“P” is for Pine Bark Stew. Pine bark stew is thought to have originated as a fisherman’s stew cooked on the banks of the Pee Dee River. In the 1930 edition of Two Hundred Years of Charleston Cooking, Blanche Rhett credits the recipe to Captain John A. Kelly of Kingstree who made it a favorite dish of the Otranto Hunting Club in Goose Creek. The 1950 cookbook, Charleston Receipts agreed, titling its recipe “Otranto Pine Bark Stew.” The reason for the name is speculative. Was it because it was dark in color? Seasoned with a pine sprig? One source traces it to colonists observing coastal Indians eating fish stew, called “fish muddle,” with pine bark ervers or utensils. Another conjecture is that the stew was cooked over a fire kindled with pine bark. Most authorities do agree on the ingredients for pine bark stew: bacon, onions, potatoes, and several kinds of firm freshwater fish, which are layered and simmered slowly.
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.