Modern Forage: Charleston, SC
Charleston's two locked-in dishes carry distinct heritage threads: She-Crab Soup (William Deas, 1909, African American cook for Mayor Goldwyn Rhett) and Benne Wafers (West African sesame, brought via the enslaved African community to the Lowcountry rice-and-sesame plantations).
Charleston anchors two Lowcountry dishes that have stayed inside the metro: She-Crab Soup, the William-Deas 1909 cream-and-sherry crab-roe creation, and Benne Wafers, the West African sesame cookie that survived the broader South’s sesame plantings to remain Charleston-specific.
This list is almost certainly incomplete; Charleston and the Lowcountry hold further hyper-local dishes that have not yet surfaced in the survey.
A note on the Where-to-eat blocks. Every entry below carries a list of restaurants and, where available, star ratings as of the date this post was published. These are a snapshot. Verify hours and addresses before driving anywhere.
She-Crab Soup — Charleston, SC
Rich, creamy soup blending crab meat, cream, sherry, and crab roe (orange female crab eggs). Credited to William Deas, an African American cook for Charleston Mayor Goldwyn Rhett, who in 1909 added crab roe to the family’s recipe for a dinner honoring President William Taft. Deas later managed the kitchen at Everett’s Restaurant on Cannon Street. Published in Two Hundred Years of Charleston Cooking (1930) and Charleston Receipts (Junior League of Charleston, 1950). Found on virtually every Charleston restaurant menu but rarely seen outside the Lowcountry.
Sources: Charleston Magazine (2021); Food Network; Discover South Carolina; La Vida Nomad (2025); Islands (2026). Six+ sources.
Where to eat: 82 Queen, Charleston (canonical version, multiple awards). Hyman’s Seafood, Charleston. Magnolias, Charleston (upscale Lowcountry). Most Charleston restaurants carry a version.
Benne Wafers — Charleston, SC
Thin, crispy sesame seed cookies. “Benne” is the Bantu word for sesame, brought to the Lowcountry by enslaved Africans from West Africa. Quarter-sized, sweet and nutty. A gift shop staple and cocktail party fixture in Charleston. While sesame was planted extensively throughout the South, benne wafers as a specific named cookie survived only in Charleston’s Lowcountry.
Sources: Charleston Magazine (2021); Food Network; Discover South Carolina; Charleston Culinary Tours (2023); La Vida Nomad (2025); Five+ sources.
Where to eat: Olde Colony Bakery, Charleston (canonical commercial benne wafers since 1942). Charleston City Market gift stalls.
More from the series
Browse the rest of the Modern Forage survey.
Research & primary sources
Methodology, validation logs, and the entries that didn’t make this post are in the modern_forage/ on GitHub. Every entry here passed a 2+ independent-source check; the citations under each dish list them.