20 May 2013

Perlow Rice & Cold Slaw

Mack's Bar B Que, Lake City, S.C.
I took the picture for the Perlow Rice and then spotted the rest of the quirky spelling. I spotted this at Mack's Bar-B-Que when I was in Lake City a few weeks ago.

Perlow Rice
Lime Beam
Pota Sald
Cold Slaw
Is it pilau, perloo. perlau, plaw, pilaw, pilaf, or pilaff? The word comes from the Turkish pilaw, from the Persian pilaw, and from the Osmanli pilav, "rice porridge."  Pronunciation is just as varied, as in PER-lo, PEELaf, or per-LO. According to Bill Neal, Charlestonians, no matter how they spell it, all pronounce it PER-low.
English writers spoke of the dish in the seventeenth century, and by the eighteenth century it had taken hold in Britain, especially after the empire spread through the Middle East and into India. In America, the Southern rice crops and the influence of the spice trade made the dish popular. Pilau has been a popular dish in many Southern states for 300 years, particularly South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.
 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perlow nothin! Up here in Horry County we all know it's Chicken Bog.

Charlestonjoan said...

I like the idea of eating a blog.

http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com/see-do/food/flavors/maincourses/chickenbog/default.aspx

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Whaley, in her special little book, said around here "Pilaus" are pronounced "Per-Low". The women in my family made delicious per-lows to feed the variable number that may show up for dinner. We went to "cook-ups" to enjoy chicken bog stirred up in those old cast iron pots over a fire! Whatever you call it, you know it when you see it.

Charlestonjoan said...

I like the term chicken bog best I think. :)