This Centuries-Old Oyster Tradition Is Still One of the Best Ways to Eat Them

The Lowcountry oyster roast is an immersive sensory feast: the sight of fire-roasted oysters heaped on a communal table, the aroma of salty air brushed by smoke, the clinking of glasses, the tell-tale thud of shells falling from hand to table, the proud crackle of the wood fire, and at the heart of it all, the taste of South Carolina cluster oysters. With bright salinity, a gentle swipe of sweetness, and briny-clean profile, each oyster expresses the singular merroir characteristic of the region’s high tides and soft marshes. 

Join us for a Lowcountry oyster roast at the Food & Wine Classic in Charleston November 13-15!

Celebrate Lowcountry heritage through live-fire roasted oysters steamed over an open fire, a raw bar, craft cocktails, fine wines, and live jazz.

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For brothers Matt and Ted Lee, award-winning cookbook authors and proponents of Charleston’s culinary culture, the Lowcountry oyster roast offers a direct connection to the history of the region. “Oysters have been a dietary staple for thousands of years,” says Ted. “And cold-weather oyster roasts were an activity we know the Native American tribes of coastal South Carolina engaged in, as did the Gullah Geechee, descendants of enslaved Africans trafficked to North America, who settled in the sea islands of the Lowcountry after emancipation.”

The Cusabo, an Indigenous people who favored living along South Carolina’s coastal Atlantic as well as tidal waterways between the Savannah and Santee rivers during the 17th and 18th centuries, ate heaping amounts of oysters. “Remnants of these prehistoric Cusabo oyster rings still exist today!” exclaims Matt. Known as shell middens, these rings are large mounds composed of millions of discarded oyster shells that accumulated over time. “The Indigenous people took a wet, fragile shellfish, applied heat and roasted them in a very elemental way, and that’s how it should be done,” adds Ted. 

Today, the Lee brothers’ oyster roast cleaves to that elemental ethos while integrating their own touch. Using culinary-grade wood, fire, and a large sheet of metal, the Lee brothers construct a no-frills rig to cook a showstopper of a meal that includes both oyster clusters (wild oysters naturally fused into a group) and singles (individual oysters that are raised apart). The accompaniments are strategically slim — lemon wedges and some hot sauce, which allows for the full flavor of the oyster to shine. 

“It’s absolutely beautiful how wild oysters grow in clusters,” notes Ted. “And when they’re in a roasting pit, it really is something special.”