She Crab Soup Mountain appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Lowcountry she-crab soup (Asheville interpretation) · Asheville
A cream-and-sherry crab soup with female crab roe, traditionally a Charleston Lowcountry plate adopted by Asheville's modern Southern kitchens.
She-crab soup originated in Charleston around 1920 when William Deas, butler-cook to the city's mayor, adapted the Scotch-Irish partan-bree (cream-crab soup) by adding crab roe. The Lowcountry classic migrated inland to Asheville's modern Southern restaurants through the 1990s farm-to-table movement, where mountain kitchens added foraged mushrooms or local trout-roe substitutes. The Market Place and Rhubarb both run she-crab soup as seasonal specials; Tupelo Honey serves a year-round version on its Southern menu. The Lowcountry-Appalachian fusion plate became part of Asheville's broader Southern identity in the 2010s.
Where to eat in Asheville:
- The Market Place
- Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen and Bar
- Rhubarb