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 […]
The Art of Making Pupusas
by Joy Salyers There was so much to share from our visit to Manny’s Universal Cafe in Greensboro that we had to make two blog posts about it! Last week Evan Hatch told you about the owners, Manny and Margarita, and the amazing food we ate (and ate, and ate). This week, we have a […]
Benne for Good Luck
by Sarah Bryan As Christmas of 2015 approached, I discovered yet another reason to be glad that I work for NC Folk. I already knew that my colleagues, Executive Director Joy Salyers and Director of Programs and Development Evan Hatch, are great folks to work with: they’re kind, smart, and deeply dedicated to NC […]
Boiled Peanuts for Sale
by Ray Linville What makes boiled peanuts so enjoyable in the Old North State? “Boiling peanuts brings out a kind of mellowness to the nut which is … like tasting ripeness in a pear,” says food historian David Shields. Peanuts, planted in May, are ready for harvest in September and October. Although raw […]
Christmas Past at NC Food
This December in NC Food, we’ll be bringing you some of our favorite holiday posts from winters past. Whether you’re gearing up for Hanukkah or Christmas, catching your breath after a festive Diwali, or preparing to observe Kwanzaa or Mawlid, we bet that food is an important part of your holiday season. Today, let’s revisit […]
Cataloochee Prune Cake
by Sarah Bryan In some ways the border between the Carolinas is fluid. The two largest towns that are on or a few miles from the state line—Charlotte and Myrtle Beach—seem mismatched with their respective states. Charlotte could be mistaken for a bustling, shiny, businesslike version of the self-image of the state to the […]
Pickle Willie Cinnamon Cucumber Rings
by Joy Salyers On October 27th, I headed to Sophia, NC just outside Asheboro for the Resourceful Communities annual convening. I took along Program and Development Director Evan Hatch, and as we drove through the absolutely stunning fall foliage of the Uwharries region of the state, I tried to explain to him what a treat he was in […]
Making Do With Fall Apples
by Joy Salyers I took my children with me to the North Carolina Folklore Society meeting in Cullowhee, NC October 9 and 10. I was confident that we would encounter learning opportunities to rival a day of school. We drove first to the Musuem of the Cherokee Indian, where they got Jerry Wolfe’s autograph, sat […]
Chefs of the Coast: Meet Chef Thierry Moity of Caprice Bistro in Wilmington
by John E. Batchelor Note: We love seafood! So much that we practically licked our lips all afternoon when we received a copy of John E. Batchelor’s newest offering Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants & Recipes from the North Carolina Coast. John agreed to a special post for NC Food. We hope you enjoy it […]
Platsindi
by Tat’yana Berdan My mom doesn’t really use recipes. The few she has, she keeps written down in an old journal she brought with her when my family immigrated to Charlotte, North Carolina from Tiraspol, Moldova 14 years ago. When I asked her for a recipe to feature in this blog, she told me I had […]
A Recipe for Chess Cake
By Lea Efird Almost all of my earliest memories take place in Albemarle, North Carolina in my grandparents’ old house, one they sold when I was four or so. I remember constantly playing with my cousin Hunter, only 10 weeks older than me, as if he were my twin brother (we did look just alike, […]
Starving for Food or Fellowship
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim If you ever find yourself starving for food or fellowship in North Carolina, find a church that’s hosting a dinner on the grounds, otherwise known as a potluck or covered-dish supper. You won’t leave hungry. I came across a bound index card collection of recipes compiled by the women of Wilmington’s […]
Keeping Wild Foods in Our Culinary Culture
by Ray Linville Is cooking with wild foods out of place in today’s modern society? Because it’s so old-fashioned, I was surprised by how many kids had entered the Wild Food Cooking Contest in Richmond County. It’s the event of the spring in Ellerbe, NC, when youth and adults show off their skills for cooking […]
My Life in Pie
by Malinda Fillingim I knew something was wrong when my step-father, Carl, the Marine from Walnut Cove, told me he was taking me to a restaurant in downtown Swansboro looking over the White Oak River. We never went out to eat unless we were out of town, or something bad had happened. I couldn’t think […]
“Chowder Taster”—Touring a Clam Chowder Cook-Off at the Ocracoke Community Center
by Leanne E. Smith “The rainy weather cooperated with us,” Karen Lovejoy joked the Saturday before Easter 2015 during the First Annual Clam Chowder Cook-off on Ocracoke Island that showcased four entries in the Ocracoke-traditional category and seven for non-traditional. The mid-day event was a fundraiser for the Ocracoke Childcare Center, also known as the […]
Making Mac and Cheese Better with N.C. Mountain Cheese
by Ray Linville What’s the most important ingredient in macaroni and cheese? Except for the love that the preparer personally adds, is one item more important than anything else? The questions may seem frivolous because today the recipe at home can be quite simple – unless you’re Thomas Jefferson, who was so consumed with serving […]
Recipe for Belonging
by Malinda Fillingim Back in 1972, when I first moved to my step-father’s hometown of Walnut Cove, I was a lonely 13 year old surrounded by people who had grown up together and whose families had lived in the same community for generations. I had to find my own path and create my own sense […]
Neuse River Fish Stew – a guest post by NC barbecue expert Bob Garner
by Bob Garner [Editor’s note: We were so excited to receive an email from Winston-Salem’s John F. Blair Publishing asking if we’d be interested in having Bob Garner write a guest post for NCFood. Bob Garner? THE North Carolina barbecue expert? You bet your prized hog, we were interested! Especially since his new book Foods […]
Collards a lo Cubano
by Sarah Bryan Verlie Helsabeck Freeman was a vivid woman. She had a cat named Mr. Cat, a set of dentures that she took out of her mouth and clacked at frightened great-grandchildren, and—as she warned overly curious visitors who might snoop around the house—a booger in her basement. (To readers who aren’t from North […]
“A Martin County Thing”—Chicken Mull
by Leanne E. Smith Sixty-five gallons of chicken mull disappeared in less than a couple of hours on Saturday, October 25, 2014, when the town of Bear Grass in Martin County, NC, held its First Annual Chicken Mull Festival. Bear Grass is in the middle of Martin County in Eastern North Carolina, about 20 miles […]
Kitchen Memories
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim One of my favorite past-times is finding old kitchen tools and utensils in thrift stores. A museum of culinary history awaits me each time I hold an old spider pan, French fry cutter, pewter pitcher, or in a recent visit at the Habitat For Humanity Thrift Store in Southport, an old […]
Plum Granny Farm: Old Land, New Passion
by Malinda Dunlap Fillingim When Cheryl Ferguson graduated from South Stokes High School back in the mid 1970’s, chances are she wasn’t planning on returning to her family’s King homestead farm to live as an adult and become a USDA Certified Organic small family farmer. But that’s exactly what she did. The land, now called […]
Learning About Cheese Making (and Feeding a Baby Goat)
by Ray Linville To watch cheese being made, taste some artisan cheese samples, and take home a package or two, I headed to the Blue Ridge area of our state to travel part of the Western North Carolina Cheese Trail. Little did I expect to be bottle-feeding a day-old baby goat. Within minutes after arriving […]
The Past Becomes a Present
by Deborah Miller I hit my early 30’s with a couple of significant, but soon to be important, strangers in my how-fast-can-I-run life. One was my second husband, who I hadn’t quite met yet, the other was my kitchen where I mostly kept the beer cold, the coffee hot, and stashed take-out as I hurried […]