What's in a name?

Pilaeu. Perlow. Pilaf. Perloo. It’s got a lot of different spellings, but nobody really knows the correct one. I will tell you this though, it’s not spelled c-h-i-c-k-e-n  b-o-g. That’s something those Yankees from Florence county and above make, and it’s junk. I’m sure some of you don’t have the slightest idea of what I’m talking about, and I feel for you. I really do. But I’m about to change your life for the better. My two favorite spellings are Pileau(I believe that’s the traditional spelling, but our slack jaws threw off the pronunciation somewhere along the way) and Perlow(because that’s how you say it). Pileau is a traditional Lowcountry concoction that consists primarily of rice, smoked sausage, chicken, onions, and some fatback/pork jowls. You can add any kind of game you want; duck, squirrel, venison, etc., and cook it with white or brown rice(I prefer white rice for some reason) as long as it’s long grained rice and not that rice imposter also known as “minute rice”. You can add or remove the types of meat or seasonings, but the two things that you must have in order to cook a pileau are rice and beer. Now I know I didn’t mention beer just now, and it doesn’t exactly go in the pot with the pileau, but I have never once seen a pileau cooked without at least one open beer somewhere in close vicinity of the pot. I don’t know if it’s the aroma that beer puts off or what, but I’m convinced that you have to have one to make this pot of random stuff taste right. 

Here’s a simple pileau recipe that tastes good enough to make most people slap their mama at least once(especially if their mama never cooked them a pileau). It’ll feed about 4 folks, depending on how many plates they have.

• 2.5-3lbs of chicken quarters or thighs on the bone
• 2 cups long-grained rice
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 2 packs of smoked sausage
• Small handful of fatback/hog jowls/belly meat/bacon ends(this is mostly for flavoring, so you don’t need much)
• Liquid smoke
• Salt/pepper
• Beer(I prefer cheap beer for my pileau cooking as it seems to evaporate really fast. I think it's the rice that does it.)

Take you a stock pot and add 4-4.5 cups of water to it. Add the chicken, put the lid on, and boil the chicken until it’s done(usually 45 minutes or so). 

While the chicken is boiling, dice up your onion, and cut your sausage and fatback up into whatever size pieces tickle your fancy and brown it all in a pan.

 When the chicken is done pull it apart into as-small-a(yes, I just made that word up) pieces as you want and put it, along with the bones, back into the stock you just made.

 Add the onions, sausage, fatback, and some of the drippings from the pan in with the chicken. Add a few splashes of liquid smoke, and some salt and pepper. 

If you aren’t sure how much hair your guests have on their chest, go easy on the pepper. They can always add more if they want. I personally like to add a little Old Bay seasoning to my pileau too. If you don’t know what Old Bay is, google it. It’s kind of like God’s own mixture of seasonings, and it’s great on everything. Once you have added all that goodness together, add the rice and mix it all up. 

Simmer until the rice is done. Don’t expect the rice to be nice and fluffy(you did put grease in that pot, remember?), but it shouldn’t be too boggy either. It normally takes somewhere around an hour and a half, give or take 15 minutes. 

When it’s done, pile it onto a plate and eat. You can serve it with white bread, bread & butter pickles, chow-chow, or pear relish, and some good ol’ hot sauce can be tasty on it as well. 

Congratulations, you’re life has now changed for the better. If you aren’t an actual Sandlapper, you just came one step closer to becoming an honorary Sandlapper. Experiment with it. Come up with your own personal touches for it, but whatever you do, don’t call it chicken bog.