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    Home » Blog » Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip

    Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip

    June 30, 2020 by Jenny Deremer

    An icy cold beer and a bowl of Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip will put you on a trajectory back in time to the early days of the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
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    A bowl of dip, with Crab
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    Be sure to check out the SALES and CLEARANCE items on kitchen, home, and garden finds from my favorite home furnishing, food, and gift retailers 🙂

    A visit to the Lowcountry of South Carolina will change your outlook on life. Yes, I said 'life.' An icy cold beer and a bowl of Coosaw Island's famous cold crab dip will hasten that new found clarity...

    An icy cold beer and a bowl of Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip will put you on a trajectory back in time to the early days of the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Just visiting the Sea Islands of the Lowcountry is a mood-changer. It is a place that has not largely changed since the beginning. The road stretches for miles in between passing an old service station or a burned out cotton dock. And whatever your destination, you are sure to gaze upon remnants of forgotten plantations and quaint fishing hamlets as you explore.

    Text on sign for crab dip

    Coosaw and Judge Islands flank Morgan River to the Southeast near its westerly cruising limits and Coosaw River to the North. It is a sparsely populated sea island in Northern Beaufort County, South Carolina.

    Fifteen years ago, I came here to visit my parents. They'd moved here to retire and sold the little house on Madisonville Road that David and I grew up in. For the longest time, I was gutted that the property did not belong to us anymore. I could not understand why my parents would give all of that up; the acreage, the vast gardens of vegetables and fruit trees, the 40+ years of memories, and most of all, our sweet house.

    A tree next to a body of water

    The South Carolina Lowcountry keeps her secrets...

    The Lowcountry is known for its scenic marsh, sparkling bodies of water and ethereal silence. It is a place whose secrets have yet to be revealed...

    But it is still something that happened on that initial visit that to this day, I cannot put my finger on. Something mysterious and captivating and mildly sinister all at the same time. It spoke to me loudly, but in a whisper. I heard it, I tasted it, and mentally, I've never been the same since coming into contact with it. I knew I needed to be here. This, the ghosted earth that is the Lowcountry. The feelings this place stirs in a person are real. The turbulent history, the lives of many, and the emotions that once dwelled here are all but forgotten rumors now. Only the stories of the Gullah Geechee paint the history of this forgotten place that time has left unchanged. 

    A close up of dip on a cracker, with Crab dip

    The coiled Sweetgrass basket is a historically significant African art that was brought to America by enslaved Africans from the Windward and Rice Coasts of West Africa in the 17th century. The first known baskets in the Lowcountry were fanner baskets, used in winnowing rice.  South Carolina made, click images for pricing.

    Sweetgrass basket
    Sweetgrass basket

    The Sea Islands are made up of over 100 islands along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida.

    Our adventure day tripping the Sea Islands was solemn. In the many hours we spent taking every bend in the road, we passed no other cars. We saw nobody out working any of the boats. We ended up half starved from not seeing any place to grab a bite for lunch. There was just...nothing. Nothing but pre-Civil War farms and tiny signs marking native American shell rings. The drive back to Charleston would be long, so we ventured into sleepy antebellum Beaufort to find food. It was easily 95+ degrees out. It was my first year experiencing the Carolina heat and humidity and it was brutal on me. I needed air conditioning, a tall glass of water and something substantial.

    A bowl of food on a plate, with Cream and Crab dip

    on ice dip bowl
    set of 4 spreaders with crab theme

    crab themed chip and dip set
    crab themed chick and dip set

    Winding along the ocean and through saltwater marshes, the islands are rife with indigenous wildlife, migratory birds, sea grasses, maritime forests and more. Pirates, farmers, and fisherman are all a part of the Sea Islands history going back hundreds of years.

    I first tasted Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip at a waterfront eatery there in Beaufort. No frills, just ridiculously fresh crab meat, hints of lemon, bits of chive, and a fancified fan of Captains Wafers. I was in Heaven. Our waitress brought over a bucket of beer on ice, and we refreshed. I remember thinking how quickly that big bowl of crab dip was disappearing and quickly ordered another. My friends and I sat for nearly 3 hours, laughing and getting on and dissecting all we had seen that day. I knew we were probably staying the night in Beaufort...

    book A Place Called Home about Beaufort SC and surrounding Sea Islands

    On St. Helena Island, South Carolina a quiet tidal creek flows past a charming and beautiful place called Yard Farm - formerly the Fuller Plantation. Using factual history, personal stories, and original photographs, the authors weave a narrative that is rich in perspective about what that small piece of land has meant to the people who have called it home. A worthy read for anybody who has the Sea Islands and Beaufort surround in their hearts. Click image for pricing.

    A tree next to a body of water

    A red towel
    set of 2 blue crab linen towels

    The Gullah are descendants of freed slaves who settled here after the Civil War ended. Today, they keep the traditional culture alive with examples of ancestral crafts, textiles, and a beautiful dialect only natives to the Sea Islands seem to understand. 

    The one thing I was wise enough to do before we paid our tab was to inquire about the ingredients for Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip. Our waitress was all too happy to yank a tired looking African American man in his 60s out of the kitchen to talk to me. He was cautious at first, perhaps because he thought I was about to make a complaint, but his trepidation soon turned to elation when I asked for his recipe. The recipe as I present it here is without traditional mayonnaise as an ingredient and tweaked slightly. It can be heated to serve as a hot appetizer, or chilled as I intend it herein. It is EXCELLENT piped into choux pastry as a savory profiterole...

    bottle of white Bordeaux wine
    A row of wine glasses sitting on a table, with Kitchen
    Bright, well-chilled wines open up spring and summer fruits. Serve in style in these beautifully crafted Danish dessert glasses that work for whites, rosés, and Légende's White Bordeaux, too.

    A bowl of food, with Crab dip

    A bowl of dip, with Crab

    Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip

    An icy cold beer and a bowl of Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip will put you on a trajectory back in time to the early days of the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 5 minutes
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: appetizer, crab, dip, no mayo
    Servings: 16 (approximately 4 tablespoons per person)
    Calories: 48kcal
    Author: Jenny from Not Entirely Average

    Ingredients

    Did you know that it’s super easy to print out a version of a half recipe or even a double recipe on Not Entirely Average? Hover over the serving size (highlighted in blue, it says 24 on this recipe) and then slide the the white line to the left to make less or to the right to make more. This "calculator" allows you to play until you get the number of servings you want. Easy. 

      Ingredients for Coosaw Island Creamy Cold Crab Dip

      • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
      • 6 tablespoons sour cream
      • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
      • zest of half a lemon
      • 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning, or additional to taste
      • 16 ounces lump crab meat, picked and cleaned, all moisture squeezed out
      • 1 tablespoon fresh chives or green onions

      Instructions

      The Method

        Please note that the cream cheese should be soft enough to mix using the tines of a fork. Allow cream cheese to soften on a counter for at least 2 hours.

        • Blend together the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, and seasoning using the tines of a fork until smooth.
        • Fold in half of the crab meat and half of the chives. Do this gently and do not over-mix. Fold in the remaining crab and barely mix so as to distribute lump meat throughout.
        • Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill until ready to serve.
        • Before serving, gently stir the dip to loosen it some. Shake 1 or 2 shakes of additional Old Bay atop the dip to give it color. Garnish with the lemon zest and the remaining chives.
        • Serve with basic Captain's Wafer crackers. Ice cold Allagash White or Shock Top Lemon Shandy pair exceptionally well. Alternatively, a well chilled Bordeaux Blanc such as Barons de Rothschild Lafite Legende.

        Nutrition

        Serving: 1servings | Calories: 48kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 104mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 57IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1mg
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        I am a Charleston, South Carolina-based culinary novice, ardent authority on all things travel, designer by trade, and creator of Not Entirely Average. I hale from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and by way of this blog, aspire to combine all that with which I grew up, as well as the new places and fantastic culture I’m discovering here as a transplant in the great American South. I have a weakness for farmers markets, delight in adventures way off the beaten path, enjoy documenting my many moods through photography, and have been known to conquer the occasional yard sale with gusto!

        --Jenny

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