The South Carolina State Museum in Columbia announced a new yearlong partnership with a rising star in the Charleston-area culinary scene.
Amethyst Ganaway, a 33-year-old chef from North Charleston, will host seven events in partnership with the state museum showcasing Black culinary traditions, culinary contributions to the Upstate by immigrant communities and exploring the Pee Dee’s tobacco and food culture.
The partnership begins with a program called “Harvesting Heritage: A history of Black Culinary Traditions in the Palmetto State” from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. May 18 at the museum.
General admission tickets now for sale are $50, while admission is $40 for museum members.
The event will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and a specialty cocktail. Fresh takes on South Carolina culinary staples include Lowcountry shrimp toast, Upstate peach and pea salad, Pee Dee boiled peanuts and Carolina Gold middlins. African American collections curator Ramon Jackson will moderate a discussion with Ganaway and artist and storyteller Natalie Daise.
“I am so excited to partner with the State Museum to bring the stories, artistry and living history of the foodways of the many African American communities across our state to life,” said Ganaway in a statement. “I look forward to engaging with my neighbors within each region, and to work alongside such a dedicated and established organization like the State Museum throughout 2024, 2025, and beyond.”
Ganaway worked with other young Black female chefs to honor several older Gullah Geechee female chefs at a 2023 Charleston Wine + Food event dubbed “Matriarchs of the Lowcountry.”
Ganaway and the young women treated the older women to a meal featuring recipes that made the matriarchs famous. Daise produced a series of portraits of the honored women during that event, which included the women of Bertha’s Kitchen, Sallie Ann Robinson, Charlotte Jenkins and Emily Meggett.
Afterwards, Ganaway approached the museum about acquiring Daise’s work. The portraits will be on their first public display at the museum during the event, said David Dickson, the state museum’s spokesperson.
Ganaway headlined another Wine + Food event in March as she continues to find ways to honor other Gullah Geechee matriarchs responsible for making the culinary tradition famous. In that event, she and Jenkins showed a class of Wine + Food attendees how to make conch stew.
The rest of Ganaway’s events with the state museum begin in August.
