How it All Began
Jimbo's
Story
Jimbo's Lowcountry Dry Rubs
are a result of three generations of man-cooks in the
Thomas Family.
It all began with the first
Jimbo. During the Great Depression, Jimbo Sr. fed his
family by picking up a few odd jobs and fishing. Friday
and Saturday nights, he set up a cooking station in a
room in the back of Johnny Black's Grocery Store in
Bamberg, SC. Using hog lard and his own special meal,
Jimbo Sr. fried up catfish, bream, sunfish, and bass.
And his wonderful hush puppies-- a secret recipe that
has been passed down to two generations. He provided
good food and a lively, good ol' boy atmosphere.
One of his favorite tales
is that of his famous fried squash sandwich. Jimbo
Sr. served his fried fish between two slices of white
bread -- no plates, no napkins. Those were luxuries
during the depression. One Friday night, when he
ran out of fish, he began closing down. An
inebriated man showed up and demanded a fish sandwich.
Even after being told there was no fish left, the man
kept demanding to be served. Rather than face an
unwanted scuffle, Jimbo Sr. went to the back room where
he found an old squash. He sliced the squash in
thick pieces to look like a fish, rolled it in the meal,
and fried it in the lard that fish had been fried in all
night. He slapped it between the bread slices and
presented it to the man. He claimed that he fried
it up “special”-- so crispy, there was no need to even
worry about the bones. The next Friday night, the
same customer showed up and asked for another one of
those “special” fish sandwiches! Thus, the fried
squash sandwich was born.
The man-cook tradition
didn't stop there. Jimbo Jr., who was a great
fisherman and fish fryer in his own right, became quite
the barbeque expert. During WWII, he was an Army
cook. In the mid-1950s, he worked at the
Charleston Naval Base as a rigger, a job requiring a
great deal of strength and endurance. His family
had grown and he needed to supplement his income to meet
their needs. So, he decided to open a weekend
barbeque eatery. Jimbo Jr. built a cinder -block
room on his Summerville, SC property with a barbeque pit
attached to the back. On Fridays and Saturdays, he
would prepare the hogs while his wife, Bertha, would
prepare the hash and rice. The “restaurant” lasted
several years until Jimbo Jr. moved his family to
Charleston.
Today, Jimbo III has
inherited the man-cook skills of his family. His
cooking repertoire ranges from preparing fish he catches
while deep sea fishing to beef and chicken specialities.
In honor of his father and grandfather passing down
their talents, Jimbo III decided to introduce others to
the taste of the Lowcountry. And this is how
Jimbo's Lowcountry Dry Rubs
was born.
We welcome you to try the
rubs on beef, chicken, pork or lamb, and turkey. We think you'll
agree, that nothing could be finer than Jimbo's
Lowcountry rubs from South Carolina!
