CHICKEN BOG

Inscription

CHICKEN BOG
ONE-POT DISH MADE WITH RICE,
CHICKEN & SAUSAGE. FED CROWDS
BY 1920S. TRADITIONALLY EATEN
AFTER GATHERING TOBACCO IN
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022

Chicken bog is a one-pot dish made with rice, chicken and sausage that was used to feed crowds as early as the 1920s. While it is related to other rice dishes common in the state of South Carolina, Chicken bog, being moister than other rice-based recipes, is distinctly unique to northeast South Carolina. It is speculated that this moistness might at least partially explain the origin of the Chicken bog name.

Chicken bog was traditionally eaten after gathering tobacco near the end of August. It was made with readily available ingredients that could be cooked over a wood fire in a large pot, such as a cast iron wash pot, in quantities great enough to feed all those who had helped gather the tobacco.

It is made by boiling chicken until tender and falling off the bone. Then skin and bone are removed from the chicken, and sausage and rice are added, which is cooked until tender. Over time, many variations of the original recipe have developed.

Paul and Randall Winburn of Winburn Farms, Galivants Ferry, SC, with cast iron wash pot they remember their grandmother, Mattie Griggs Winburn, used to cook chicken bog.

Hungry for History marker for chicken bog, Loris, South Carolina. Marker funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.