Pecan Pickin’
Text and photos by Ray Linville A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, our thoughts often begin to shift to traditional pies and other desserts, much more than the bird that will anchor the center of the table. One traditional pie for my family is a Southern favorite—pecan. Can you imagine foraging for pecans or walking […]
Nick’s Grill
Text and photos by Madison Heltzel Like many sub-rural stretches of Western North Carolina, my neck of the North Asheville woods is graced with an abundance of small burger-and-shake joints. In fact, there is one located directly across the street from my humble abode. However, whenever that inevitable burger-craving hits, I usually find myself hopping […]
Candyroasters
Text and photos by William Ritter As the leaves begin to fall and cold weather (sort of) begins to set in, pumpkin pies, pumpkin soups, and pumpkin ales start popping up on menus across the state. Historically, though, many western North Carolina families let the pumpkins go to the hog pen, and it was candyroaster […]
Local Favorite Keeps Its Tradition Going
Text and photos by Ray Linville Whiteville, the largest city in Columbus County and the county seat, has been a hub of activity in eastern North Carolina since the county was formed in 1808. When vehicle traffic came onto the scene, major highways U.S.74, 76, and 701 intersected in the downtown section and brought tourists, […]
A Feast For the Eyes
Text and photos by Sol Weiner At the North Carolina State Fair, a 100-pound watermelon is not just a 100-pound watermelon, nor is the first-prize pumpkin pie just a dessert. Like The Treachery of Images by René Magritte, which famously declared “This is not a pipe” below an image of that very object, food on […]
Hurricanes, Pigs, and People
Text by Sol Weiner, photos by Sol Weiner and Tom Clement (unless otherwise noted) Perhaps it seems insensitive, almost crass. With as much life and property lost in a storm like Hurricane Matthew, news outlets—with the pressure to constantly produce material—still run stories not about people washing away, but about pigs. And chickens. And turkeys. […]
Spots Are Running
Text and photos by Ray Linville “They’re running” is a phrase that you hear often. It could be at the start of a NASCAR race in Charlotte, a 10K run in the Triangle, or a warning about bulls charging in Pamplona, Spain, but right now it’s a phrase referring to a seasonal phenomenon on the […]
El’s Drive-In Shrimp Burger: A Crystal Coast Favorite
Text and photos by Sol Weiner Summer in North Carolina has now come and gone, and with it the height of beach season. Like many humans, I like the beach—there’s an ocean you can jump into, and a lot of tasty seafood. And like many folklorists, I also spend a lot of time in my […]
Collard Eating as a Community Sport
Text and photos by Ray Linville Would you compete in a collard-eating contest? It’s an event I would rather watch, particularly after learning that the winner has to eat almost six pounds in half an hour. Collard-eating contests have been held in the town of Ayden in Pitt County for as long as most people […]
Beyond the Music: Feeding the Merlefest Masses for Community Causes
Text and photos by Leanne E. Smith When 75,000 people gather for four days at a music festival, they will eat a lot of food. If that festival is Merlefest, they will have plenty of choices from longtime favorites to newer offerings. Food vendors are scattered throughout the festival grounds at the Wilkes Community College […]
Whole Hog Cookin’
Text and photos by Ray Linville What’s the best way to develop a spirit of unity in a small town or city? In Newport, a town of 4,500 residents in Carteret County, an old-fashioned pig cookin’ is the best way to bring the community together by creating a lively competition to determine who can cook […]
“I Can Feed You”—Farming, Activism, and Food Justice
Text and photos By Virginia Hamilton This summer was a particularly rough one. While wading through a host of personal issues, I was also absorbing a constant onslaught of images of bloodied, dust-covered children being pulled from wreckage and black bodies dying on shaky cell phone cameras. Refugees, soaking and sinking. Too little water and […]
Carrboro Beverage Company
Text and photos by Sol Weiner When it gets as hot out as it’s been for the last few weeks, only a few slow, languid thoughts cross my mind. In addition to “where’s the nearest swimming hole?” and “when I get rich, I’m spending summers in Maine,” I often see a flashing neon sign that […]
Food For Thought: Trump, Police, and…Cheeseburgers?
Text by Sol Weiner As anybody who’s turned on a television or opened a newspaper lately could tell you, this summer has been a political circus. Although they only registered as tiny blips on the vast radar of the 24-hour news cycle, there were at least two notable instances this summer of North Carolina food […]
Creamed Chicken Over Waffles
Text and photos by Ray Linville Holding a “throwback” event is a great way to honor a tradition that once was a favorite but ended too quickly. Such was the case this spring when the Moore County Historical Association—the oldest historical society in N.C. in continuous operation—held a luncheon and re-created a popular dish to […]
The Great Pumpkin Diaries, Pt. III
Text by Frances Dowell, photos by Randi Byrd And then there were two. When we last visited Randi Byrd’s pumpkin patch, she was down to three plants, having lost one to stem damage (assailant unknown) and another to survival of the fittest (i.e. Randi plucked that sucker right out of the ground to make room […]
“Fast Food” at the Orange County Speedway
Text by Sol Weiner, photos by Sol Weiner and Anna Keneda When I think of the Orange County Speedway—when I picture it in my mind—it sizzles like the grease on a flattop grill. On alternating Saturday nights from March through October (with a few extras and exceptions), the Orange County Speedway in Rougemont hosts stock […]
Poitín and The Great Wagon Road Distilling Company
Text and Photos by Caroline Miller The Great Wagon Road Distilling Company in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood is the first distillery in North Carolina to have its own bar, The Broken Spoke. My friends and I wandered into The Broken Spoke one summer afternoon after enjoying a delicious pint at Sugar Creek Brewery next door. […]
Visit the Goats
Text and photos by Ray Linville If you like artisan cheese, visit the creamery where it’s made. Even better, get introduced to the animals. If you like chevre, a word we borrow from French for goat cheese, don’t forget to talk to the goats. When Paradox Farm held Spring Farm Day and opened its property […]
The Great Pumpkin Diaries, Pt. II
Text by Frances Dowell Photos by Randi Byrd The last month in Randi Byrd’s pumpkin patch has been a nail biter. In May it was all good news—the seedlings bursting forth in their little seed cups, tiny leaves unfurling and then almost immediately entering into a gangly, adolescent stage. Mid-May, five plants were transplanted into […]
Vit Goal Tofu
Text and photos by Evan Hatch Vit Goal Tofu Restaurant is elusive. The restaurant is situated around two corners, up a hidden drive, at the end of a nondescript strip mall, hidden behind a Big Lots that is difficult to access. Though centrally located minutes from I-40, near the crossroads of NC 54 and Hwy 55 in Durham, […]
El Restaurante Ixtapa
Text and images by Sol Weiner On a recent lunch break, fellow NC FOLKer Evan Hatch insisted that we go to El Restaurante Ixtapa in downtown Hillsborough. I’ve been hearing friends talk for months about Ixtapa’s no-frills combination of surf-and-turf options typical of Guerrero-style Mexican food. As Latino migration to North Carolina continues to grow, […]
A Gift from the Cake Lady
Text and images by Evan Hatch I just left Tommy and Adell Coley’s house in Baptist Grove, near Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. I interviewed Mrs. Coley for a folklife field study that NC Folk is conducting for the Harnett County Arts Council. Adell is the first of almost 30 area artists and tradition bearers to […]
The Great Pumpkin Diaries
Text by Frances Dowell. Images by Randi Byrd. 240 lbs of gypsum, 80 lbs of lime, 50 lbs of kelp meal, 50 lbs of very well-aged chicken manure, and 30 lbs of bone meal went into the patch today. —Randi Byrd’s Facebook page, March 19, 2016 Every year Randi Byrd prepares the soil, chooses […]