Local Chefs Share Their Favorite Summer Ingredients in the Lowcountry
Summer on a plate
What do some of the Lowcountry’s most talented chefs reach for when the temperature rises and the farmers markets are bursting with flavor? We asked a few local culinary standouts to share their go-to summer ingredients — the ones they crave, cook with and carry fond memories of. From seafood plucked fresh off our coast to fruits and vegetables that define Southern summers, here’s what’s in season — and on their minds — right now.
Holy Tequila
“Wreckfish. Every summer you’ll see it featured at different restaurants. But when you see it, you should grab it. It’s very delicious. In my opinion, it’s a little better than snapper for a little lower price point. It’s called a wreckfish because it likes to hang around big objects and structures in the water, like bridges and shipwrecks. They feed on crustaceans, crabs, oysters and things of that nature. That travels through the meat, giving them a nice, sweet, mild and flaky white texture. And they come to the South Carolina coast every summer.”
– Chef Michael Beeler
Hampton Hall Club
“I love peaches. You get maybe a good month and a half, maybe two months, for local peaches where they’re just so good off the tree. Everything from a salsa to adding it as a purée to grits or something like that just adds a sweetness and a little acid.”
– Chef John Huffenberger
Palmetto Bay Sunrise Café
“Tomatoes. When I was a little kid, my dad grew tomatoes, and they were just delicious. Tomatoes are just fresh to me. It’s summer. I like my tomatoes to be more acidic than sugary, so I think summer is when they get to that peak. And they pretty much complement any summer dish you could ever want.”
– Leslie Stewart
The Sea Pines Resort
“Corn is a warm place for me. Corn is especially a favorite summer ingredient because when I was a kid, we would sit on my grandmother’s carport with around probably 100 bushels of corn, and it was our job to clean it all day, and she’d can all of the corn. It was a fun memory.”
– Chef Ben Harris
Hudson’s Seafood House
on the Docks
“When I think of summer, I think of shrimp. Shrimp season comes at the end of March and then goes through the end of June, beginning of July – it’s probably my favorite summer ingredient.”
– Andrew Carmines
