True Grits
Certain foods become a place. Lobster is Maine. Baked beans are Boston. Chiles are Southwestern and grits are definitely Southern. While Charlotte does not have the exclusive rights, grits certainly have a presence here.
If you tasted the often watery, bland mush passed off as grits in some breakfast spots, you haven’t had true grits. Some of you may have grown up being force fed steaming bowls of farina or semolina (aka cream of wheat), cream of rice, oatmeal or some other porridge. Here we eat grits because we actually like them.
Some folks who would never think of ordering grits enjoy Italian polenta, which is a mush made from cornmeal. Perhaps the lip calisthenics of the word polenta makes this food more palatable.
To be fair, at some point the English shortened the Native American word for grits, Rockahominie, to hominy. The best grits are coarse-ground and whole grain. Grits should taste like creamed fresh corn and are best when made with milk and/or cream and served with sauteed shrimp and onions. At area restaurants, you may also find Stone Ground Grit Gnocchi, Baked Cheese Grits or even a Warm Grit Pudding.
Loose Fruits
Even though Martha Stewart once said cherries were not grown south of the Mason-Dixon Line, they are. Those of you who are from Michigan should mark your calendars for next June and visit Levering Orchard off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Ararat, Virginia; 276-755-4837 (www.leveringorchard.com).
Peach season is extraordinary, as you may have discovered. For some of the best peach recipes, pick up a copy of Dory Sanders’ Country Cooking (Algonquin Books, F. Blair, Publisher, 224 pages, $18.95).
The coming cool nights will urge rosy cheeks on Appalachian apples. Part of local tradition includes driving to the mountains for recently harvested apples. You will not find Northern Spy, but you will find such Southern heritage varieties as Hoover, quite possibly the perfect apple; the firm Yellow Newton Pippin, which was George Washington’s favorite apple; Cox’s Orange Pippin, a medium-sized, russet-skinned apple that’s prized by Europeans; the spicy, crisp, oval Esopus Spitzenburg, Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple; and the highly sought after, citrusy Grimes Golden, a medium golden green apple. Hurry, though: Urbane mountain homes are replacing the apple orchards at an accelerated rate.
Whining About Wine
OK, so you can’t find Turley’s wines here. You can’t in most other states, either. But you can have your favorite winery ship directly to you. Plus, North Carolina is in the midst of a wine revival, and I don’t mean drinking wine — I mean making wine. Who would have thought that the end of the tobacco industry would mean a beginning for a burgeoning wine industry?
Global Central
You probably moved to Charlotte from a city that has a much older ethnic community (e.g., Boston’s historic Italian North End, San Francisco’s Chinatown, and Miami’s Little Havana). For decades, the immigrant population that had the biggest food impact on Charlotte was the Greek community. The standing joke was that the Greeks owned all the Italian restaurants but Charlotte didn’t have any Greek restaurants. However, everyone flocks to the Yiasou! Greek Festival held each September to buy the Greek pastries.
Alas, you won’t find a French pastry shop in Charlotte. Nor an Italian one. Charlotte’s other ethnic restaurants and markets are flavored by our recent immigrants: Thai, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Caribbean, South African and Eastern European. The largest demographic, however, belongs to the blossoming Latino community.
For almost two decades Charlotte has enjoyed Thai restaurants. I once heard that after the Vietnam War, Jacksonville, NC (home to USMC Camp Lejeune), had more Thai restaurants than any other US city. But ethnic restaurants come and go. A Laotian restaurant thrived for a few years and then, whoosh, gone. If you want authenticity and less Disneyfication of your ethnic food, the best spot is along the Central Avenue corridor, where the decor will be transcended by the cooking.
Hot In The Middle
Center City is hot. In fact, this is Charlotte’s latest restaurant row. If you just moved here, you should know that in the 1990s, Charlotte actually did roll up the sidewalks after hours (this is before the BOA building, Blumenthal PAC, the stadium, the restaurants and the bars). At the same time, downtown/Uptown/CC/whatever had two department stores. Weird, eh? People who ventured downtown after 6pm would describe their adventures as if they had been in the Australian outback fending off wild dingoes. Things are different now, with almost 10,000 people living in the shadow of power and an increasing number of diverse restaurants opening up. Most, however, are closed on Sunday.
Barbecue Is A Noun
Last but not least is the food that defines the region. The best way to find a good barbecue place is with your nose.
North Carolina has two styles of barbecue. Eastern-style (meaning the eastern side of the state) uses the whole pig, and the sauce doesn’t contain tomatoes, sugar or molasses. This meat is drier than western-style barbecue, or Lexington-style, named for the city which is the epicenter for this style of ‘cue. Lexington uses pork shoulders and is served either chopped or sliced; furthermore, the sauce (or dip) contains tomatoes.
A third variety of barbecue exists in the mountains, but as North Carolina barbecue expert Bob Garner noted, this barbecue is akin to the headdresses sold in Cherokee: obviously an out-of-state influence.
Some Charlotteans make regular trips to Lexington #1, on the old I-85 By-Pass. Spots in town to find good barbecue include church fundraisers, such as the annual October event held at Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church.
By the way, Charlotteans do not barbecue steaks. Steaks are grilled.
Have a restaurant tip, compliment, complaint? Do you know of a restaurant that has opened, closed, or should be reviewed? Does your restaurant or shop have news, menu changes, new additions to staff or building, upcoming cuisine or wine events? Note: We need events at least 12 days in advance. Fax information to Eaters’ Digest: 704-944-3605, or leave voice mail: 704-522-8334, ext. 136. To contact Tricia via email: tricia.childress@creativeloafing.com.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2004.
