When in North Carolina, eat as the locals eat

Bob Garner, author of "Foods That Make You Say Mmm-Mmm," will speak at 7pm Wednesday, March 18, during a meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC) at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The event is free and open to the public.

Even with the different options available from east to west and back again, Bob Garner has learned that man cannot live by North Carolina barbecue alone.

Since he wrote his first book in 1996, North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time, Garner has become one of the state's best known bbq experts. He's written extensively on the passions of those who choose vinegar or tomato sauce - or vice versa - and featured hard working, traditional pit masters in countless WUNC television programs.

In his new book, Foods That Make You Say Mmm-Mmm (Blair Publishing), Garner takes readers along for a journey that stretches from the coast to the mountains - with plenty of pit stops in-between to fill up on local specialties.

"I decided to focus on foods that really are special to North Carolina, as opposed to things that are loved throughout the South," Garner says. "We all eat a lot of mac and cheese and chicken and dumplings, and wash it down with sweet tea. But there is a kind of cabbage collard grown here that is limited to the coastal plain. It's so good that has its own festival in the little town of Ayden, which calls itself the Collard Capital of the World. Now that is truly special."

The pale yellow leaves of the cabbage collard and sweeter and more tender than its stiff, dark-leaved cousin. It's also more precious giving its limited growing season. "I do get a little sad when you can't get them anymore," Garner says, "but then all the spring and summer produce arrives. In North Carolina, there is always something to look forward to."

Garner strived to introduce readers to some traditional foods that are less well-known outside of their native habitat. Ocracoke Fig Cake, which is generally available up and down the Outer Banks when figs are plentiful, is one such example.

"It's perfect for the winter holidays," Garner says of the cake, which uses a jar of fig jam for its rich flavor and distinctive texture.  

"I don't think most people know about that, but they should," he says with a trace of the familiar "mmm-mmm" he uses to accentuate foods he adores.

And while many North Carolinians are familiar with Brunswick stew, Garner would like to see them boldly try some Neuse River fish stew.

"It's a very localized fish made in no more than four counties along the Neuse," he says. "Unless you live there or know people - or are a food historian or a really clued-in foodie - you've probably never tried it."

Garner includes a recipe for Authentic Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew in the book. He warns that it's an ugly bowlful of often boney rockfish, layered with potatoes and onions, and topped with eyeball-like poached eggs slipped in at the last minute. The stew is not to be stirred while cooking - typically outdoors, or in a sheltered garage if it's too cold and windy - to ensure that fish stays in large chunks.

"It's been going on for years and years, but it's a little known dish outside of the immediate area," Garner says, noting that some renegades doctor their stew with crushed saltines . "There are only a couple of places where you can get it commercially, like Ken's Grille on Hwy. 70 in LaGrange.  But only on Fridays."

Another fish Garner originally thought to leave out but couldn't resist in charcoal mullet. Once dismissed as bait fish, sustainable oily mullet - especially jumping mullet - has become popular inland thanks to providers who rush fresh catch from the coast to grateful local consumers.

"Charcoal mullet is food for the common people, a thing locals always ate when others wouldn't," he says. "There's a lesson here. If you eat what the locals eat, you're going to eat well."

 

 

Durham's role in civil rights struggle documented in 'Counter Histories '

This weather-delayed event has been rescheduled for 7pm April 7.
Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina is proud to present "Counter Histories: Durham's Royal Ice Cream Sit-Ins" at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Royal Ice Cream, Durham, is focus of
a documentary short in "Counter Histories,"
a project of the Southern Foodways Alliance

Because of the 1960 Greensboro sit-in that forced Woolworth's to set aside its policy of racial discrimination in the South, most people know that North Carolina figures prominently in the civil-rights timeline.

Fewer are aware, however, that Durham also played a pivotal role. Three years earlier, a group of eight African-Americans decided to challenge the segregation policy that limited them to buying treats at Royal Ice Cream's back door while white customers were welcomed to sit inside.

"We weren't sure what would happen, but we knew it needed to happen," recalls Virginia Williams, who shares her recollections in one of five documentary shorts that compose Counter Histories, a project of the Southern Foodways Alliance. "We knew it was time to test the establishment."

Williams will join Kate Medley, Durham photojournalist and producer of Counter Histories, at the rescheduled April 7 meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC). Jesse Paddock of Carrboro, who directed the Durham feature, also will participate in the event at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill.

Medley says the focus on youth-led protests at segregated lunch counters was envisioned as a fitting way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Civil Rights Act, which President Johnson signed just before Independence Day in 1964. The act made segregation in public places illegal.

The other films document events in Jackson, Mississippi; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee and Cambridge, Maryland.

Medley produced the piece on Jackson, her hometown, where many still feel the scars of the especially brutal incident. "A lot of the racial tensions still are pretty raw," she says. "It's not something people want to talk about." 


Frank Blackwell photo of the brutal sit-in
at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson, Miss.

Two weeks after the May 1963 sit-in at the local Woolworth's lunch counter, which commanded national media attention, NAACP field agent Medgar Evers was shot in the head after parking in his own driveway. His assassination galvanized national interest in racial discrimination in the South, leading to adoption of the Civil Rights Act.

"One of the underlying goals of the project was not to just tell a story of yesterday and stop the conversation there," says Medley, who discussed the film on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the context of youth leadership, with students at the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham. The school has a permanent display featuring part of the lunch counter at the old Durham Woolworth's, where a sit-in occurred one week after the more famous one in Greensboro.

"I asked, 'Can you imagine being among these people?' We're still facing a multitude of civil rights issues, but these young people are empowered to make change," Medley adds. "We were insistent in our mission that these films are very forward-thinking and relevant to 2014, 2015, tomorrow. We wanted the ideas to be relevant to what's happening in our world today."

This article first appeared in Indy Week.

April McGreger starts new year with ‘bucket list’ honor

April McGreger, author of Sweet Potatoes, will be the guest speaker of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC) at 7pm Wednesday, Jan. 21,at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill.

April McGreger

By any measure, April McGreger has enjoyed an enviable start to the new year.

Not that 2014 was too shabby, mind you. The popularity of her Farmer’s Daughter’s Brand pickles and preserves allowed her to give up long hours of working at farm stands and convert part of her thriving business to a CSA-style subscription service. And the daughter of Vardaman, Miss., the self-proclaimed Sweet Potato Capital of the World, published her first book – Sweet Potatoes, a volume in the Savor the South series from UNC Press.

But already this year, McGreger has been chosen to receive two Good Food Awards – one for her Strawberry Honeysuckle Jam and one in the pickles category for Sweet Corn and Pepper Relish.

“I've won other Good Food Awards, including their inaugural year in 2011,” McGreger says. “Honestly, I think I’m even happier this time. They get a ton more entries now, so I feel really proud that mine stood out.”

Blackberry Farm photo/Instagram

It’s a feeling McGreger will have to get used to. On Jan. 10, she joined a roster of culinary all-stars to prepare a course in the Southern Foodways Alliance Taste of the South event at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn. She made a twist on one of the recipes from Sweet Potatoes, a chestnut and sweet potato pudding with sour orange marmalade and coffee cream.

“I had so much fun. It was definitely one of the greatest honors – and one of the few things I’ve really wanted to do,” McGreger says, adding with a laugh, “I guess it was a ‘bucket list’ item.”

In addition to making dessert for an A-List group of Southern food lovers, McGreger led a preserving class during the three day event. It didn’t occur to her until people started filing in that her students would include some of the people she most admires.

“It was very surreal,” McGreger says, recalling when she saw Birmingham chef Frank Stitt, Susan Spicer of New Orleans, and Ben and Karen Barker of Chapel Hill take seats. “My first thought was, ‘What in the world can I teach them?’ But everyone was very engaged and interested.

“They asked some really great questions so there was a lot of great back and forth. It was amazing to have been in the room at all, but to be leading the conversation left me speechless.”

Back home in Carrboro, McGreger has returned to the routine of making products for Farmer’s Daughter Brand customers. While some people assume winter is her down time, she is busy making sauerkraut and marmalades, the latter using an assortment of regional sour oranges from Louisiana and grapefruit and Meyer lemons from Texas.

“I really love citrus so I’ll be making all kinds of marmalades this year,” she says. “It’s also prime time for krauts and pickles. Jerusalem artichokes will be starting soon, and I’m making a beet-horseradish relish. Things do come to a stop right before strawberries return, but I’m still really busy right now.”

What little time McGreger has left to herself is poured back into her business. Fans can expect to see updates to the website soon, as well as new labels for Farmer’s Daughter products.

Debbie Moose celebrates tasty traditions in ‘Southern Holidays’

Debbie Moose, author of 'Southern Holidays,' a new volume in the Savor the South series from the University of North Carolina Press, will be the guest speaker at the 7pm Wednesday meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC) at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The gathering also will be a holiday potluck, so feel free to bring your favorite seasonal snack.

Debbie Moose remembers leaving a plate of cookies for Santa at her childhood home in Winston-Salem. Since her mother wasn’t much of a cook, they were usually store bought and set out with a tall glass of milk.

“My dad would hover around the corner say, ‘I’d rather have bourbon,’” quips Moose, author of the new Southern Holidays cookbook from UNC Press.  

One year, her mother surprised them both by announcing she would bake wafer-thin Moravian cookies from a recipe she’d seen in the newspaper.

“My mother dragged a rolling pin out of the back of a cabinet somewhere. I didn’t know she had one,” Moose says dryly. “Those are not easy cookies. The more you work with the dough, the worse it gets. My mother said things. It’s the one and only time I saw her make cookies.”

Moose does not include a recipe for Moravian cookies in Southern Holidays, but she does acknowledge her Triad community’s impact on her holiday thinking with a classic Moravian sugar cake. As challenging as the cookies are for a novice baker, the cakes are a breeze; plus one batch yields three cakes.

“Mine is a little different. I wanted it to be thicker and more cakelike, and I use a ton more cinnamon,” says Moose, who has several tucked in her freezer to share with neighbors and take to parties. “It’s great for if you get invited somewhere at the last minute.”

Moose covers a full-year range of traditional religious observances and all-American July 4th, as well as such distinctly Southern occasions as Mardi Gras (brandy milk punch and coconut king cake), the Texas emancipation celebration of Juneteenth (smoky red rice) and – perhaps her favorite – March Madness.

Debbie Moose

“Elaine Maisner, my editor, agreed with me. We were of sisterly mind on that,” says Moose, who welcomes likeminded friends with Smokin’ Mary cocktails for round-ball parties at the Raleigh home she shares with her husband, whose own childhood inspired some of the Jewish recipes in the book. Moose’s Chipotle Brisket is standard Hanukkah fare; her kicked-up Cajun matzo balls will make their annual appearance during Passover.

“It’s a small book, so really it’s just a snapshot of how we celebrate in the South,” explains Moose, who also wrote Buttermilk. “There are so many food festivals, and a lot of them are in the summer. I tried to pick ones that reflect cultural and historical things, like the Blessing of the Fleet. Any coastal community has a blessing of the fleet celebration when the fishing season starts. I chose to focus on the Gulf Coast because so many of the fishermen are Vietnamese.”

Tucked into the spring chapter, the section includes Vietnamese spring rolls and a seafood gumbo with oysters, crabmeat and shrimp. Other featured festivals leave a reader pining for peaches, Greek chicken from Raleigh’s Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and creamy cheese blintzes from Savannah’s Shalom Y’All food fest.

This week, Moose will be turning her attention to Hanukkah, which begins at sunset on Tuesday. In part, the holiday commemorates the occasion where a single day’s supply of oil miraculously burned for eight nights.

“It’s a lot of fried stuff. Who doesn’t like that?” Moose says. “I have a recipe for sweet potato latkes, which I really love. I kept trying to make them grease-free until my husband point out that the oil is what it’s all about.”

Moravian Sugar Cake
Reprinted with permission of UNC Press from 'Southern Holidays,' a Savor the South Cookbook by Debbie Moose.

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has a Moravian community that goes back to the 1700s, when members of the church founded Old Salem. Moravian breads, which come from the German baking tradition, are wonderful, and this sweet yeasted coffee cake was a holiday favorite of mine growing up.  Today, I follow the lead of my neighbor, Cathy Hedburg, who bakes and freezes sugar cakes in disposable foil pans for Christmas gifts. They’re great for breakfast on Christmas Day.

Makes 3 sugar cakes

For the cake
2 (¼-ounce) packages active dry yeast
2/3 cup plain, unseasoned mashed potatoes (see NOTE below)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3½ to 4 cups flour

For the topping
¾ cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter three 9-inch cake pans.

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup warm water. Set aside until it foams, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the mashed potatoes, 1 cup hot tap water, and the butter, shortening, sugar and salt. Mix on low until the ingredients look like watery scrambled eggs. Stir in the eggs and dissolved yeast. Gradually stir in the flour until the dough resembles heavy but not too dry muffin batter. Cover bowl with a lint-free tea towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

Punch down the dough, then divide it evenly among the three prepared pans. Cover the pans with your trusty tea towel and let the dough in each pan rise in a warm place until it reaches the top of the pan, about 30 minutes.

Prepare the topping by stirring the brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter until combined.

Use your thumb to make indentations all over the top of the dough in each pan, about 1 inch apart. Push all the way down to the bottom of the pan. Drizzle the topping evenly over the three cakes.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or longer until light brown. Serve warm or cool completely, place in airtight plastic freezer bags, and freeze.

NOTE: If using leftover mashed potatoes, be sure they contain no butter, milk or salt. You can use instant mashed potatoes, but be sure to buy the unseasoned variety.  

Sheri Castle curates collection celebrating 50 years of Southern Living reader recipes

Chapel Hill cookbook writer and culinary teacher Sheri Castle will be the guest of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC) at 7pm Wednesday at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The event is free and open to the public.

Until last month, Sheri Castle had one cookbook published under her name, the exceptional The New Southern Garden Cookbook. Those in the industry, however, recognize her deft editing, demanding recipe testing and, above all else, ability to share great stories in countless ghostwritten cookbooks – several of which have earned high praise for celebrity clients.

Today, as the author of the Southern Living Community Cookbook (Oxmoor House, $29.95), she is sharing the spotlight with dozens of home cooks – who have been featured in the popular magazine over the past 50 years but, for the most part, have lived outside of the glare of culinary fame. To accomplish this, she examined more than 46,000 published recipes to feature ones that not only reflect the best of Southern cooking, but which also exemplify the era in which they were published and the region they from which they came.

Dates are not included in the book, but one can guess with clues like use of a woman’s formal married name, as in the case of Mrs. Denver W. Anderson of Tennessee, who made fried hand pies with reconstituted dried apples that recalls the old timey applejacks recently featured on A Chef's Life. While technology changes were covered enthusiastically when gadgets were novelties, the book features few recipes that require a microwave or call upon a slow cooker. Likewise, none deploy the once ubiquitous dessert topping Dream Whip. Recipes from male contributors suggest more recent issues.

Delightfully illustrated in the manner of vintage cookbooks, Southern Living Community Cookbook celebrates all that is good and wholesome – and rich and decadent – about Southern home cooking.  It also includes a handful of recipes from well-known chefs, including local legends Bill Smith of Crooks Corner, Sara Foster of Foster’s Market, Amy Tornquist of Watts Grocery and Mildred Council of Mama Dip’s. It also features the most requested recipe in the history of Southern Living: Hummingbird Cake – a festive cream cheese-frosted layer cake with crushed pineapple, chopped pecans and mashed banana made famous by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro.

Sherri Castle

North Carolina is well represented in the collection, including the book’s first recipe, Spiced Pecans from Diane Butts of Boone. “That was pure coincidence,” says Castle. “My job was to pick delicious recipes that are reliable and reasonably easy to make.”

Except for its debut issue in February 1966, Castle says Southern Living has always featured reader recipes. Every recipe had to make it through the demands of Southern Living’s test kitchen before being accepted for publication.

Along with local community cookbooks – including those produced by churches and Junior Leagues as fundraisers – these publications empowered women as experts and wage earners at a time where few had jobs outside of the home.

“Some were what I could call heavy users, who mailed in recipes year after year,” Castle says. “I could tell where they moved over the years. There was one in particular, given the number of Air Force bases, that she moved because of deployments.”

Where ever they went, their Southern cooking traditions went with them. Southern Living’s reader recipes became a sort of touchstone for some who lived far from home. It’s a powerful notion, considering many of these recipes were submitted well before the advent of the internet.

“Mailing a recipe in was the social media of the day,” Castle says. “You couldn’t pin or post, but the intention was the same. They wrote the recipes in long hand and tucked them in an envelope. And they waited to find out if they made the cut.”

While Castle does not have any of her own recipes in the book, she wrote the introductory notes that give everything from deviled eggs and pimento cheese to butternut squash tortilla soup and bourbon slush their distinctive sense of place.

Castle has been gratified by the response of readers, who have found the recipes evocative of childhood or the aromas of a loved one’s kitchen.

“That’s exactly the reaction I hoped for,” she says. “It time travel. I hope everyone finds a recipe in there that provides a happy ‘aha moment’ for readers.”

Sweet Potato Pie with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust

From The Southern Living Community Cookbook: Celebrating Food and Fellowship in the American South. Copyright (c) 2014 by Oxmoor House. No reproductions or reprints allowed without express written consent from Oxmoor House. Recipe from the kitchen of Crystal Detamore-Rodman of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Makes 8 servings.

Crust

¾ cup all-purpose flour

                        @ Southern Living photo

½ cup plain white cornmeal

¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup very cold water

Filling
1½ lb. small, slender sweet potatoes
3 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
3 tbps. butter, melted
2 tsp. finely grated fresh orange zest
1 tbsp. fresh orange juice
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1. To prepare the crust, whisk together flour, cornmeal, powdered sugar, rosemary and salt in a medium bowl until well blended. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly, with a few pieces of butter the size of small peas.
2. Sprinkle cold water, 1 tbsp. at a time, over flour mixture, stirring with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour onto a work surface. Gather and form into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap well in plastic wrap and will 30 minutes.
3. Unwrap dough and roll between two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap into a 12-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold edges under and crimp. Chill 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake crust at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, shielding edges with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).
5. To prepare the filling, place sweet potatoes on a baking skeet and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minute or until soft. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp into a bowl. Mash pulp until smooth. Discard skins.
6. Whisk together eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in milk, melted butter, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Stir in sweet potato pulp. Pour mixture into crust.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake 20 to 25 minutes more or until center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Note: If you don’t want to prepare a homemade crust, you can add cornmeal and fresh rosemary to a refrigerated crust. Substitute ½ (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piece crust for cornmeal crust ingredients. Unroll onto lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. plain white cornmeal and 2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary. Lightly roll cornmeal and rosemary into crust. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate according to package directions. Fold edges under; crimp. Proceed as directed, beginning with Step 5.

Cooking old-school with fire can teach much about modern foodways

Food historian Paula Marcoux will talk about how paying attention to historic cooking can improve contemporary home cooking at 7pm Wednesday at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The event is the season opening meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC). Admission is free and Marcoux will sign copies of her book, Cooking With Fire: From Roasting on a Spit to Baking in a Tannur, Rediscovered Techniques and Recipes That Capture the Flavors of Wood-Fired Cooking. 

After a long humid summer, we all crave fall. Leaves already are beginning to change color and loosen. 

Pine straw soon will follow. So when those needles carpet your yard, do what Paula Marcoux does: Set them on fire.

“Some people are wary of digging a fire pit or cooking in the fireplace, but everyone seems to get the idea of cooking mussels with pine straw," says Marcoux, a food historian who shares her passion for primal cooking methods in her book,Cooking With Fire: From Roasting on a Spit to Baking in a Tannur, Rediscovered Techniques and Recipes that Capture the Flavors of Wood-Fired Cooking (Storey Publishing).

Pine-Needle Mussels from Paula Marcoux's website.

Marcoux made the dramatic meal for an episode of the aptly named Man Food Fire on the Cooking Channel. She's also made it several times during her book tour and recommends it as an easy way for newbies to try cooking with live fire.

Many people embrace it because there are no tools needed," says Marcoux, whose book includes step-by-step photos how to arrange the mussels and pine straw. "A lot of people say they want to jump right in and build an oven. I try to back them off from that and try less expensive or labor intensive methods. People with fireplaces have huge opportunities to try a lot of the recipes without making big changes or an investment."

Marcoux just led an extraordinary fireplace cooking presentation at Monticello, the Virginia estate of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was a lover of fine food and wine who is credited for introducing many European delicacies and cooking methods to colonial America. The original kitchen fireplace remains at the historic site but is not often used.

"One of the barriers is that no one wants to be the one to burn it down," she jokes. "But it's a really safe arrangement. With ordinary precautions, they can have a very vibrant exhibit there. I'm happy to know that I was a small part in possibly opening this up in the future."

Marcoux worked on the menu with Dr. Leni Sorensen, a fellow scholar who is cooking her way through The Virginia Housewife: or, Methodical Cook by Mary Randolph. First published in 1838, it is generally recognized as the first truly American cookbook. She followed its directions to prepare a sumptuous meal of roast leg of lamb, okra and tomatoes, sweet potatoes on a griddle and burnt cream, the latter being an Americanized crème brulee.

"It was an amazing, awe-inspiring honor to cook in the actual Monticello kitchen," she says. "It's a very simple hearth, and they also have a stew stove with air blowing up beneath it. It's a much more precise way of cooking and keeping temperature under control. I made a butter sauce on it, something you have to pay attention to."

While Marcoux cooks with an eye on history, Cooking With Fire is written for the modern cook who wants to broaden their understanding of cooking over an open fire. 

"It's surprised me how many people who have told me that they built a fire pit in their yard – and that they view it as a really nice feature," Marcoux says. "I think there is renewed interest because many chefs and bakers are going back to cooking with wood fuel. The flavor can't be matched any other way."

Marcoux is strongly opposed to cooking with a gas grill. "Using them always reminds me how much I hate them," she says. "Even the expensive ones just don't get hot enough. And if you use the lid, it steams instead of grills. The crappiest little hibachi and coal is better." 

If you don't have a hibachi and aren't keen on mussels, Marcoux suggests banking dry wood in an old kettle-style grill to get a taste of the live-fire cooking experience.

"They're not made for such high heat, so it will burn out" she warns. "But if you keep watch, people are always throwing away parts of old grills. I have quite a few, myself. I also collect heavy cast iron pans from people who say they are too heavy to use. If you don't cook directly on a grate, there's nothing better than a heavy cast iron pan."

And there's always your fireplace – or a friend's fireplace, if your home does not have one. "No one thinks to cook in their fireplace, but it won't destroy it to grill a steak or roast a chicken," she says. "You can learn quite a bit by cooking the way they did hundreds of years ago."

Pine-Needle Mussels

Excerpted from “Cooking with Fire” by Paula Marcoux, photography by Keller + Keller, used with permission from Storey Publishing.

In October, the pitch pines and white pines around our house drop a beautiful puffy mat of russet needles. It takes but a few minutes to gather up the pile needed to have this kind of fun. This is an irresistible introduction for newbies of any age to both cooking with fire and eating shellfish.

About 4 or 5 pounds of fresh mussels in the shell

6 to 10 servings, as an appetizer

1. Gather 1/2 to 1 bushel nice dry pine needles.

2. We like to set this up directly on an outdoor wooden table, but you can use a large board (say 3 by 3 feet) or a very flat large stone. Be aware that you will leave a pretty good scorching on whatever surface you select. Also look around before you start to make sure that you will not inadvertently set something else on fire; have a bucket of water handy just in case.

3. Place something small and stable in the middle of the board; a quarter of a brick, a small oblong stone, a half of a potato, cut side down, a small cube of stale bread . . . Arrange the mussels around it, leaning against the supporting object, with their pointy ends sticking upward. Continue arranging all the mussels in a concentric manner. Many hands make quick work and add to the fun.

4. Now let everyone scatter the pine needles evenly, and as deeply as possible, over the top of the mussels. Give a brief safety lecture, then take a single coal from whatever fire you have burning nearby and deposit it deep in the mountain of pine needles, directly on top of the little support in the middle. (If for some reason you don’t have a fire already burning somewhere, just use a match.) Stand back; these babies really go up.

5. That’s it. When the fire dies down, within the smoking ruins lies a tasty appetizer. Resiny-smoky, briny, delicious. I once tried offering toast and remoulade sauce as accompaniments, but was soundly rebuffed with cries of “they’re too good alone!”

6. If for some reason there’s a cool spot in the fire and some of the mussels don’t open, gather them up and rearrange them with new pine needles for a quick encore pyre.

Emily Wallace on the life and legacy of Eugenia Duke, creator of Duke's Mayonnaise

Emily Wallace will be the guest speaker for Culinarary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOP NC) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The event is free and open to the public. (Note: The post first appeared in Indy Week).

Emily Wallace is that girl you sat next to in college, the down-to-earth brainiac who saw connections before you did and didn’t stress out when research papers were assigned. Even her doodles were more clever than yours.

Equally intrigued by vast cultural movements and minutia, Wallace quickly distinguished herself in the field of Southern studies— no surprise to those who knew her. She currently serves as communications director for the UNC Center for the Study of the American South and is editor of its acclaimed journal, Southern Cultures.

But what a relief it is to know that, like the rest of us, she can still be caught off guard.

As part of her ongoing research on pimento cheese—her master’s thesis topic, in which varied recipes say much about place and food politics—Wallace ventured last summer to Richmond, Va., to tour the C.F. Sauer Co. plant. It’s where Duke’s Mayonnaise is produced in faithful memory of its inventor, homemaker-turned-entrepreneur Eugenia Duke.

Duke’s mayo has stirred passionate debate over the years, especially during peak tomato sandwich season. Its otherwise mild-manned devotees have been known to argue over fences with neighbors, cast a wary stink eye at plates of deviled eggs at church suppers and even wear their heart’s desire tattooed on their sleeve.

“My drawing was nothing compared to what they showed me,” says Wallace, who reportedly blushed the color of ketchup to learn she was among an ardent subset of Duke’s lovers who expressed their affection via creative arts.

The slather that Duke created in the 1910s, years before women earned the right to vote, has a slightly sweet and distinctive tang from cider vinegar and became a signature of her fledgling Duke’s Sandwich Co. business. The woman-owned enterprise, which by then employed her husband, other family members and locals, expanded in 1923 to satisfy consumer demand for bottled, take-home jars of her mayo. In 1929, when the business became too big to manage independently, she sold it to Sauer. Duke later launched a similar operation in California, cleverly named Duchess Sandwich Co.

To many, Duke’s mayo is one of the things that define Southern cooking, both in homes and some of the most savvy chef-run kitchens. The familiar yellow-capped jar also tends to find a place in the refrigerators of Southern transplants, even among those who grew up elsewhere using Hellman’s or, bless your heart, Miracle Whip.

Wallace learned much about Duke’s and the strong set of emotions it inspires when she prepared a presentation on the topic for last fall’s annual symposium of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which likewise spotlights her creative drawings and informed writing. Her talk generated lively, point by point Twitter relays and spirited analysis. Joe Yonan, food editor of The Washington Post, later published her remarks under the headline Duke’s Mayonnaise: The Southern spread with a cult following. The story includes the recipe for a decadent chocolate cake that uses Duke’s in the moist batter.

Wallace will recount much of her research in a talk for Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOP NC). She also will share more recent discoveries from an interview conducted with Eugenia Duke’s great-granddaughter, who lives in Charlotte.

“She’s 86 or 87 now and she remembers how driven Eugenia was,” Wallace says. “I’ve learned a lot from her and have continued to stay in touch, which is rewarding.”

Chef Amy Tornquist announces schedule of hands-on cooking classes

Chef Amy Tornquist of Watts Grocery has lost count how many times customers have asked her to teach them how to recreate her dishes at home -- or at least learn how to master some basic culinary techniques. She always demurred, saying she just could not balance the hectic demands of being a restaurant chef, running a catering business, opening Hummingbird Bakery and being a good parent to her young children. Well, now she can. With the help of Matt Lardie, her catering operations manager at Sage & Swift, Tornquist has announced a series of hands-on cooking classes. Because participants will need to roll up their sleeves and have ample room to work, class sizes will be limited to 10 to 14 participants, depending on the topic. (An exception is a wine and cheese pairings class, which is open to 16.)    "I have done tons (of classes) but not offered them at our own space," Tornquist says. "It took Matt's leadership to get us going. I like the idea of getting to serve a little wine and feed folks and do more hands-on instruction" than is available at some other venues. All classes will be held at Sage & Swift, 2595 Whilden Drive in Durham, unless otherwise noted. To register for classes, which are expected to fill quickly, call 919-957-7889. Tornquist welcomes suggests for additional classes to be scheduled in the spring.

 

Jan. 15: Southern Pies

Tornquist will provide both a history lesson on Southern pies and hands-on instruction on how to make three classics: pecan pie, buttermilk chess pie and sweet potato pie. She and Lardie, who previously worked for her as a pastry chef, will share the secrets behind a perfectly flaky crust. Participants will get to sample each pie and take home both the recipes for each and individual-size pies to enjoy at home. ($50; 12 person limit)

 

Jan. 29: Pot Roast and Pinot Noir

Warm up with classic comfort foods and well-paired wines. The class will cover three dishes: pot roast, macaroni and cheese, and chili, along with tips for selecting wines to match the menu. Participants will sip and sup while chopping and stirring, as well as take home recipes and doggy bags. ($50, 12 person limit)

 

Feb. 12: Soup for Supper

Tornquist will teach some of her favorite winter soup recipes along with classic accompaniments to turn a bowl of soup into a satisfying winter meal. Details are to be announced, but think butternut squash and a cheddar scone. Also learn how to make her favorite mulled wine. Participants will leave with recipes and containers of soup to enjoy at home. ($50, 14 person limit)

 

Feb. 26: Perfect Pairings: Wine and Cheese (Location TBA)

Learn how to assemble a balanced wine and cheese pairing for entertaining or at-home nibbling. Participants will be introduced to some of North Carolina's best artisan cheeses and sample great wines from around the globe. ($50, 16 person limit) 

 

March 5: Easy Cheese-Making
If you think making cheese at home means pressing a button on a can of Cheese Whiz, get ready to have your mind blown. With assistance from Lardie, who formerly was associated with Hillsborough Cheese Company, participants will learn the basic principles of cheese-making along with recipes for crème fraiche, ricotta and paneer. ($35, 14 person limit)

March 19: Stir Fry 101

One of the world's oldest cooking tools is also one of the most versatile to have in a modern kitchen. Tornquist and Lardie, the latter of whom runs the popular Wok Wednesdays website in collaboration with wok cooking expert Grace Young, will teach how to use a wok to stir-fry, steam, braise, deep-fry food, as well as smoke meats and vegetables. Participants will learn three easy recipes that demonstrate the versatility and simplicity of stir-frying. Registration includes a new wok and wok spatula. ($55, 10 person limit)