‘Snapper Pascagoula’ almost won national seafood competition. A look at its South MS roots

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of a seafood dish called “Snapper Pascagoula.”

Some of the best chefs in the world know it.

It almost won a national seafood competition this month in New Orleans.

Snapper Pascagoula is the creation of Chef Erika Lipe, from SoLa Restaurant in Oxford. The dish won her second place in the 20th Annual Great American Seafood Cook-off, the World Series of seafood culinary competitions.

What’s the story behind the Pascagoula name?

Lipe and her family are North Mississippi natives, but have always loved the Gulf Coast. “I thought if you were really, really good, when you died you went to Biloxi.”

She got her history books out and did some digging on Pascagoula. For the competition, she had to cook something that tells a story about her home state.

She learned the Pascagoula were a band of peaceful Native Americans who lived on the Coast in the 1540s. The name Pascagoula means “bread eaters,” so she incorporated something called “crab fat cornbread” into the dish. The snapper itself is made with chick pea flour, brown butter and garlic, then topped with crab and sweet potato hot sauce.

Yummy, right?

If you want a taste of Snapper Pascagoula, it’s sold at Lipe’s Oxford restaurant. And here’s the recipe if you want to try it on your own. But, be warned, Lipe says it’s not a recipe for beginners.

This story was originally published August 26, 2024 at 5:00 AM.