written by Eric D. Berry / sponsored by Explore Charleston
If much of the country is “meat and potatoes,” Charleston is undeniably “rice and seafood,” and in that order. Still, it’s easy for visitors to overlook the deep history behind the countless Lowcountry dishes built on rice. This staple grain, sometimes served plain, other times layered under smoked collard greens or tossed with crab, shrimp, and other seafood, is omnipresent on Charleston menus. But why rice?
To answer that question, we have to venture back in time to the rice-growing regions of West Africa, and to the Caribbean colony of Barbados, where planters refined the plantation system they later brought to Carolina. From Africa came not just the enslaved people themselves, but the specialized knowledge that transformed Charleston’s marshes into a landscape of gold—Carolina Gold: rice. Too often, American memory of slavery stops at cotton, overlooking this earlier and equally crucial cash crop.
Oral traditions tell of African women braiding okra, black-eyed peas, and rice seeds into their hair before being forced onto ships, carrying with them not just food, but the possibility of survival. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, rice had emerged as South Carolina’s most profitable crop, driving demand for enslaved Africans from the “Rice Coast” whose skills in irrigation, planting, and harvesting made them invaluable to planters. Scholars estimate that rice production played a central role in the forced migration of tens of thousands through Charleston’s port.
It’s a lot to digest over a spoonful of red rice, but once you see the connections, it’s hard to unsee them.
Thankfully, the story of rice is finally being told out loud in Charleston—not just as food, but as survival, ingenuity, and exploitation. Institutions across the city are creating ways to experience that story, and to face how marshland became empire. Here are three places where you can step into that history.
3 Places To Experience Charleston's Rice Heritage
IAAM
14 Wharfside St, Charleston, SC 29401
Time permitting, every stop in Charleston should be earmarked with a visit to the International African American Museum. The museum focuses on connecting accomplishment and s beyond the confines of American soil and the dictated narratives hand-fed threw grade school and into universities and connection with community and our individual histories … literally. One of the standout features of IAAM is the Center for Family History. Here individuals can explore their ancestral roots with direct assistance from a genealogist.
Inside IAAM you’ll find original art, sculpture work, signed instruments, clothing, from legendary artist Jonathan Greene, an original playbill for Porgy & Bess, a touching exhibit on
And then there is the Carolina Gold / Memories of the Enslaved exhibit. The permanent display delves into plantation rice, how enslaved West Africans were sought out because of their knowledge, and how that knowledge, and free labor, made Georgia and South Carolina two of the richest colonies back in the day.
Outside the museum, Sweetgrass fields hug the edges of a walkway on one-side of the museum, while the waters of Charleston’s harbor splash upon Gadsden’s Wharf on another side. This is the same location where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans first entered the United States, some of the women carrying seeds native to their homeland on their in hair … okra, sweet potato and … rice.
Middleton Place Plantation
4300 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29414
I have conflicted feelings about visiting plantations. Too many have sanitized their dark history with trolleys, cafes, “fairytale weddings,” and watered-down narratives of the brutal events that occurred on these now picturesque grounds. Often, we see remnants of slave quarters, and while we can sense the weather and conditions enslaved Africans and African-Americans endured while establishing and tending rice fields, it’s rare to gain a real sense of the work itself.
Middleton Place is one such location that offers a more tangible perspective. The estate showcases the immense wealth generated by the rice plantations of the region during slavery. At certain times of the year, visitors can see functioning rice fields and imagine life as an enslaved person: standing in flooded marshes under the sweltering sun, enduring oppressive humidity, and facing constant threats from alligators, snakes, snapping turtles, and swarms of mosquitoes. The work was grueling, dangerous, and relentless.
Rice cultivation was not only labor-intensive but required specialized knowledge brought by enslaved West Africans—techniques in tidal irrigation, planting, and harvesting that made these fields profitable. Seeing the fields in context offers a deeper understanding of both the extraordinary human labor and the economic power built on slavery. It’s not a comforting thought, but it provides clarity about the brutality of the system—and perhaps, every now and then, a moment of appreciation with a simple bite of rice.
It’s no coincidence that rice remains central to Charleston’s culinary identity today. From red rice and crab rice to collard greens served over a bed of rice, the dishes that define Lowcountry cuisine carry the legacy of these fields and the people who labored on them—connecting the city’s food culture directly back to the history of Middleton Place and the region’s rice plantations.
“For us, because we are the direct descendants of West Africans, [rice] is, I would assume, one of our strongest connections to West Africa."
My Three Son’s
5237 Dorchester Rd, North Charleston, SC 29418
Rice’s imprint on Charleston’s culinary scene is impossible to miss, appearing on menus across the city regardless of price point or acclaim. One of Charleston’s signature rice dishes is red rice. At first glance, it might remind someone familiar with jambalaya of that dish—but red rice is noticeably sweeter and often more tomato-forward. Traditionally made with long-grain rice like Carolina Gold, it combines onions, bell peppers, and celery with the rich flavors of sausage, shrimp, crab, or—if you’re lucky—all three in a single serving.
“For us, because we are the direct descendants of West Africans, this [red rice] is, I would assume, one of our strongest connections to West Africa. A lot of people did not know that West Africa was considered the rice coast, so it was no accident that our oppressors and enslavers went to the rice coast to bring us over here, because our coastline and that coastline, in terms of the cultivation of rice, are very similar,” Black Food Friday creator and influencer KJ Kearney tells Sepi’s Kevin Frazier over a bowl of My Three Sons’ signature red rice.
In addition to red rice, customers will find dishes built on the same foundation throughout Charleston’s restaurants: some menus offer variations of seafood rice, while others stick to classics like smoked collard greens served over plain rice. Perloo, okra pilau, and chicken bog are also fixtures on Lowcountry tables, alongside Gullah favorites like crab rice—each showcasing rice’s central role in the region’s cuisine.
At the legendary soul food restaurant Hannibal’s, the signature dish is their sautéed crab and shrimp rice—something originally introduced to the menu from a childhood memory, a creative twist on shrimp and grits. “I know the crab was derived from my dad because my granny used to cook him crab and grits, so he was like, ‘Let me just put it in here and let’s try it,’ because that’s what his mama cooked for him. So he’s the one who introduced it to the restaurant and it’s taken off.” Asked what keeps customers coming back after 40 years in business, the family matriarch tells Sepi enthusiastically, “It’s served with love and it’s cooked with love. We’re feeding the soul, right?”
Across town at My Three Sons, rice takes center stage across a variety of dishes, including their red rice and chicken rice, showing just how integral the grain is to the city’s culinary identity. Still, their top-selling dish is their take on seafood rice. “The most popular dishes at My Three Sons—the number one seller by far is the seafood rice, which consists of shrimp, scallop, and crab meat all fried together in the rice. A close second is our turkey wings,” co-owner Antwan explains to Sepi.
Conclusion
If there’s a story behind every dish, there’s an odyssey behind rice—and Charleston is the perfect backdrop for this journey. Rice here is more than a staple grain; it’s a thread weaving together centuries of struggle, resilience, and creativity. From the knowledge and seeds carried across the Atlantic by enslaved West Africans, to the tidal rice fields carved into the Lowcountry landscape, to the kitchens where Gullah cooks transformed it into dishes that still define the region today, rice has shaped Charleston’s identity in unmistakable ways.
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