00:00It's not something that you just wake up the day and just decide to make some fresh collards
00:05because I want them in one hour. It don't work that way. I love it. Hi, my name is Orchid
00:11Pallmeyer and I am the chef at One Hot Mama's BBQ on Hilton Head Island. The culinary influences
00:17in the Lowcountry can be anything from the Gullah Geechee to southern roots to fishermen's
00:22bountiful catches of shrimp, oysters, crab, and we really want those southern flavors to come through.
00:28Today, I'm going to take you to some of my favorite local spots. This is Where the Chefs Eat.
00:42So we're here at Bluffton Oyster Company on this beautiful day on the May River.
00:49Look at this. Yes, just in time. Oh my gosh, it's like the bounty. You must have smelt it cooking.
00:55You came all the way over just for this. We are about to dig into this gorgeous Lowcountry boil.
01:00It is definitely one of the staples of the area and it really highlights everything that is beautiful
01:06about this area. Being such a small island placed right into the Atlantic Ocean, it's perfect because
01:11we are surrounded by just really beautiful seafood. It's just such a cool, easy thing to do because back
01:19in the day before mechanical refrigeration, you know, you could grow potatoes, you could grow corn,
01:25you could make your own sausage, and you could go in the river and catch shrimp. I mean, it comes right
01:29off the boat. I'm not used to just being me and you. Oh, I know. Usually there's like 10 people
01:34and they're just trying to get in here, right? Right. You got to be able to just dig in. You got to be
01:38able to dig in, peel, and then pop it right in your mouth, right? Mmm. This shrimp is gorgeous and it's
01:46sweet and it's briny. Of course it is, right? Because it just came off the boat.
01:50Lowcountry Oyster Company is so special because there's so many people that have them as part of
01:55their family dinner or maybe a celebration, having a great oyster roast fundraising. They're just part of
02:00the community. And of course, they share their bounties with a lot of the restaurants on the island
02:06because we like to share our local seafood, our local flavors, getting it fresh off the dock.
02:10That's what makes this place so special. Mmm. That flavor just brings me back to good old tailgates,
02:18Saturday afternoon football, gathering of friends. It brings you back to those good old days, right?
02:24And it makes you want to have another Lowcountry Bowl next weekend. Delicious.
02:28Our community benefits from you being right here. Well, you know, a lot of the restaurants want to serve
02:33local shrimp. Oh yeah. It sells itself. You know, you don't really have to talk about stuff like this
02:38or our local products because once people taste it, they see the difference from what they had in
02:44other places. You always want to have a Lowcountry Bowl. Everyone has their version. We just really
02:49like ours the best. This next stop is so special.
03:04I am so excited. This is one of my favorite places. I love Mama Joy's Kitchen because it is truly
03:12a representation of everything that's Lowcountry, the Gullah Geechee culture. She's a woman that just
03:18represents the South and it shows in her food. A whole bunch of Southern goodness.
03:24Hey, ladies. Hey. What's up? Oh. Nothing. How are you? Oh, hungry.
03:31I hope you are. Oh, girl. There's a lot going on here, sister. Oh, my gosh. Come on. Take a seat.
03:37I want to cry. It's so good. I love it. I love it. Today we have braised oxtail. They're slowly cooked
03:47and you have your carrots. You have a little butter beans and you have some onions, some fresh
03:52thyme and also some allspice in there as well to bring out the flavor and then enhance it. Is that
03:58the secret? That's the secret to it. So this is my absolute favorite go-to comfort meal. It's been
04:04made low and slow and Mama Joy makes it with love. A normal order at Joy's is probably, yes, you get the
04:10oxtail, you get the red rice and you get a choice of one side. But let's be real. You cannot come here
04:15and only get one side. Got to get some mac and cheese. You've got to get some collard greens.
04:19You've got to get lima beans and fried okra. I don't even know how you can walk in here and not get
04:24fried okra, right? Out of this world. Out of this world. This is the perfect example of Gullah Geechee culture,
04:32isn't it? It really is. It is. A lot of people, honestly, don't really know about the red rice.
04:37It's like the base of it, isn't it? It's the base. And I'm like, well, it's actually white rice,
04:44but you turn it red. And they're like, how do you do all that? But when they get it,
04:48they fall in love with it. It's just, it's so good. We live in the low country. You represent
04:53the low country. You grew up here, right? I'm born and raised in the area. Yes, I am. Nowadays,
04:57that's very rare, right? To really meet somebody who lives and breathes the low country. Yes. I think the
05:03Gullah Geechee part of it is what stands out. It's not something that you just wake up the day
05:07and just decide to make some fresh collards because I want them in one hour. Right. It
05:12don't work that way. No, it does not. Gullah Geechee is the love that you put into food. It's the love
05:18that comes out of the food when you get ready to taste it. Right. That's what makes Gullah Geechee food so
05:23authentic. Hilton Head Island is wonderful for all the beautiful hotels, the beachfront properties,
05:30the waterfront restaurants. But truly, when you're local, you want to kind of sometimes get away from
05:34those things and you want to just kind of enjoy your meal. And this is one of them. This is one
05:39that you just go to because you know you can enjoy those local flavors because we all want to know
05:44where the locals eat, especially where the chefs eat. Right. And this is one of those meals.
05:49All this was dirt road when I was a little girl. Right. The bridge wasn't here. None of that was here when
05:54I was a little girl. Right. But the community is still here. The community is still here. Right.
05:58A lot of the tourists that come here, they'll be like, oh, a guy at the front desk told us to come
06:03here. Oh, the guy that was parking my car said this is the best soul food on Hilton Head. Right.
06:08So I'm just happy that I'm able to bring this here to Hilton Head because I'm born here.
06:13I'm raised here. This is home for me. I'm gonna let you enjoy your meal. Enjoy it. Okay. Thank you.
06:19You're so welcome. Love you, girl. Love you. Thank you.
06:21Mm. You can taste all the wonderful spices, especially this red rice, which is one of the
06:28bases of the Gullah Geechee culture. It is full of flavor. There's allspice in there. There's paprika,
06:33there's onions, garlic. Mm. And then, of course, you have to taste it with some carrots, which are
06:39perfectly sweet and so tender. I mean, that's like some of my favorites. But then I have macaroni and cheese,
06:44collard greens, lima beans. You cannot go wrong with any of these sides.
06:48So we are here at Sprout Mamas, and I love this place because of who they are. It's a family that
07:03has just been carrying on a tradition, both in this building and just what they bake. And, of course,
07:09the food. Everything is homemade. Everything is freshly baked. Hey, Ryan. Hey, Orkin. How are you, honey?
07:16Great. There's that chicken salad I know you love. Gorgeous.
07:20Brewer's bread with the brewer's spent grain and the famous cinnamon rolls. The no fat, right? No fat,
07:26no. Yeah. I love it. I love it. I mean, these are some of the staples here. Yeah, for sure.
07:32So what's so special about this bread is that he does a great collaboration with local breweries. This
07:37one in particular is Lincoln South Breweries. And they take their brewer's yeast and they use that to
07:44bake their bread, which is amazing because then it just kind of puts the whole community all in one
07:49plate. And if I have to put some butter on it, okay, I will just slather that on.
07:57That is delicious bread. They call it a spent grain. It's the spent grain that they ferment to make the
08:03different IPAs and Belgians and different types of beer. So it gives it a pretty funky kind of
08:10sourdoughy flavor. Right. I love it. And of course, this cinnamon roll. Yeah, that's probably our
08:16best-selling pastry. People will ask where the frosting is. I said, you don't want frosting.
08:21You don't. It's all caramelized brown sugar and whole butter. And we make all the pastry dough here.
08:26I mean, look at that. It's super flaky. Look at that caramelization. I'm so bad. I'm going right into the middle.
08:30Gotta go for the middle. I'm going right in the middle. I don't care. I don't have to show anyone.
08:33There's no judgment here. Yeah. You get to have this all the time. That's right. Every day.
08:40That caramelization. The sugar. You can tell they put a lot of time and effort and care into this.
08:47Now this chicken salad. Everyone orders it. You say it's so simple, but I feel like it's not.
08:52If you tell me I sold this much chicken salad, I tell you, you're crazy. It's outrageous. I mean,
08:57the croissant helps sell it too, for sure. Okay. The croissant is ridiculous. They're ridiculous.
09:04Ryan says that it is one of their best sellers and he doesn't know why.
09:08I tell you why. Because it's absolutely delicious. It's made on their freshly made croissants.
09:14Now that's a sandwich. That's what you can sell a sandwich. Then you guys have come a long way.
09:18I mean, like you were a small bakery and then now you've blossomed into this. Yeah. We've been really
09:22lucky to get this space in particular. It was like a huge step up for us. And you can tell by the way
09:29that you guys are in the community and honestly just the way you put your food out. I mean, it's so good.
09:36So you can probably tell from my list of favorites that I love the people behind the food just as much
09:41as I love their food. I think it's so important that they share their stories through their food and
09:47it just really makes Hilton Head just so special. And it shows through our culinary world. Hilton Head is
09:54perfect for your beach getaways, for your beautiful golf courses. But for me living here for 30 years now,
10:01it is definitely about the culinary community that we've built here to really represent and celebrate
10:06the food that we have to offer here in the Lowcountry. So those are some of the places I
10:11love on Hilton Head Island. Let me know your favorites down in the comments.
10:17Chunkhead Head Island.
10:26Let's go!
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