Carolina Hash: A South Carolina Folk Heritage Tradition

Horry County Museum 805 Main Street, Conway

Hash is only cooked primarily in South Carolina. If you travel across the border into NC or Georgia, you find that few have ever heard of hash. Filmmaker Stan Woodward discovered this anomaly while researching the difference between Brunswick stews cooked regionally. He gathered footage while shooting the Brunswick stew documentaries that led to this unusual film. Updated with new content that answered questions about the unusual place that mustard had in the barbecue sauce and hash ingredients found in the midlands of South Carolina, the story of has was enhanced to include the records of French Huguenot writers who wrote of “hashiers”, which was cooked in Carolina Rice Kitchens by African American artisan cooks who were given poor parts of the hog and told to make an edible concoction that provided a high-protein content for slaves working in the scorching heat. We learn that Hash-cooking migrated inland from plantations to small farms and became commonplace-along with puddin’ and liver mush-as a byproduct foodway cooked as part of the hog-killing that took place in the winter months. Hash today is a common side-dish eaten over rice along with barbecue in South Carolina.