open fire with water-soaked burlap bags. The leftovers become stew or scalloped oysters, a simple dish of oysters, butter and crushed Saltine crackers.  Savannah tastes like flounder, baked just until it’s cooked through.
 
A Place and Time
Our city’s unique flavor comes from its history. Founded in 1733 by British General James Oglethorpe, Savannah once made a great effort to recreate the elegant lifestyle of London in the New World, so there are wonderful accounts of teas, balls and elaborate dinners in our city’s archives. It was an important port city, which made it more cosmopolitan than inland communities. The ships provided Savannah residents with the first and the best of any exotic ingredients that were deposited in our port. And since we are on the Atlantic coast and have access to inland waterways, our cooks made the most of their natural resources, creating dishes that featured shrimp, crab, oysters and fish – flounder, trout and shad from the rivers, and red snapper and grouper from deeper waters.
 
Indigenous Ingredients
Rice was a staple crop along the Ogeechee River, near Savannah, since colonial times. Therefore, dishes like okra gumbo on rice and pilaus – chicken or seafood stewed with rice and a little broth – were the original soul food dishes of the Savannah kitchen. Hoppin’ John, vegetables stewed with rice and cowpeas or black-eyed peas and a meaty ham hock or neck bone – is a required menu item on New Year’s Day in Savannah homes. Today, rice is grown in only a few places in the Lowcountry and mostly as a gourmet item, but our affection for the simple starch has never waned.

And then there’s liquor. Many authentic Savannah dishes call for the addition of liquor or wine – it’s found in crab stews, casseroles, cakes and pies. Madeira wine, sherry, port and other spirits are critical local ingredients, common in many of our famous recipes.

Let’s not forget the tomato. Not only do Savannahians serve tomato sandwiches as an hors d’oeuvre at elegant parties — something rarely seen outside of the Lowcountry — but almost any dish seems to be improved by throwing in a handful of diced tomatoes. Hence we frequently feast on red rice and gumbos with tomatoes.
 
The Local Experience
Finally, we must discuss not only what was cooked in Savannah kitchens, but also how it was served. Savannah can put on an elegant party, bringing out the best silver and china and re-creations of famous dishes of the past. However, authentic Lowcountry eating is best enjoyed as a lowly picnic on some exotic barrier island, an oyster roast on a rough-hewn table overlooking the marsh, or a bowl of thick seafood stew served in the family kitchen. It is these very events that cannot be duplicated in restaurants. The real Savannah cuisine can only be experienced with locals in the simple act of sharing their bounty.
 
A Tale of Two Cities
I am often asked what the difference is between Savannah’s cuisine and that of its sister to the north. There might be a little more sherry in Savannah, and a little more port in Charleston. There certainly are more English desserts in Savannah, and more French desserts in Charleston, due to the fact that in the mid-18th century, 45 percent of Charleston’s white settlers were French Huguenots. Whatever differences there are, they are subtle.

Tourists visiting either Charleston or Savannah will see recipes that local chefs have adapted to represent their regions – dishes such as crab cakes, shrimp and grits, crab-stuffed fish and she-crab soup. There is nothing wrong with chefs creating dishes using local ingredients in imaginative ways. However, are the dishes authentic? Probably not. That’s why the only place you’ll taste the recipes featured here is in your own home.
 
 
Sherried Shrimp
Damon Fowler, cooking school teacher, cookbook author and food writer
 
“This lovely shrimp dishis one of my favorite old Savannah recipes. It comes from the household receipt book of Elizabeth Malone Smart, grandmother of Connie Hartridge, an ardent preservationist and mistress of the Battersby-Hartridge House on Lafayette Square. I love it not only because of its elegant simplicity, but because it encapsulates everything that is lovely about Savannah’s traditional cookery. Its impeccable simplicity is deceptive: Its success depends entirely on the quality of the shrimp and the care taken by the cook.”

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large clove garlic, lightly crushed and peeled, but left whole
48 large shrimp (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled
Salt and ground cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup dry sherry
3 cups Lowcountry steamed rice
 
Simmer the garlic in the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat until it is golden, about two minutes. Remove and discard the garlic.
Add the shrimp and sauté, tossing frequently, until they are curled and pink, about three minutes. Season well with salt and cayenne to taste (our local inlet shrimp often don’t need added salt), and remove shrimp with a slotted spoon to a warm platter.
Add the sherry and bring it to a boil, stirring and scraping the pan. Let it boil for 30 seconds. Stir in the parsley and pour the sauce over the shrimp. Serve at once, over rice or with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the sauce.
Serves 4.
 
Oyster Stew with Sweet Corn, Bourbon and Bacon
Chef Robert Wood,
founder of sustainable catering service Green Tomato Concepts Inc.
 
“Savannah cuisine mirrors the city’s image of itself – steeped in tradition and emphatically comfortable. (Since we are) surrounded by the luxuries of the sea, fish and shellfish dominate many menus in Savannah. However, (since we’re) in the heart of the South, you see our affinity for swine on street corners as well as white tablecloths. One of my most frequently requested dishes combines these two elements in a satisfying yet simple way. This could just as easily be enjoyed from a paper cup as fine china. Again, this is indicative of Savannah and her cuisine — substance over pretense.”

1 Vidalia onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2 ears sweet corn, off the cob, cobs reserved
Canola oil or bacon fat, about 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon salt
3 medium red potatoes, medium diced
1/2 cup bourbon
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 pint of oysters, with their liquor
Chopped parsley for garnish
Crumbled fried bacon for garnish
 
Start with a non-reactive soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and corn with a little canola oil or bacon fat. Add salt. Sauté for four to five minutes, until the onions are translucent, and then add potatoes.
Cut the corn cobs into 2-inch pieces and add to the pot. After three or four minutes, add the bourbon and reduce by half before adding the chicken stock. Simmer this for about 15 minutes before adding the cream. Continue simmering the soup while stirring occasionally for 10 minutes before removing the corn cobs with tongs. Squeeze the liquid from the cobs back into the pot to add texture to the soup. At this point, you can refrigerate the base until you are ready to complete the stew.
Once you have reheated the base, add the oysters and their liquor. Turn off the heat. Let the heat of the stew cook the oysters to ensure that you do not overcook them. After five minutes, ladle stew into bowls and garnish with crisp bacon and parsley.
Serves 6-8.
 
Crab Remoulade
Caterer Trish McLeod
 
“Early Savannah memories include fun days of crabbing off the dock, cooking and enjoying fresh picked crabmeat. This crab remoulade recipe is simple, quick and a real crowd pleaser. It’s a frequently requested recipe — very popular at the weddings I cater.”

1 pound boiled white crab meat
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic
2 teaspoons capers
2 tablespoons parsley
1 hard-boiled egg
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1 green onion, white and green parts
White pepper and Cayenne, to taste
 
Blend all ingredients except crab in food processor or blender until it forms a smooth sauce. Mix sauce gently with crab. Place into mold sprayed with vegetable spray. Chill until firm. Unmold and decorate with fresh herbs or flowers. Serve with Bremer wafers.
Serves 12-15.
 
Pan-fried Flounder
Martha Nesbit, Director of Instruction at Oglethorpe Charter School, Savannah food writer and cookbook author
 
“I had my first flounderwhen I moved to Savannah in 1974 after graduating from Georgia Southern University. It remains my favorite local fish, particularly if one of the Nesbit fishermen has caught it himself. The flesh is so delicate, you really don’t need to do much to it. That’s why this particular recipe is so perfect — it calls for just a little flour, butter, oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and capers. It’s all in the technique!”

4 skinless, boneless flounder fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter, divided
Juice of 1 lemon
Half of a 3.5-ounce bottle of capers in vinegar


Wash fillets in cold water and pat dry. Salt and pepper well. Dredge fillets in flour.
Place oil and 2 tablespoons butter in flat, heavy-bottom skillet and heat on medium-high until butter melts. Keeping heat at medium-high, cook fish on one side about three to four minutes, until browned and crispy. Turn fish and cook on second side about three minutes, until brown and crispy. Turn fish only once.
When fillets are done, remove to a serving platter.
Lower heat in skillet. Add 1 tablespoon additional butter. When melted, add lemon juice and capers with vinegar. Whisk. Pour this over fish fillets. Serve at once. Serves 4.