A Shrimp Creole Recipe from Coastal Georgia Farm

Siobhán Egan

Monica Burton is the deputy editor of Eater.com.
Matthew Raiford, a chef and farmer, has always yearned to write a cookbook, specifically one centered around the South. This opportunity arose when he gave a TEDx talk in 2018. After the talk titled “Legacy in the Soil,” as Raiford sat offstage, writer Amy Condon approached him. “Amy walked out and said, ‘Okay, you need to write a book,'” Raiford recalls. “And I just looked up at her and said, ‘Yeah, if you help me write it.'”

Buy Bress ‘n’ Nyam at Amazon or Bookshop.

The book that Raiford wrote with Condon is called Bress ‘n’ Nyam, a Gullah phrase meaning “bless and eat.” Just like that TEDx talk, it delves deep into Raiford’s own family legacy to give readers a sense of place – his corner of the Georgia coast and, more specifically, Gilliard Farms, the land that has been in his family for six generations since 1874.

Ultimately, with Bress ‘n’ Nyam, Raiford hopes to “show what that scenery looks like and what this area of the world looks like, because I’m not Charleston, I’m not Atlanta, I’m not Savannah, I’m not Florida. I’m kind of caught in that middle,” he says. “I wanted to write something that was representative of this area and how I grew up.”

The details of life on Gilliard Farms are showcased in the photographs, but also in the recipes, such as the recipe for Effie’s Shrimp Creole. Effie is Raiford’s mother. Effie is also the name of his mother’s mother and her grandmother before her, and the recipe’s history dates back nearly as far. “It’s about three generations old, if not four,” Raiford says. But it didn’t get the name it has in the book until Raiford’s mother discussed her coastal paella with a friend from Louisiana and they noted its similarities to the Louisiana dish. It became a signature. “This was one of the dishes my mom would take to parties… everyone would devour this,” Raiford says. “You know when people go to church and a very specific person makes a pie and everyone wants to buy slices of that pie? My mom’s shrimp Creole is like that.”

Raiford and his family would go shrimping for the dish, and it’s this sense of connection between food and place that Raiford hopes readers will take away from Bress ‘n’ Nyam. “I want them to think about where they are and what food or foodways or food systems are in place in their area that they don’t know about,” he says. “Everybody has a food story and it just takes a moment sometimes to fully understand it, and the more they understand, the more they’re going to find that it’s delicious.”

Effie’s Shrimp Creole Recipe

Serves 4

When people think of coastal Georgia food, they think of shrimp and grits. That dish is definitely characteristic of the Saltwater Gullah and Geechee who lived on the Sea Islands. They often made the dish with a rich brown gravy or roux, which is more similar to a gumbo. Freshwater – or mainland – Geechee, like my family, made something closer to a jambalaya, without okra but with richly flavored tomatoes and red pepper. Of course, the rice makes it stretch. For me, my mom’s shrimp creole, a recipe passed down through the family, is a comfort food.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 16-ounce can tomato puree
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 cups uncooked long-grain rice or Carolina Gold Rice
1 quart warm shrimp stock, prepared or homemade (recipe follows)
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved for stock
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Step 1: In a large cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the onions and garlic, and sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Step 2: Add the peppers, tomato puree, red pepper flakes, and rice, stirring until well combined. Pour the stock in slowly to prevent splattering, as the pan will be hot, then bring the creole to a boil. Once boiling, stir, cover, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Remove the cover, add the shrimp, and give the rice a good stir. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes more, until all the liquid is absorbed and the shrimp have pinked and curled. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Serve and enjoy.

Shrimp Stock Recipe

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

2 quarts (8 cups) cold water
4 cups shrimp shells
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery rib, cut into 2-inch pieces, including leaves
1 lemon, quartered
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Instructions:

Step 1: Pour the water into a large stockpot and set aside.

Step 2: Rinse and drain the shrimp shells. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and toss the shrimp shells for 2 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Step 3: Add the shrimp shells and vegetables to the stockpot, then toss in the lemon, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove from the heat, then strain the stock through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into quart- or pint-sized containers. Cool the stock completely, then refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for later use.

Excerpted from Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer. Copyright © 2021 CheFarmer Matthew Raiford and Amy Paige Condon. Photography © 2021 by Siobhán Egan. Reproduced by permission of The Countryman Press, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.

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