Candy

Downtown Charleston has nearly always had at least one successful confectioner. Menus from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century dinner parties include “an immense quantity of bonbons.” (See Mrs. Charles Alston’s menu in Chapter 1) For the first half of the twentieth century street vendors were renowned for the quality of their groundnut cakes (always flavored with orange peel) and “monkey meat” (a molasses and coconut praline). Until recently Charleston was home to Mark Gray, one of the finest confectioners in America. His candies were made fresh daily from his own recipes, using the finest ingredients and no preservatives. Mark’s instructions for tempering chocolate and a few of his recipes follow.