Celebrating with Food

Food is an integral part of any region's social customs, particularly, it seems, in the South. Look around at the number of small-town festivals which center on food. Kingstree's Pig Pickin' Festival is a celebration of a long tradition of excelling at barbecue in this area. In addition to the barbecue contests this year, there was a pileau cook-off downtown. But, as surprising as it may seem to those of us raised on the idea that no communal gathering is complete without barbecue and/or pileau, these two culinary masterpieces were not all that common at gatherings in the early part of the 20th century.

Back in the day, the dish everyone associated with Kingstree and Williamsburg County was pine bark stew. There are two theories on how this fish stew got its name. One is that the finished sauce is the deep brown of chocolate or pine bark, while the other maintains that as it was most often cooked outdoors, pine bark was used to start the cooking fire.

In May of 1894, we are informed that local attorney, Capt. John Kelley, prepared his "far-famed" brown stew for the visiting judge, court reporter, and others during court week in Kingstree. It was said that Capt. Kelley learned how to make pine bark stew from an elderly Darlington resident, who supposedly shared his recipe with only Capt. Kelley and one other.

Apparently John Kelley was not as secretive about the recipe as the man who bestowed it upon him, for a recipe attributed to Capt. Kelley appears in Two Hundred Years of Charleston Cooking by Blanche Rett and Lettie Gray. They note that this recipe, used for many years by the Otranto Club, courtesy of Theodore J. Simons, was originally from Capt. John Kelley of Kingstree. As Theodore Simons was Carrie Heller's younger brother, this seems quite likely.

The recipe, which should feed 30, instructs the cook to slice one pound of strip bacon, then try out all grease possible and fry about four sliced onions in this fat. Add about two inches of hot water to the cooking pot, which should hold three to four gallons. Place a layer of fish fillets (preferably red breast, blue bream, or bass) on top of this, then a layer of sliced Irish potatoes and sliced onions, another layer of fish, potatoes, onions and so on until the quantity required has been added to the pot. Salt liberally while it is boiling, also adding one tablespoon of curry powder. Stew slowly for three-quarters of an hour. Fish, potatoes, and onions should be entirely covered with water.

While this is boiling, place a saucepan on the fire nearby, adding one pound of butter to it. When thoroughly melted and hot, add some of the stew to it gradually, along with a small bottle of Worcestershire sauce, one large bottle tomato catsup, one teaspoon red pepper, a liberal supply of black pepper and one more tablespoon of curry powder. Stir the sauce frequently over low heat, dipping more stew into the sauce at intervals until the sauce turns a rich brown. When done, serve the fish fillets whole on toast with rice, liberally doused in the brown sauce.

Despite Capt. Kelley's sharing of the recipe, his is not the name that became synonymous with pine bark stew in Kingstree. D.J. "Jim" Epps will forever be remembered as the consummate pine bark stew chef.

In May, 1908, The County Record noted that D.J. Epps had prepared a pine bark stew for a group of gentlemen from Kingstree and other areas, who had been taken on an outing to Brunson's Mill in Capt. Conrad Constine's riverboat, The Mercedes. This may have been the first gathering of what was to become a long-standing tradition. In April, 1909, Mr. Epps again fed a large crowd at Brunson's Mill. In April, 1910, they gathered in the "grove at the Singleton place, just on the suburbs." As the years rolled by, he invited between 150 and 300 people to a yearly event, sometimes held in one of the warehouses, more often at Boswell's Beach. At some point in the 1920s, it was noted this had become a twice-a-year event. Mr. Epps also entertained the tobacco buyers on the opening day of the tobacco market each year, always serving pine bark stew, for which he was to become famous throughout the state.

When Masons from throughout this area of the state came to Kingstree in July, 1912, to help the local lodge lay the cornerstone for the Methodist Church on Academy Street, Mr. Epps fed them afterward with a stew made from 300 red breasts caught the night before in Black River.  A year later, when the cornerstone for the Baptist Church was laid, Mr. Epps invited the visiting Masons to his home for another pine bark stew, this time accompanied by barbecued shoat. Also, in 1913, he provided the pine bark stew for a regional convention of the Knights of Pythias, held in Kingstree. An article in the Mullins newspaper noted that Mullins Masons had become "instant fans" of Mr. Epps' stew.

Barbecue is mentioned as a part of a community supper, held for the purpose of raising money to buy a bell for the schoolhouse in 1904. Barbecue, oysters, and turkey were on the menu for that event. There were many of these fund-raising "hot suppers" during the early years of the 20th century. They were held to raise funds for specific projects, like the bell, the school library, improvements to the local churches, and on one occasion in February, 1900, the ladies of Williamsburg Presbyterian held a supper at the home of Mary and Louis Jacobs to raise funds to "help make up the pastor's salary." They raised $39 at that event. 

Oysters played a prominent role at many of these suppers. The Episcopal Church had a special oyster room at a fund-raiser in 1902. Hotel owner, George Barr, hosted a dinner for his closest friends in 1901 at his hotel, where he served "sumptuous oysters served in every style."

Another annual event that occasioned a community meal was Veteran's Day on May 10. Each year the attending Confederate veterans were treated to a dinner. In 1907, baker H.A. Meyer hosted the dinner in one of the empty storefronts on Academy Street. John Mouzon and the Mouzon String Band provided background music during the meal. The menu included ribs of roast beef, dish gravy, boiled rice, sliced Florida tomatoes, boiled Westphalia ham, potato salad, Kalamazoo celery, sliced ox tongue, boiled cabbage, new green peas, bananas, oranges, apples, assorted cakes and coffee.

Because of the wide range of spellings given to "pileau" (pilau, perloo, perleau, pirlieu, pulao, purlough, as a few examples), it's difficult to know exactly when it became a staple for community meals. The earliest I could find was that the Consolidated Merrimakers of the Consolidated Phone Company of Kingstree and Lake City held a party at the pavilion at Boswell's Beach in December of 1924, where chicken pileau and fish stew with all the necessary trimmings were served.

The choir for the Baptist Church was also served chicken pileau at a gathering at Dr. E.T. Kelley's Indian Hut Club in Georgetown County, in October, 1937. By the way, pilau and pileau seem to be the most accepted spellings.

 All photos taken at the 2018 Pig Pickin' Pirleau competition.

In August, 1941, several newspapers across the Southeast ran a small story under the headline, "Circumstantial." The story read: A prominent Kingstree citizen, viewing the collection of pots and pans in the town's defense aluminum receiving pen, remarked that "I bet I could cook a real chicken pileau in that steam cooker–and if they miss it, you'll know where to look." Imagine his consternation next day when he was advised the cooker had been lifted out of the pen overnight.

Serving pileau at large gatherings became much more common in the 1950s with a mention that it was served, along with barbecue, at a couple of housewarmings on Highland Drive in 1953, and that it was the main course served at the Pee Dee Farm Women's Convention, which was held at Kingstree High School in October, 1950.

For a list of all winners in this year's Pig Pickin' cooking competitions, click here.

UPDATE:  Williamsburgh Museum Director Wendell Voiselle has passed along a couple of ads for carnivals and circuses he found in old local newspapers after reading last week's post.