Editor’s Note: The event mentioned in this story was postponed from the original Feb. 1 date until Feb. 15 due to inclement weather. We’ve updated the story below.
Two Gullah chefs from the Hamlin community will celebrate Black History Month Feb. 15 by hosting the fourth annual Taste of Gullah Geechee with flavors blending African and Lowcountry cultures.
The ticketed event will be at Sweetgrass Hall in West Ashley and will feature more than a dozen local chefs, caterers and beverage professionals highlighting their takes on Gullah Geechee cuisine.
Sameka M. Jenkins and sister ‘Emma M. Cromedy co-own Carolima’s Lowcountry Cuisine in West Ashley. They said they realized around 2022 that there was a lack of representation of Gullah Geechee cuisine in the area. Cromedy said she always loved cooking — particularly baking, even as a child — and in the late 2000s began her own mobile bakery in Charlotte, N.C.
But Jenkins, who is distantly related by marriage to Gullah cuisine matriarch Charlotte Jenkins, didn’t fall in love with cooking until she went to Francis Marion University, where she found herself making the foods she grew up with for herself and friends. Poised with a master’s degree in business, she initially had a career in banking in Charleston. But she also started to cater on the side, focusing on savory, traditional dishes like red rice and shrimp and grits. She gained clients quickly.
Carolima’s Lowcountry Cuisine’s origin
The bank that Jenkins worked for was bought out in 2017 and she decided to leave. The timing coincided with Cromedy moving home to Charleston. The sisters decided to take a chance and see if they could build their own business together.
“We had already worked and cooked together as a sister and friend team and I said ‘I feel that Charleston needs a catering company that specializes in not only great food but great service’, and that’s how Carolima’s was born,” said Jenkins.
After a short stint with a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Goose Creek, they pivoted to strictly catering. Carolima’s now has now been in business for more than 14 years, serving Charleston and the surrounding area with traditional southern and Gullah Geechee fare. The dynamic duo’s popularity has exploded over the past few years with features on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel as well as with a growing demand for an authentic Gullah Geechee culinary experience.
In 2022, the sisters realized there was a lack of events that brought together the chefs and caterers that are the backbone of, and focused solely on, Gullah Geechee foodways in Charleston.
“At the time, outside of Charleston Wine + Food and a Taste of Black Charleston, there weren’t many opportunities for chefs here to get together to hang out and be together around food,” said Cromedy.
With that, the sisters made plans and contacted local chefs, caterers, friends and family to create the first Taste of Gullah Geechee in February 2023.
“Gullah Geechee is what we know — it’s our culture, it’s the food and our traditions,” says Cromedy. “Because it was our norm, it wasn’t appreciated until we got older, and we wanted to share that experience of Sunday dinners, good food and a good time with others,” says Jenkins.
The Taste of Gullah Geechee
Since the inaugural year, the Taste of Gullah Geechee event has grown exponentially in talent and in guest demand. Only 75 tickets are available for this year’s event, and it is expected to sell out. Tickets can be bought online at the Carolima’s website, and will be sold at the event.
Notable chef participants include Nate and Chasity Brown from Daddy’s Girls Bakery; Hell’s Kitchen and Chopped participant Elaina Ruth; Chef Lamont Ferrebee of 82 Queen Chef Kyonna Bryant of the Charleston Place; and Chef Cheryl Gibbs of Vibrant Alkaline Vegan Meals, amongst others.
A variety of dishes will be served, including vegan and vegetarian options. Guests can expect to see items such as a pimento cheese tuile with charred okra mousse, smoked beef ribs and Caribbean black cake. An array of cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available and are included in the $125 ticket price.
“It is definitely an event to be on time for because you aren’t going to want to miss any of the dishes the chefs bring out,” said Cromedy.
“We used to say we were Charleston’s best kept secret, but this event is definitely not a secret anymore,” said Jenkins.
More: carolimas.com
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