‘Calabash-style’ seafood launched a thousand restaurants. Here’s what it means

Though it is essentially just another way of saying fried seafood, “Calabash-style” certainly rolls a little sweeter off the tongue.

The gospel of fried seafood has been spread far and wide, but many nod toward the tiny coastal Carolina town of Calabash as perfecting the style. Like any perfect thing, the secret to Calabash-style is its simplicity.

What is Calabash-style?

The novelty of Calabash’s seafood starts with its origins. Before restaurants lined the Calabash waterfront, the docks were full of fishing boats, particularly shrimp boats. The day’s catch was delivered and fried on the spot, establishing the Calabash flavor as peak freshness.

Calabash-style seafood means a light dusting of corn flour or corn meal , not a heavy batter or dunk in eggs. It’s the lightness of the dredge that lets the taste of the seafood stand on its own.

What’s on the menu

Calabash-style begins with shrimp , almost always small and sweet with the tails removed. Other staples include filets of flounder , scallops (which are still often fairly local) and oysters . Deviled crab is another signature item, a low country creation similar to a crab cake, where bits of crab are mixed in with a stuffing-like breading and served inside a crab shell.

Platters will usually include fries, coleslaw and hushpuppies. Some restaurants automatically bring baskets of hushpuppies and cups of honey butter.

Calabash-style platters are known to be enormous, with mounds of fried seafood often spilling off the plate as its served.

Known far and wide

Unlike Champagne, seafood doesn’t have to be from Calabash to be Calabash-style.

Particularly in North and South Carolina, “Calabash-style” has been attached to seafood restaurants for decades, cluing diners into expectations of bountiful fried seafood.

These days the highest density of restaurants name-dropping Calabash might be in nearby Myrtle Beach, which often uses the term for a seafood buffet, something that seems at odds with the freshness that launched the Calabash-style.

Calabash, the world’s most famous seafood town, carries on as an iconic restaurant rebuilds