Eating While Poor, South Carolina
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Circa 1876
Today we share this story highlighting the theme of resourceful culinary practices which are especially important in times of uncertainty.
For decades poor South Carolinians (and folks of other classes too!) have eaten molasses in one form or the other with almost every meal. But most often at the breakfast table with cornbread and pork. When poor folk ate a solid food and a liquid additive together, the solid was often used to soak up the liquid. The solid food, in this case cornbread, is known as the “sop.” The liquid was a greasy gravy consistency that usually contained molasses; the process is referred to as “sopping.” If you want to give sopping a try bake some corn bread and try sopping molasses and the liquid made from bacon, soup, or a gravy.
