Understand
North Carolina is a very old and traditional state. According to some, North Carolina can claim to be the first state. In 1775, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed, even though North Carolina wasn't the first to ratify the Constitution.
Travelers familiar with the American South will find that North Carolina is typical of the area in terms of culture. To some degree, it is a "transition state" between the Deep South and the Mid-Atlantic area. As a result, it has a moderate mixture of cultural influences; this effect is heightened by a very high rate of immigration from northern states and from Latin America.
Eat
Down home Southern cooking style. North Carolina prides itself on its vast farming community, which produces a plethora of fresh produce and livestock. As the slogan says, "Goodness grows in North Carolina."
Hog farms are North Carolina's number-one commodity and as such, the pig plays an important role in state cuisine. As in the rest of the South,
pork meat (particularly ham, bacon, smoked ham hocks and salt pork) and
pork fat (fatback and lard) are highly popular flavoring ingredients. Perhaps unsurprisingly, no part of the pig is wasted. Livermush, a delicacy that includes pig liver, parts of the head, and cornmeal is a favorite delicacy. The town of Shelby, NC has an annual festival celebrating the tradition of livermush and barbecue. A great local delicacy — albeit one that most people won't touch, if they weren't raised eating it — is
chitterlings (most often abbreviated to
chitlings or
chitlins),
aka pig intestines, which are thoroughly cleaned, boiled and fried. Small local companies like
Neese's manufacture souse (also called
headcheese), liver pudding, pickled pigs' feet and C-loaf (made from chitterlings). For the less adventurous, North Carolina offers plenty of mainstream ways to enjoy the humble pig:
:* The
pig pickin' is a longstanding North Carolina tradition, usually to be found at large gatherings like a church supper or family reunion. An entire pig is split and slow-roasted all day over the fire, then pulled apart and served to the hungry crowd along with a wide variety of accompanying side dishes and desserts.
:*
Barbecue tends to stir up strong emotions anywhere there's a prized local variation, and North Carolina is no different. Here the main split is between the east and the west. Western NC barbecue (or Lexington Style) favors only the pork shoulders, and the sauce (or
dip) is vinegar- and tomato-based. Eastern NC barbecue roasts the entire pig, and uses a sauce made primarily from vinegar and hot red pepper. In North Carolina, the pork meat is
pulled, or shredded (by hand or with forks) in the eastern part of the state, and chopped in the western part. Barbecue can be served all by itself on a plate (but usually with a generous serving of
hushpuppies), but more commonly is piled atop a hamburger bun along with chopped
coleslaw and eaten as a sandwich. A point about the slaw; in the...
