The Shrimp Factory,Pine Bark Stew

I realized as I started writing this that we were in Savannah five months ago.   But I still remember the delicious Pine Bark Stew that is The Shrimp Factory's signature dish.  Our waitress, a transplant from Michigan, assured me I would be happy with my choice when I ordered it.

Here I am waiting for my Pine Bark Stew.  I'm looking a bit tense.  The ride to River Street was traumatic...all those squares... trying to see everything... looking for the entrance to River Street.

A little of that stew comforted and relaxed me.  The stew was a thick and tasty bouillabaisse.  According to the menu, the ingredients included potatoes, onions, peppers, shrimp, flounder, oysters, crab, scallops, cherry tomatoes, and house seasonings.  It arrived in a thick metal pot with enough stew in it for both Tom and me.  ( He had made other choices but he tasted my stew and declared it delicious.)

I liked the stew because it was thick as well as tasty. There were well-cooked small chunks of its ingredients mingled within the broth. The broth was thick enough that the chunks were not floating, but hidden in it, a pleasant surprise when I took a spoonful of  stew.  I'm getting hungry for more as I write this.

I found the name interesting so I asked the waitress about it.  She said one story is that in the early days at the end of the day, hunters made stew over a campfire and threw in whatever foodstuff they had.  They cooked over a fire which included pine bark.  Others say the colonists learned to make the stew from the Native Americans who made the stew thick enough to be served on a slab of pine bark.  A third theory is that long ago tender little pine tree roots were used as a seasoning in the stew.  Like gumbo, the ingredients in this stew vary from place to place.

I hope we get back to River Street again...SOON.