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If the ingredient isn't Southern, it isn't coming through the door.
That's award-winning chef Sean Brock's self-imposed mantra for the intriguing menu at his Charleston restaurant, Husk. There is nothing junior varsity about Brock's sophomore effort: he's making his own vinegar, salt, and sweet vermouth.
"The idea is that we want to prove to the rest of the world that the South has the best food," Brock explains. "I'm talking about raw ingredients and tradition and history."
So he made a strict rule that every single ingredient must originate from below the Mason-Dixon Line:
- fleur de sel from Florida Keys Sea Salt
- olive oil from Texas Olive Ranch
- soy sauce from Bourbon Barrel Foods in Kentucky
- heirloom wheat, grain and rice from Anson Mills in South Carolina.
"It's pretty darn crazy. It handcuffs you and it says look mister, you have to cook simple."
And it doesn't get more simple than sitting in the antebellum-era bar room, eating slices of smoky Benton's Country Ham and sipping Pappy Van Winkle bourbon.
"You eat that country ham and you drink it with bourbon, there is nothing else in the world that matters."
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