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BJ Dennis

@chefbjdennis

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Gullah cultural bearer and personal chef. All bookings email [email protected]

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Roun yah we like dat shrimp smothered down in dat brown gravy ova dat rice. Well at least in dis house yah. #geecheeeats #gullahfood #seaislandcuisine #lowcountryseafood by @chefbjdennis

BJ DENNIS: FOOD WITH A MEMORY

Chef Benjamin “BJ” Dennis does not treat Gullah Geechee foodways as a charming antique hauled out for special occasions. He treats them as living knowledge—grown, cooked, shared, argued over, protected, and passed forward.

Born and raised in Charleston, Dennis learned the taste of home before he understood how often the wider world had ignored the people who created it. His work as a chef, gardener, educator, and cultural ambassador connects ancestral ingredients and techniques to the present: Carolina Gold rice, Sea Island red peas, seafood, okra, heritage seeds, local farmers, and the elders whose knowledge does not fit neatly onto a recipe card.

National audiences have seen him on High on the Hog and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Yet his most important work resists celebrity logic. He redirects attention toward Gullah Geechee communities, land, language, agriculture, and the Black farmers and fishermen keeping those relationships alive.

Charleston loves to sell its food story. Dennis keeps asking who authored it. That question is not garnish. It is the whole plate.

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Photos: Charleston Magazine. by @chefbjdennis

It's Gullah Geechee heritage month and we starting off out cha on Hilton Head Island tomorrow! Shoutout to my friend and founder of the @fishandgritsmusicfest, Bluffton, SC native @latresebush. She is one of the first people I met when I moved down yah from Charleston 5 years ago. Her passion for our culture shows everyday and every time you see her! She is building something special and I'm honored to be a part of it with all the other cultural vendors tomorrow! The last clip is us 2 years ago. Come see us tomorrow tickets can still be bought at the gate @fishandgritsmusicfest . #gullah #geechee #culturekeepers #culturethroughfood #lowcountry by @chefbjdennis

Like dem ole head be telling me all the time 'de churn don't cook no mo! #geecheeeats #charlestonredrice #gullahricekitchen #gullah #geechee by @chefbjdennis

We came to the Gullah Geechee Junkanoo Festival to share the work. We left carrying more stories. Thank you to @brookgreen_gardens for allowing us to participate in an amazing event. Much love to @chefbjdennis for stopping by and showing so much enthusiasm and genuine interest about the work, shoutout to my sister @simplytremaine for holding me down, and thanks so anyone who shared a memory, offered to help and just supported us. #gullahgeechee #southislandgullahgeecheeproject #oralhistory #georgetownsc #junkanoo by @chefbjdennis

Been out of town for almost a week. Got back the other day amd now gotta shoot down to Kiawah island for a group this evening. Had to make sure we ate good before I walk out cha. Squid ink pasta, creek shrimp, North Carolina crab. #geecheeeats #lowcountryseafood #seafoodpasta by @chefbjdennis

Recipe testing yesterday. Rice flour dusted Crocker, rice flour battered shrimp and corn flour battered 'okra 'fries''. Got to rework the okra batter, plus the grease was starting to go towards the end. Rice flour was the dominant flour used during the colonial period up to the early 20th century in the lowcountry. #geecheeeats #gullah #geechee #culturethroughfood #seaislandroots by @chefbjdennis

Breakfast in our home usually varies. We love breakfast smoothies, steamed veggies, with some fruit and so on. Truthfully the traditional breakfasts of we culcha that we love i don't eat often unless I'm gonna be doing physical activities. Don't get me wrong I love it, but not every day. We also love to have a morning salad. Helps perk ya up! Now every morning aint perfect particularly with a 5 year old. But now he in kindergarten and I only got to worry about taking care of wifey and she gets my scraps...just playing. She gets whatever she wants because dats the wife! #geecheeeats #gullah #geechee

Avocado dressing
1/2 ripe Avocado
1 peeled lime with the zest
Pinch of garlic and ginger
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 cup or more of spring water
Salt to taste

● blend till smooth. Add more water if thick. Fresh cilantro is a good addition to this. by @chefbjdennis

Geechee fry okra over thiebo yapp. Okra season is here and if you was to give me one last meal it would be this with shrimp typically over dry white rice. But a couple months back we celebrated in the historic gullah geechee community Pin Point in Savannah, our homie from Sierra Leone via Guinea Maryama @fulbencuisine going away gathering. she made this bussin goat jollof. When i got home I made this for my son because he loves okra raw, stewed however. A celebration of that #africandiaspora in a bowl. We need to be celebrating each other in our Gullah Geechee communities but I see a lot of education is still needed. Y'all boi fool up out cha! #gullahgeecheenation #gullah #geechee by @chefbjdennis

CHEF SPOTLIGHT: BJ DENNIS

Born and raised in Charleston, SC, Chef Benjamin “BJ” Dennis IV is one of the world’s most respected ambassadors of Gullah Geechee foodways, a culture built by enslaved West and Central Africans along the coastal Lowcountry.

He honed his craft over four years of study in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, and through his grandparents’ lessons on eating from the land, cooking with heritage staples like Carolina Gold rice, Sea Island red peas, and benne seed. His work preserving and elevating this culture has taken him from CNN’s Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain to Netflix’s High on the Hog and Bravo’s Top Chef, all in the name of keeping Gullah Geechee traditions alive for new generations.

Catch him live at the FAI, Sunday, August 30th. Get your tickets now. LINK IN BIO + STORY 🎟️

#Oxtail #phillyevents #philly #Philadelphia #philadelphiaeats by @chefbjdennis

E okra season roun yah! What you eating this #seafoodokrasoup with? Roun yah us Gullah-Geechee folk like it over that white rice. I even like mine with the classic #charlestonredrice. Old heads like em wit dem grits. My #africandiaspora family might wanna em with some fufu or down island in the Caribbean put dat fungi or cou cou on the side. All I know that e #boominandbussin. my favorite seafood and okra. #geecheeeats by @chefbjdennis

Backyard garden food. Sweet potato leaves are nutritious and one of the many leafy greens our ancestors ate. Ancient West African fonio grain which is documented in many archives here on the coast. Sea island purple cape beans that we making sure does not go away. Paired that with the Cecelia Davis lima bean aka the bully bean named after a gullah family enslaved Ghanaian ancestor. Stew up wit dem Mata. We culcha is more than fried pork chop sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and salmon. It's based on our agricultural heritage, the land and the sea. #geecheeeats #gullah #seaislandroots #culturethroughfood #gullahgeecheenation by @chefbjdennis