This Juneteenth Menu Comes Straight From a Gullah Geechee Family Tradition
These flavorful recipes from the Lowcountry are a joyous way to celebrate.
Being the start of summer, June is already a great time to relax and kick back, maybe head out to a lake or have a picnic in the park. But June also has a major holiday, and that is cause for celebration.
In 2021, Juneteenth was made a federal holiday. It’s a day that has long been celebrated as the end of slavery: June 19, 1865 (two years after the Civil War) was when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were officially informed that they were free. It took two years after the war was over for the Union Army to reach Texas and actually enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.
Since then, communities across America have marked the occasion with festivities, and especially with food! One of our favorite Southerners (and Country Living contributors), Michiel Perry of BSB Media (a marketing and content platform for the Black Southern Belle), has hosted a whole television show on Juneteenth menus. She shared a few of her family’s Gullah Geechee recipes with us. The Gullah Geechee are a group of African Americans who reside along the coastal areas of the southeastern United States. This menu features a refreshing drink, seafood-focused bites, and delicious sides—and we think they’d make a fine feast for celebrating Juneteenth.
Salmon Patties
These elegant patties can be easily made by using high-quality canned salmon, but you can use almost any kind of fish. Michiel recalls her dad using fresh-caught mullet.
Baked Deviled Crab
“Gullah cuisine includes lots of seafood such as Baked Deviled Crab, which I think of almost like cornbread,” says Michiel.
Dogwood Punch
Juneteenth traditionally involves red food or drinks to represent the resilience of enslaved people. This ruby-colored punch is refreshing and colorful and would fit well with these dishes!
Braised Turkey Wings
“You’ll find Braised Turkey Wings on every Lowcountry table—not just at holidays! The best cooks get the smaller ones, which are more tender. And the sauce is not heavy, but it flavors the rice very well,” says Michiel.
Stewed Okra and Tomatoes
“Okra, a native African plant, is massively important to African-American culture. In the Lowcountry, we tend to eat it fresh in soup or stews, as opposed to a roux-based gumbo,” says Michiel.
Instant Pot Lima Beans
“My father owns a farm, so I grew up enjoying all kinds of fresh vegetables like lima beans flavored with pork, which I cook in an Instant Pot,” says Michiel.
Meet Michiel!
Michiel Perry, her husband Fred, and their two sons live in an 1890s Victorian farmhouse in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. “The best thing about our farmhouse is the porch,” says Michiel. “It has three front doors, and what could be more welcoming than that? I got my rattan bar cart from a local consignment store I visit weekly. Drink trays, Champagne buckets, glasses...I wheel it all out on the cart. There’s nothing like sipping a cocktail and people watching!”
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