When I first became a part of my stepson’s life, he was 8 years old and the scope of what he ate, or was comfortable eating, was fairly narrow. He enjoyed a meal that my husband routinely made, which was a filet of baked white fish, sautéed kale and roasted sweet potatoes, and he liked Lunchables. Beyond that, he seemed wary of most everything else, just like a lot of other 8-year-olds.
This sweet picky eater posed a small challenge for me, in large part because I relish the job of cooking dinner for my family, with a rotation of about 30–40 meals, and I like to incorporate lots of different vegetables, proteins and grains. I’d set down a plate of eggplant parmesan (we call it eggplant pizza) or roasted Brussels sprouts with kielbasa, and he’d look at us with disappointed resignation, wanting nothing more than to skip dinner, grab a banana and a small container of yogurt, and go to bed.
Now I know that any discussion of parenting is a risky business—a third-rail topic right up there with religion and politics—and I don’t judge any parent who’s acting out of love for their child. But for us, the best way to handle the situation seemed to be to provide enough food that fell within his comfort zone while also encouraging him to try new things. He was never forced to eat any dish, but at the same time we told him what had been prepared for dinner was all that was going to be served.
Over the course of a few years, as he got older and his palate broadened, he became a rather adventurous eater. Now at 14 (going on 30), he eats everything I serve. There are definitely some dishes he prefers over others—yay to hamburgers, boo to quinoa salad with green onions and cilantro—but he eats it all. He may still have a proverbial comfort zone when it comes to food, but he regularly moves outside of that zone without complaint.
In this issue, we honor the many ways the brave act of moving outside of our comfort zones pushes us to do new things. In other words, we are celebrating adventure. For some, that means scrambling up a rock face or paddling whitewater; for others, it means starting a new business or going back to school. Either way, it is no small thing to enter into a situation that feels uncomfortable or scary, and to navigate it in the hope that someday it will no longer intimidate you.
Features Editor Brook Bolen delivers a fascinating Q&A with Asheville resident Jennifer Pharr Davis, an elite athlete who holds the world’s record as the fastest woman to complete the Appalachian Trail, while noted author Nan K. Chase explores her son’s foray into the world of hunting wild game (think bear and squirrel) and making some truly delightful dishes from the meat. You can also check out our amazing summer recipes, featuring salads and seafood, that might challenge your own picky eater.
As the summer unfolds and you pursue your own adventures for the season, I hope you take the time to congratulate yourself for pushing the bounds of what you’re capable of doing and overcoming.
Tennille T. Legler Publisher
2024 Summer Vol. 9 | No. 3
Publishers
Tennille T. Legler
Errin Tracy
Features Editors
Brook Bolen
Recipe Editors
Terri Terrell
Michele Gentille
Copy Editor
Doug Adrianson
Design/Layout
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Distribution Coordinator
Rebecca Miller Contact Us PO Box 1185 Asheville, NC 28802 828-620-1230 edibleasheville.com editor@edibleasheville.com For advertising options, call us at 828-620-1230
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Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved. Published by Blue Root Media LLC.
Photo by Corrine Elaine.
table setting at Cultura restaurant in downtown Asheville (above); elite athlete Jennifer Pharr Davis (right); cheesemaking expert SioréeLeone (bottom right); a vegan dish served at Plant (below)
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Contributors
Erin Adams - Photographer
Erin Adams is an Asheville-based food and lifestyle photographer. In addition to Edible Asheville, her work appears in a variety of publications, including Our State, WNC Magazine, Southern Living, and Garden & Gun She shoots commercially for Biltmore Wines, The Biltmore Estate restaurants and many small businesses in the area.
Brook Bolen - Features Editor
Born and bred in WNC, Brook Bolen is a writer, editor, home cook and ravenous eater. Her work has appeared in Salon, VICE, WNC magazine, and more.
Nan K. Chase - Contributor
Nan K. Chase is the author of Lost Restaurants of Asheville and Asheville: A History. She also wrote Eat Your Yard!, about cultivating the edible landscape, and co-authored Drink the Harvest, about the “drinkable landscape.” She has lectured nationwide about gardening, canning and creating non-grape wines.
Amy Bess Cook - Contributor
Amy Bess Cook is a writer committed to sharing unsung perspectives. A veteran of the wine industry, she is founder of a pioneering platform amplifying female vintners that’s won recognition from the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times. Her essays and articles have appeared in trade, literary, and lifestyle publications.
Michele Gentille - Recipe Editor
Michele Gentille grew up in food-diverse Toronto, received a culinary degree from La Varenne in France and moved to the WNC countryside in 2012. She works as a food stylist and private chef, has written about food for publications including The Wall Street Journal and T Magazine from the New York Times and has been a culinary assistant on Food Network shows.
Sabrina Hill - Photographer
Sabrina Hill is a freelance photographer, specializing in food and lifestyle. With 15 years of experience in the photo world, she has lent her creative vision to an array of commercial and advertising campaigns, ranging from intimate local projects to large-scale endeavors.
Anna Laman - Contributor
Anna Laman is a writer and content strategist. She’s been writing for and about local Asheville businesses since moving here in 2010.
Madeleine O’Toole - Contributor
Madeleine is a local food and farm enthusiast based in Asheville. When she’s not exploring new restaurants, farmers markets, festivals or coffee shops, she can be found hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains with her beagle Bennie.
Chris Smith - Contributor
Chris Smith is executive director of the Utopian Seed Project, a crop-trialing nonprofit working to celebrate food and farming, and co-host of “The Okra Pod Cast.” Smith’s book, The Whole Okra, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2020. In 2023, he received the Organic Educator Award from the Organic Growers School and was named a Champion of Conservation by Garden & Gun
Terri Terrell - Recipe Editor
Born in Mississippi, Terri Terrell is a Delta chef in the Appalachian tradition. She has been an active voice and participant in the culinary scene for over two decades. She was one of the first Asheville chefs to highlight local and consciously grown ingredients, leading to her current role as Development and Events Director at the Utopian Seed Project.
Kristina Valdiviezo - Photographer
Based in Asheville, Kristina Valdiviezo specializes in food, restaurant, lifestyle and product photography. Working as Fraiche Photography, she is known for crafting captivating stories with a minimalist touch.
Kay West - Contributor
Kay West covered food and restaurants for over 30 years in Nashville and, since 2019, in Asheville— where she now lives. She is the author of five books, including Around the Opry Table: A Feast of Recipes and Stories from the Grand Ole Opry.
Showing Up for the
Showdowns
A-B Tech’s Culinary and Baking Students
Dominate U.S. Cooking Competitions
In the time it takes most people to cook a simple potluck casserole, a group of five students at A-B Tech’s culinary school can prepare a four-course meal from scratch, incorporating two whole chickens, a fresh-caught trout and regional crab, a box of greens and various root vegetables, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, herbs and an impressive smattering of sauces, purées and vinaigrettes. Oh, and peering over their shoulders is an army of judges, there to make sure each of those students stays calm, works efficiently, keeps their station clean and executes every step without flaw or error.
So far, so good.
In 2024, as in years past, A-B Tech’s culinary school has put together a team of students to compete in the American Culinary Federation’s highly regarded annual cooking competition. The team won first place in a regional round in April—a feat the school has accomplished a record-breaking 14 times before—and so the team now heads to Phoenix in July for a national battle, going toe to toe with four other culinary schools from across the country to compete for a blue ribbon.
At a time when many culinary schools are eliminating competitive cooking from their curriculum—in large part because it is both costly and time-consuming to organize and attend—A-B Tech, with the financial backing of the Biltmore Estate and McKibbon Hospitality, remains committed to the annual showdowns.
At A-B Tech, the march towards a win begins with a series of internal tryouts, where the school’s chef instructors oversee a timed relay of knife skills and cooking techniques. Students angling for a spot on the team have to do seemingly simple challenges like cook a chicken and prepare green beans, and also tricky tasks like rolling out tart dough, which can be delicate and easily prone to tears.
Once a team is selected, the students spend eight to 10 weeks finalizing a four-course menu that includes an appetizer, salad, entree and dessert. For the first-round competition, the menu has to reflect regional culinary traditions; A-B Tech this year decided on a poached trout with crab salad appetizer, a salad of greens and beets with fresh cheese and candied pecans, a main course of herb-crusted chicken with morel mushrooms and braised collard greens, and a strawberry bavarian with cornmeal-pistachio cake.
The school’s competitive cooking team won first place in a regional competition in April—a feat it has accomplished a record-breaking 14 times before. In July the team heads to Phoenix for a national battle.
The competitions are a fundamental part of the students’ education, says team coach and chef-instructor Chris Bugher, giving them the opportunity to fine-tune their skills in a pressure-cooker environment that resembles something similar to what they’ll experience in the real world.
“My favorite part of the process is to see the transformation of the dishes—from the first few attempts to the final products—and also the transformation within the students themselves,” Bugher says. “It’s a big change.”
To be sure, A-B Tech’s ongoing investment in competitive cooking aligns with a guiding principle at the school itself, which is to prepare the students for successful careers. And when it comes to being a chef or baker, that means knowing how to handle pressure, time management and the occasional curveball (like when a competing team forgets to bring a meat grinder and asks to borrow one, taking up a valuable piece of equipment and occupying space in a cramped contest kitchen).
Bugher himself is a competitor in cooking contests and racks up as many wins as the students he coaches. In 2023, after snagging a gold medal at the Global Chefs Challenge Regional Semi-Finals in Chile, and earning the title of Global Vegan Chef of the Americas, he’ll represent the Americas at the worldwide finals in Singapore in October.
Once the menu is finalized, the team spends several months in practice sessions—often taking 40 hours a week, squeezed in between regular classes, along with jobs and family commitments. The goal is to fine-tune the flavors and textures, and also to improve their speed. The students are given 90 minutes to complete the meal, from start to finish, with any lapses resulting in almost guaranteed loss.
Team member Avery Lathan used the practice sessions to butcher chickens, shaving down the time of his task to just seven minutes for two birds. Teammate Ethyn Jester did the same for trout, which had to be cleaned, skinned and deboned at lightning speed.
“I’m not getting this degree to hang on a wall; I’ve actually got to do this,” Lathan says. “So taking this leap and doing this competition has given me more confidence in myself.”
With the finals quickly approaching in July, the team is tackling a new menu and the same grueling schedule for practice sessions. But with one national trophy in the case, awarded to the school in 2007, the team is hoping to bring home a second win, while also acknowledging that the real accomplishment is in the competition itself.
“The instructors are always telling us to put ourselves out there,” says team captain Abbey Franklin, “and this kind of experience really expedites our growth.”
¡Viva Variety!
Embark on a culinary adventure with unexpected fruits and veggies
WRITTEN BY CHRIS SMITH
One day I was driving my 5-year-old daughter home from preschool. We were in our little maroon-colored Nissan Leaf, and when Emmy looked out of the window she saw another little maroon-colored Nissan Leaf.
“Look, Daddy,” she said. “It’s the same species.”
It was a proud dad moment for this self-proclaimed amateur botanist. In our home garden, we often enjoy putting on our invisible botanical goggles. We look at plants, investigate and eat edible flowers and talk about all of the different plant species.
to food production in 2019— and only nine were used for twothirds of the world’s food production.
Nine crops! For two-thirds of all food production!
“More plants, more variety, more fiber, more flavor. I call it the Diversity Diet.”
—Megan Rossi, PhD, in How to Eat More Plants and Love Your Gut
The United Nations also has a pair of botanical goggles and occasionally puts them on to study the world. The last time they used them, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that there are 20,000 edible plant species in the world, and 6,000 of them have historically been used for food. However, of those edible plants, fewer than 200 made a major contribution
This is what crop monoculture looks like on a global scale. This lack of crop diversity is bad on many levels. A lot of our “big problems”—like climate change, environmental degradation, polluted water, ecosystem collapse, and dwindling food sovereignty—are connected to declining agrobiodiversity and large-scale industrial agriculture. It’s true that these big problems need a big collective response, but I also believe individual empowerment and crop diversity are important on a very personal level.
Our own bodies tend to thrive when exposed to crop diversity. Take our guts, for example. Good gut health has been linked to many positive health outcomes, including mental health, blood sugar regulation and a strengthened immune system. The basic message when it comes to gut health is that we need to
cultivate a diverse gut microbiome (the trillions of bacteria that live in our gut) and gut health scientist and registered dietitian Megan Rossi, PhD, author of How to Eat More Plants and Love Your Gut, has written that the easiest way to improve gut health is to eat a wide variety of plants.
“This approach is enriching, not restricting; inclusive, not exclusive,” she says in the book. “More plants, more variety, more fiber, more flavor. I call it the Diversity Diet.”
If diversity is key, then this is where you need to grab your own set of botanical goggles, and investigate your pantry, shopping cart, garden or restaurant menu.
For instance, I’m always amazed that collards, kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts all belong to the same species (Brassica oleracea)! They may look like different crops, but they all actually stem from the same plant—a wild mustard plant—that has been bred over hundreds of years to produce different traits, selected for size and edibility. Turnips, rutabaga, radishes, horseradish, bok choy, watercress, arugula and mustard greens are all cousins in the same Brassica family. Certainly different crops, but not a massive amount of botanical diversity. We see similar relational patterns in other commonly eaten plant families:
To be clear, it’s not bad to eat any of these things, but it’s quite likely that many of us eat a majority of our foods from just a small handful of plant families.
When it comes to gut health, Rossi suggests trying to consume at least 30 different plant types a week. It shouldn’t be that hard. I’ve seen ube, taro and cassava at the store; I know local farmers are growing and selling sorghum, pawpaws and many kinds of mushrooms—representing all sorts of different botanical families. We have local herb and spice companies selling regionally foraged ingredients and responsibly sourced spices. And if you’re lucky enough to have access to land, then I guarantee at least an edible weed or two could make it into a meal!
So the real call to action here is to be adventurous, to try something new and embrace the diversity the food system has to offer. Your health and your taste buds will thank you for it.
From weekly meals, retreats, and corporate catering to personal chef services, experience Asheville through our catering and prepared meals services. Let Chef Katie take care of your menu, so you can enjoy spending more time with your friends and family.
Market Mania
Explore Eastern flavors at Asheville’s Asian markets, no passport necessary
WRITTEN BY MADELEINE O’TOOLE
Bring along your appetite and your shopping bags for tips on exploring Asheville’s vibrant and delectable world of Asian markets. These diverse stores offer a variety of ingredients from across Asia, carrying both everyday items and countless specialty items that you won’t find elsewhere in town.
Asheville’s oldest Asian market, open since 1999, is Foreign Affairs on Tunnel Road. This cozy spot offers up kitchen essentials like rice and dumpling wrappers, plus fresh produce, sundries, snacks and a veritable universe of ramen.
Asheville’s newest and biggest Asian grocery store is Asiana Market, the expansion of beloved local grocery Lee’s Asian Market. Until 2023, Lee’s operated as a smaller Asian market in the Skyland Plaza shopping center within a strip of grocery stores on Hendersonville Road. Asiana Market is an awesome testament to increasing demand for more diverse cuisine.
Business was always steady, says co-owner Steven Ar, but the last few years’ demand made Lee’s smaller space unable to accommodate an ever-increasing workload. “So many people are moving here from much larger cities,” says Ar. “We have seen that with this increased population comes an increased demand for larger and more diverse local grocery stores.”
So many people are moving here from much larger cities. We have seen that with this increased population comes an increased demand for larger and more diverse local grocery stores.”
—
Asiana Market Co-owner Steven Ar
Amongst Asheville’s grocery stores, you can find foods from nearly every Asian country, including Thailand, Vietnam, India, China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. Each offers its own special twist.
Located in a strip mall off Patton Avenue, Kim’s Oriental Food & Gifts is small but mighty. Inside 1,000 square feet of storefront is an impressive array of predominantly Korean foods (including their locally beloved kimchi), plus sushi rolls, Asian cookware, spices, teas and other pantry items.
A labyrinth on Leicester Highway, YZ Asian Market carries mostly East Asian and Southeast Asian groceries, including walls of pantry spices and goods. And with fresh fish on ice and live tanks of crab and lobster, its seafood offerings are superb.
A common theme for Asian markets is that the shelves are typically stocked with inventory not to be found in a traditional grocery store.
Our advice? Take your time strolling the aisles and you’re likely to discover all kinds of delightful sweet and savory snacks, rice, noodles, ramen and seaweed. Stock your freezer with steam buns, egg rolls and dumplings so you’ll always have something filling and convenient on hand to eat.
Be sure to check out the beverage section at area Asian markets. You’ll find a wide selection of teas, imported beers, plum wine, sake and soju to complete your grocery haul. Fun fact: Many local Asian markets, including Kim’s Oriental Food & Gifts, import the bulk of their products through companies in Atlanta, New Jersey or California, which helps enable markets to offer a wider variety of products to consumers.
When searching for your next dinner recipe, look no further than local Asian markets to gather ingredients that you can’t find anywhere else in town. With so many local options, it has never been easier to get a taste of Asian cuisine in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Decorated Cookies • Custom Cakes • Pastries & Pies • Old Fashioned Cookies
House to Home Directory
Check out these popular local businesses that help transform our houses into homes. With custom-made furniture, dynamic art pieces and quality supplies, they help create the types of living spaces that welcome joy, relaxation and positivity.
Lexington Glassworks
Hand-blown Glass Vessels & Custom Lighting
81 S. Lexington Ave, Downtown Asheville
Hand-blown glass pieces by Lexington Glassworks are almost immediately recognizable in any room, displaying a playful mastery of both color and shape. Their pieces have been showcased in The New Yorker, Southern Living, and Garden & Gun, among others, and the downtown studio and gallery is almost always packed. They offer a variety of bud and bouquet vases, drinkware, and sculptural pieces—and we love their popular $40 hand-blown whiskey glasses wrapped with a silver leaf finish. Widely known for their lighting designs, Lexington Glassworks’ creativity shines, with high-quality custom pendants, sconces and chandeliers that take center stage in any room.
Asheville Crafted Edge
Handcrafted Knives & Kitchen Supplies
6 Eagle St, Downtown Asheville
It’s hard to overstate the value of a good knife in the kitchen. From meat cleavers to paring knives, the quality and sharpness of a blade will elevate your cooking, and make the experience of preparing food both safer and more satisfying. Asheville Crafted Edge offers beautiful, splurge-worthy knives handcrafted by owner Sam Garner, and a collective of regional makers. Opening in 2022, the shop has quickly become the go-to knife shop for chefs and home cooks ready to ditch their dull, outdated blades. Stop in for professional sharpening and repair services, and keep an eye out for upcoming workshops!
Sue Dolamore Art Studio
Original Watercolor Paintings, Prints & Greeting Cards
170 Lyman St, Studio #3, River Arts District
All artists try to evoke a feeling with their creations and to have their pieces improve the spaces they inhabit. For Asheville artist Sue Dolamore, the feeling she aims for is nothing but stylishly positive vibes. “The beautiful colors and images in my work make people feel good,” she says. Dolamore creates a uniquely calming and distinctive look to her work by creating bold lines with India ink, which are then complemented with the luminous transparency of watercolor and topped with coats of cold wax. Her original watercolors are top sellers, and her recent piece Sacred Fire, depicting a community bonfire amid a cathedral in the forest, captured the applause of local art lovers.
Rhythm Interiors
Commercial Interior Design & Project Management
549 Elk Park Dr, Suite 712, Asheville
As restaurants devote more time and energy to the design of their interior dining spaces, commercial designers like Rhythm Interiors & Installation and its owner Claire Counts are helping to shape Asheville’s restaurant scene, quite literally. With 25 years of experience around the U.S., Counts has designed the interiors of several popular Asheville eateries—including Andaaz, Laila and Dobra Tea East—and streamlines the process for her clients by overseeing their projects, soup to nuts: providing design, master planning, purchasing, project management and installation. Dismissing the belief that designers should bring their own strong aesthetic to their projects, Counts prides herself on being able to achieve her clients’ visions by listening to and executing on their needs.
Sunnyside Trading Co.
Antique & Vintage Furniture From Around the World
27 Foundy St #80, River Arts District
If your home decor style has roots in the romantic charm of Asia, North Africa or the Middle East, you’ll find a gold mine at Sunnyside Trading Co. With a sprawling showroom of furniture, rugs, textiles and home decor—sourced directly from artists and antique dealers in India, China, Turkey, Thailand and Morocco—Sunnyside is the regional go-to for authentic or repurposed pieces, with some items dating back to the 19th century. While the market for “globally inspired” pieces is overrepresented by mass-produced goods, those at Sunnyside are the real deal. Owner Stuart Hough, formerly an antiques dealer in Paris, takes multiple trips per year to the origin countries and hand-picks the inventory.
Force of Nature
From footpaths to boardrooms, globe trekking hiker
Jennifer Pharr Davis lives by lessons learned on the trail
WRITTEN BY BROOK BOLEN | PHOTOS BY ERIN ADAMS
AQJennifer Pharr Davis may be best known for holding the world speed record for female hikers on the Appalachian Trail—a feat she accomplished in 2008 and then bested in 2011, completing the 2,200-mile trail in 46 days—but the Asheville resident is also the mom of kids aged 11 and 7, a master’s student, conservation advocate, author, public speaker, businesswoman and aspiring gardener. We spoke with Pharr Davis, 40, about life on the trail, her favorite foods, and whether there might be a cookbook in her future.
Edible Asheville: It seems natural to assume that you’ve learned many lessons through hiking that have shaped the course of your life and helped you along the way. Is that safe to say, and what insights could you share with us?
Day in and day out, the biggest part about being successful in life is just showing up, even when you’re not at your best. And I’m not talking about just looking nice, but finding a way to hold on to joy when things are tough, taking a moment to pause and take a breath when it all feels overwhelming, finding a way to be the best version of yourself even when it’s not as good as you’d like—that’s a life lesson I hope I can share with my kids as they grow up.
You’re currently pursuing your Master’s Degree in Public Policy. Have the lessons you’ve learned in nature helped you as an academic?
I think the biggest lesson is probably learning to recover on the go. Whether I was going after a trail record or doing a more traditional thru-hike, you had to keep moving even when you didn’t feel like it. There’s an expression on the Appalachian Trail: “No rain, no Maine.” Meaning, if you’re not willing to hike in the rain and when you don’t feel like it, you’re not going to reach Maine and finish your thru-hike. Grad school has been like that.
You’re well known for being the fastest female thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail. What did you eat while hiking your record-setting hike?
The short answer is: everything. I ate a lot of cookies, cheeseburgers, fries, chips, shakes, and some fruit. I drank a lot of protein shakes like Ensure. It’s a constant battle to keep meat on your bones when you’re hiking 47 miles a day.
You’ve written nine books, including two memoirs and two guidebooks for hiking in North Carolina. Would you ever consider writing a cookbook?
Haha. Nobody wants me to write a cookbook. I think if I did it would be like “Go to Trader Joe’s. Find a parking spot. That’s your first challenge. Now walk to the freezer section and buy a bag of fried rice. Then go to the meat section and get the chicken breasts. Now go home and stir-fry it all together and voila, dinner!”
Unlike many people in Western North Carolina, you’re actually from the area—from Hendersonville—and grew up around regional foods. What sorts of foods or meals do you remember eating?
My mom was very strict about what we could eat in our house. I remember one of my elementary school teachers telling us if we memorized all the presidents she would take us to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. I came in the next day and rattled them off. Then she said “I can’t take just you. We have to wait for some other kids to memorize the list.” I was so mad! I guess their parents took them to McDonald’s a lot more than mine did because it felt like forever before anyone else memorized the list.
“I’ve always felt like the Appalachians are a wise old grandma. I just want to say thank you to her, protect her and give something back.”
In 2012, National Geographic named you “Adventurer of the Year.” Are you an adventurous eater? And what are some of your favorite local eats?
I’m not not an adventurous eater. But I’m also not nearly as adventurous as my kids. We went to Fiji a couple summers ago for a clean water project. They served lots of fish and one of our guides challenged my son—who was only 5 at the time—to eat a fish eyeball. He crunched it up and swallowed it and said, “Mmm. Fishy!” We all got a good laugh out of that.
As for restaurants, I’m a big fan of Vinnie’s Italian, The Lobster Trap and our family favorite, 828 Family Pizzeria. I also love a good burger and a beer so going to Highland or Hi Wire and hitting up the food trucks and just sitting outside makes me happy.
So much of your work with writing and the business you founded, Blue Ridge Hiking Company, has promoted the benefits of getting folks outside and into nature. Any chance this love of the outdoors translates into gardening at home or working in a yard?
Yes and no. I am a wannabe gardener, but travel for work and adventures makes it difficult to keep up a green thumb. I’m big into creating space for native plants in my yard. I’m hopeful that later in life I can be a better, more devoted gardener.
You’ve hiked on six continents and in all 50 states, a total of more than 14,000 miles. How do those hiking experiences compare to hiking the AT?
I love being on trails and am a lot more comfortable on any trail than in a big city. For the most part, the primary use I have for big cities is to fly in and out of them. I tend to escape to the country as quickly as my little feet will carry me.
I’ve loved hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees and the French Alps and the coast of Australia and climbing Kilimanjaro. I’ve loved hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and the Colorado Trail. But they are all so far down the list for me compared to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail.
In late 2022, you launched a petition to add wildlife passages to the area after accidentally hitting a bear on I-26. Can you give us an update on that effort?
Yes, my kids and I were driving home on I-26 and struck and, sadly, killed an enormous black bear. The tow truck driver said it was the fifth car he’d picked up in two weeks that had collided with a black bear.
I started a petition and got over 5,000 signatures and reached out to NCDOT. They were really great and said they’d look into it. We emailed back and forth and they eventually said “Yeah, a wildlife corridor is something we need to do here.” They have them all over out west, and of course we’re not as big of an open space as Montana or Wyoming or something, but we have a lot more traffic and a high density of black bears who use our area for migration, so I felt like it was really important to push for it. The last I heard they were planning to install fencing to help direct wildlife to an animal crossing underneath the bridge that spans the French Broad River.
What’s next for you?
I’m just taking it one hour at a time, honestly. I have four more weeks of grad school and will sort of survey the landscape then. I’m finishing up a book with a neighbor and close friend who we lived on our old street with for years. She’s African American and grew up in the East End. I think coming together and bridging differences is really important, especially this year with the election and all the vitriol there.
I started a nonprofit called Crossing Our Divide. You can check it out at crossingourdivide.org. I’d like to put my policy degree to use in some way. I don’t know what comes next, but I do hope that I’ll move in the direction of conserving and preserving land and caring for people. The mountains have given me so much. I’ve always felt like the Appalachians are a wise old grandma. I just want to say thank you to her, protect her and give something back.
Series
Presented in Partnership with Wicked Weed Brewing
The Many Cultures at Cultura
Part 2 of a 3-Part Series Exploring the History of Wicked Weed Brewing and Its Businesses
PHOTOS BY KRISTINA VALDIVIEZO
“We don’t put limits on what we can or cannot do. The only limitation in the kitchen is that it has to be delicious.”
—Cultura Executive Chef Eric Morris
The “fermentation room” at Cultura is a science lab of sorts, with colorful vegetables swimming in large glass jars stacked on wire shelves, neatly labeled with names and dates, and a hint of earthy smells belying the beautiful process of chemistry happening within each of the containers.
“Don’t worry,” jokes Cultura Executive Chef Eric Morris. “Everything is approved by the Health Department.”
It’s a space dedicated to the ethos of Cultura, a fine-dining restaurant in downtown Asheville owned by Wicked Weed Brewing that eschews labels and conventional cuisine categories and instead devotes itself to “Old World” culinary techniques (like fermentation) executed with precision for a vibrant 21st-century dining experience.
“We want to create menus that push people out of their comfort zone, but are still really approachable,” Morris says. The restaurant is often described as “New American” or “New Agrarian,” but “we don’t put limits on what we can or cannot do,” Morris says. “The only limitation in the kitchen is that it has to be delicious.”
The oft-changing menus at Cultura, reflecting the seasonality and availability of local foods, are the brainchild of Morris and his team. They embrace proteins—think boar belly, venison and stuffed squid—along with seasonal vegetables and fruits grown within a few miles of Asheville as well as mushrooms foraged from nearby forests. To be sure, Morris can often be found touring the freshly planted rows of local farms and is a regular at the city’s tailgate markets, sometimes looking for something specific but oftentimes seeking nothing more than inspiration.
The name Cultura is a nod to the cultures (bacteria and yeast) that kick-start the fermentation process, while also doing double duty as an allusion to the global cultures that prompt inspiration in the kitchen. Morris and his team often pay homage to Asian techniques, in particular, with the strategic use of koji, for example, a fermentation made from grains or legumes that’s grown in-house for a powerful punch of that coveted umami flavor.
While Cultura’s menu is indeed an ever-changing rotation of new dishes, a few standouts have included a scallop schnitzel, which was offered in the fall to dovetail with Oktoberfest, made with scallops marinated in shio koji, breaded and pan fried like traditional pork schnitzel, and served with a shaved pear and fennel salad. And new on the menu for 2024 (at the time of press) is a crab sandwich, made with a housemade Old Bay cheddar croissant stuffed with North Georgia soft-shell crab.
With reservations often made weeks in advance, guests come to be wowed and rarely leave disappointed, often remarking on the creativity of the food and the uniquely calming interior, which boasts about 100 live plants and edible mushroom planters, dozens of soft globe lights hanging from the ceiling and two foeder barrels offering intimate seating near the entrance.
“Sometimes we feel like storytellers,” says Front of House Manager William Jones. “Wicked Weed, as a company, has marched to the beat of its own drum. And at Cultura, we also have the freedom to do that.”
A GRAND OPENING – 2019
Wicked Weed co-founder Walt Dickinson had recently arrived home from travels in Europe when he conceived the original vision for Cultura. Drawing inspiration from elaborate meals in rehabbed monasteries and centuries-old wine cellars, he envisioned a space that paid homage to traditional cooking techniques in charming locales.
“I wanted to have the fine-dining version of Medieval Times,” he says. “I envisioned tables full of food and bottles.”
Partnering with Asheville chef Jacob Sessoms—founder of Table, All Day Darling and, more recently, Golden Hour at The Radical hotel—Dickinson and the Wicked Weed team launched the restaurant in May 2019 with grand ambitions, fully realized in large family-style platters piled high with food and encouraging full-fledged feasting.
Chef Morris had been there from the beginning, recruited from Nightbell, the former restaurant of Asheville restaurateur Katie Button, where he was chef de cuisine after a celebrated career in New York that included time at Pearl & Ash as well as Tom Colicchio’s Riverpark.
The concept and execution at Cultura were a near-instant hit. Less than a year after opening, it nabbed a James Beard Award nomination in February 2020 for “Best New Restaurant,” a noteworthy nod to a restaurant going big when many chefs were opting for small plates to win diners.
In a lamentable twist of fate, Covid hit just a few weeks after the announcement that Cultura had become a semifinalist and the restaurant was unable to ride the wave of popularity that typically follows a James Beard nod. “Yeah,” Dickinson says. “That was brutal.”
On the upside, the months of forced shutdowns allowed Cultura to strengthen its ties to the community and Asheville’s network of chefs, while providing the kitchen crew the space to reimagine the restaurant’s future.
FOOD THAT BUILDS – 2020–24
While the pandemic imposed an unwelcome hiatus for Cultura and its team, it also created the time and space for inspiration and innovation.
But first, there was a need. In the early days of the pandemic, amid widespread layoffs in the restaurant industry and before federal and state relief efforts had been mobilized, Morris and team got to work addressing immediate problems of food insecurity. Without much of a plan in place, they started to prepare hundreds of free meals for distribution among Western North Carolina counties, cobbling together an ad hoc relief effort that came to the aid of many people scrambling to make up for lost wages.
Quickly attracting the attention of food aid organizations like Food Connection and YMCA, as well as lucrative donations from community members, Morris and his team ramped up their efforts and began pumping out 5,000 meals per week, with two teams of the kitchen crew working in seven-hour shifts five days a week. By the end of the outreach effort, they had delivered nearly 50,000 meals, becoming one of the most successful grassroots efforts to address the early economic challenges.
As the pandemic moved into its second year, Morris began formulating plans to welcome people back to Cultura and foster stronger connections with the community. The result was a monthly dinner series known
as Cultivated Community, where Cultura invited up-and-coming local chefs—often without their own brick-and-mortar operations—to showcase a dish or a full multi-course meal.
Much like Morris’s food relief efforts, the Cultivated Community Dinner Series quickly took off, gaining a fan base eager for unique dining experiences. Each dinner included several courses, often paired with Wicked Weed brews or Vidl Wines (Wicked Weed’s naturally fermented wines, overseen by winemaker Jen Currier), and the series attracted top talent like chefs J Chong and Luis Martinez, as well as James Beard Award nominees Ashleigh Shanti and Silver Iocovozzi.
By September 2022, Cultura was ready to reopen but with a new menu and a slightly edited mission. Hewing close to the original goal of “grandiose” food, the kitchen did step back from Cultura’s original larger-than-life menu in favor of a more manageable suite of offerings that were no less inventive.
Cultura now offers a traditional a la carte menu on Thursdays, followed by a curated tasting menu on Fridays and Saturdays, offered alongside the a la carte menu. On Sundays, Cultura hosts a popular Cease & Desist dinner series, which pays homage to wellknown restaurant chains like Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell and P.F. Chang’s, and creates a clever twist on their signature offerings to create upscale and dynamic menus. (The name was born out of the teams’ anticipation of ceaseand-desist letters from the restaurant giants.)
The tone of the dinner series is more reverent than mockery, a testament to the way the kitchen crew’s skill and talent can elevate the most accessible food to high art.
“We want our guests to leave enriched,” says Director of Hospitality Candice Dvoran. “We want them to have an experience they’ve never had before.”
Cultura Executive Chef
Eric Morris (far left); guests at a recent Cultivated Community Dinner Series event (bottom left).
Spiked Grapes
This is the ultimate summer snack for grown-ups! Fresh grapes are soaked in Prosecco, cooled in the fridge, and then coated with the vibrant hues of sanding sugar. Offer them in a bowl or thread them onto skewers for a clever presentation.
Recipe by Michael McMurtrey
2½ cups green grapes
2½ cups red grapes
2½ cups purple grapes
3 bottles of colored sanding sugar
1 bottle Prosecco
Place each color of grapes into a separate sealable bag.
Pour 1/3 of the bottle of Prosecco into each bag. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight, at least 8 hours.
Drain off the Prosecco from each bag (or save for future cocktails).
Pour one container of the sanding sugar into a bowl or baking dish. Place one color of grapes over the colored sugar and shake gently to completely cover them in sugar. Repeat for each color.
Place grapes in a bowl or on skewers and serve.
*To create a frozen treat on a hot day, you can freeze the grapes after they’ve been sugared and serve cold.
Summer Sips
The Spice & Tea Exchange in Downtown Asheville creates custom tea blends for the summer—often incorporating ingredients from local farms—that offer dynamic flavors for the most refreshing iced teas. Check out these three picks for your next summer sip.
SUMMER FAVORITE
ROYGBIV Tea Blend
Named for the colors of the rainbow, this beautiful tea becomes a deep purple color when steeped and has a sophisticated taste of fruit and hibiscus. Made with organic green tea, it’s flavored with dried bits of organic apple, strawberries, and orange peel—along with hibiscus and chamomile blossom. Add a small amount of the ROYGBIV sugar, which is itself a pretty violet color, for the perfect hint of sweetness. A great option for a BBQ with hearty meat dishes or roasted summer vegetables.
Tip: Pair it with ROYGBIV Sugar
TOP SELLER
Mint-Chilla Chai-Nilla Pu-erh Tea
This refreshingly dynamic tea delivers a delightful summer twist when you pour it on ice and add a sprinkle of pineapple sugar to it, also custom made at The Spice & Tea Exchange. The Mint-Chilla Chai-Nilla is made with organic pu-erh tea, a variety of fermented tea typically produced in China, that exhibits mild minty flavors with the addition of organic peppermint, cinnamon, licorice root and vanilla. The pineapple sugar, meanwhile, adds depth to the glass and elevates the beverage to a treat.
Tip: Pair it with Pineapple Sugar
EDIBLE ASHEVILLE PICK Mango Tango Herbal Tea
With a vibrant yellow hue, this blend is bright and fruity with a mild sweetness— which means no sugar is necessary—and exhibits a happy personality reminiscent of the tropics. It would pair really well with fish or chicken, or summertime salads made with vinaigrettes. It has chunks of pineapple and mango cubes, along with orange slices, safflower, sea buckthorn, and red currant.
The Fire Eater Showdown
Award-winning culinary students test their taste buds—and their nerve—with plates of Nashvillestyle hot chicken at Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack
WRITTEN BY ANNA LAMAN | PHOTOS BY SABRINA HILL
For diehard fans of spice and heat, Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack is a bit of a local legend.
Specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken, which is coated with a fiery red sauce of cayenne and other inferno-inducing ingredients like ghost peppers, the Asheville eatery has sent a few people over the edge, but is more widely known for plates of tongue-tingling goodness that usually prompt just a little bit of sweating.
(For the milder set, it should be said that Rocky’s also offers regular good old-fashioned fried chicken with mild and sweet flavors—along with other comfort foods like chicken pot pie—and those menu items are among the best sellers.)
To test the limits of Rocky’s hot chicken, we asked a handful of culinary students from A-B Tech Community College—all of whom are learning how to harness the power of capsaicin for flavorful dishes—to sample the hotter levels of the menu, starting at varying levels of spice and gradually working their way up to the devil’s brew.
We called it the Fire Eater Showdown.
The Showdown
The showdown contestants gathered at the Rocky’s in Arden—one of two locations in Asheville—and settled at a large picnic table under a covered patio. It was drizzly outside, but the cool air seemd to help balance out the heat of the chicken, along with an arsenal of cold milk, water glasses clinking with ice and frosty silver cups of vanilla ice cream.
Abbey Franklin and Yajaira Sandoval, both second-year culinary students at A-B Tech, claimed to love spicy foods and volunteered to taste-test the upper limits of the menu, which meant “hot,” “Rocky’s Hot” and “extra hot” flavors. They were joined by A-B Tech culinary instructor Chris Bugher.
For Sandoval, a budding chef who grew up in a Latino household eating a lot of Mexican spices, it didn’t take long before the searing torch of the “hot” level hit her tongue. “She hot!” yelped Sandoval after taking her first bite.
For Franklin, a Miami native who’s cultivated a love of spicy foods while in culinary school, the initial impact of the “hot” level was more of a slow burn. “The spice level is there and increasing, but it’s not overwhelming yet,” she said. “I would get this next time I order here.”
Sandoval and Franklin then tried the second-highest heat level, “Rocky’s Hot,” which they deemed to be sweet and smoky and guessed it likely contains some brown sugar. By the time
they hit the ultimate “extra hot” level, the spice levels peaked and so did the sweating.
“Oh my!” said Sandoval, holding a tender skeptically and taking a deep breath. “Once you take a break from taking bites, it really hits you!” Franklin, meanwhile, said she could feel her heart thump faster. “For me, it hit pretty quick,” she said, her forehead glistening. “I had a rush, but five minutes later it’s settling down.”
At the other end of the table, Ethyn Jester, a first-year student from New Jersey who says he loves the “euphoric feeling” of spicy flavors, volunteered to explore the middle heat range, trying “mild,” “medium” and “hot” spice levels.
The “medium” heat piece, Jester said, was “super manageable, with enough heat to get the lips tingling a bit.”
The History
In the early days of the restaurant, co-owner Lauren Cundiff said there were some extra hot spice levels that proved to be too much for many customers. “We dialed it back so it’s more friendly for the general population,” Cundiff said. Today, their biggest seller is “medium” spice level.
The birthplace of hot chicken is widely acknowledged to be Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville, which opened in the 1930s. The trend made its way to Asheville when Rocky Lindsley, a musician who had spent time in Nashville and sampled that city’s famous spicy fried chicken, opened his namesake eatery in Fletcher.
Lindsley started the restaurant as a side hustle, but it quickly grew out of his control. He shut it down in 2009, much to the community’s dismay. The Cundiffs, who had frequented Rocky’s eatery, offered to partner with him to bring it back using their own business and marketing acumen. That was back in 2011.
More than a dozen years later, Rocky’s is still owned and operated by the Cundiffs and is proud to remain an “unchained and independent” Asheville business. Their chickens are raised ethically by farms in Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. The recipes for their sides were all developed in-house, with some of them originating from family recipes (like the sweet potato casserole and mac ’n’ cheese). And their top-secret spice mix is blended by a third-party spice house so that even their staff doesn’t know what’s in it.
Regardless of what it is, the hot chicken continues to please Rocky’s customers and win new loyal fans. Or, as Franklin said, “it hits.”
A-B Tech culinary student Abbey Franklin (bottom left) and culinary instructor Chris Bugher (below) tested the limits of their taste buds with the spiciest levels of Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack chicken.
BAKERIES & CATERING COMPANIES
Fioreously Delicious
fioreouslydelicious.com
Sweets & Seats
77 Patton Ave
Downtown Asheville
BARS & BREWERIES
12 Bones Brewery
2350 Hendersonville Rd
Arden
Bottle Riot
37 Paynes Way #009
River Arts District
Wicked Weed Brewpub 91 Biltmore Ave
Asheville
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCES
A-B Tech Community College
340 Victoria Rd
Asheville
John C. Campbell Folk School
1 Folk School Rd
Brasstown
Organic Growers School
38 Hawk Hill Rd
Asheville
Van in Black
Vaninblack.com
GROCERY & GIFTS
Asheville Crafted Edge
6 Eagle St
Downtown Asheville
Asheville Goods
7 Brevard Rd
Asheville
Blunt Pretzels
120 Alexander Pl
Swannanoa
Honey & The Hive
23 Merrimon Ave
Weaverville
Ingles Markets
Multiple Locations
Western North Carolina
The Spice & Tea Exchange
46 Haywood St #101
Downtown Asheville
Well Seasoned Table
Wellseasonedtable.co
DIRECTORY
Live Local
HENDERSONVILLE
The Baker’s Box
1508 Asheville Hwy
Hendersonville
Brandy’s on Main
111 S. Main St
Hendersonville
McFarlan Bakery
309 N. Main St
Hendersonville
HOME & DESIGN
Beverly Hanks - Eddie Delaney
Cell: 828-551-8637
Office: 828-251-1800
Grovewood Gallery 111 Grovewood Rd #2
Grovewood Village, Asheville
Jeffrey, The Jewel of Asheville
20 Artful Way, Ste 101
River Arts District, Asheville
Rhythm Interiors
549 Elk Park Dr #712
Asheville
River Arts District
Riverartsdistrict.com
Sue Dolamore Art Studio
170 Lyman St, #3
River Arts District
RESTAURANTS
The Blackbird 47 Biltmore Ave
Downtown Asheville
Cultura 147 Coxe Ave
South Slope, Asheville
Dilbar
5 Biltmore Avenue, Suite A
Downtown Asheville
Jargon 715 Haywood Rd
West Asheville
The Lobster Trap 35 Patton Ave
Downtown Asheville
Mehfil
5 Biltmore Ave, Ste B
Downtown Asheville
Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack
Multiple Locations
Arden | West Asheville
Sunny Point Cafe
626 Haywood Rd
West Asheville
Tastee Diner
575 Haywood Rd
West Asheville
Yum Poke Spot
Multiple Locations
Downtown Asheville | South Asheville
Zella’s Deli
48 College St
Downtown Asheville
A Gentle Table Adventure
RECIPES AND STYLING BY TERRI TERRELL AND MICHELE GENTILLE
PHOTOS BY ERIN ADAMS
“Just try it!” say a thousand parents, nudging their child at this very moment, over dinner.
Some kids are born with the curiosity to try new foods, and some, often from the very same family, would be happy to have cheese pizza at every meal for the rest of their lives. Not that cheese pizza isn’t divine—but eating can be such an adventure, giving you a visceral experience of what the earth yields, how different cultures interpret that, and demonstrating the wild creativity that humans are capable of when they play with their food. Eating can be the ultimate armchair travel.
We approached this issue’s recipe offerings with a gentle sense of adventure. Feta cheese is a strong taste for some, and shrimp is weird for others. But we hope you enjoy this cool summer meal with a delicious frosty beverage, under a tree with dappled sunlight upon you, among good friends who are always learning something new and never run out of good conversation.
Composed Salad with Vinaigrette and Feta Mint Cream
This salad is relatively simple, but the idea is to make it a feast for the eyes. Use whatever greens or summer vegetables you like, but keep it fresh and crunchy, with plenty of color.
Yield: 4 servings
For the salad:
1 large handful snap peas
8 red radishes
3 small Persian-style cucumbers
2 large navel oranges
½ cup whole mint leaves
¼ cup Kalamata-style olives, quartered lengthwise
3 tablespoons toasted pepitas
2 large handfuls mixed herb lettuces
For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey or agave
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the feta mint cream:
3 tablespoons toasted pepitas
½ cup mint leaves
⅓ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey or agave
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup cold water
⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese
(We especially love brined sheep’s milk feta)
⅓ cup sour cream
Prepare the salad: Remove any stems or tough threads from snap peas. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and immerse the snap peas for 3 seconds, remove and immediately place in a bowl of ice water. Remove and pat dry, then slice them in two on a diagonal. Wash and cut radishes into quarters. Wash the cucumbers and cut ¼-inch slices on a diagonal. Peel the oranges with a knife and cut out the sections, leaving the pith behind.
Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl and adjust seasoning.
Make the feta mint cream: In a blender or food processor, combine the pepitas, mint leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, honey or agave, salt and pepper and blend at high speed until smooth. With the motor running, add ½ cup fresh cold water and feta cheese and blend until smooth. Add sour cream and blend until just mixed. Adjust salt and pepper if needed.
To plate: Divide the feta mint cream among individual plates and spread out with the back of a spoon forming a bed for the salad. Toss the lettuces with half the vinaigrette and portion out on top of the cream. Using your creative eye, arrange the cucumbers, radish, snap peas, orange sections and mint leaves on the greens. Top with olive slices and toasted pepitas, then drizzle remaining vinaigrette over top. Give the salads a good grind of fresh pepper and serve.
“Eating can be the ultimate armchair travel.”
Blackened Carolina Shrimp Salad Rolls
This is one of our favorite light summertime lunches! Serve with salty plain potato chips and a glass of white wine or tart lemonade. Yield: 4 portions
1½ pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
2 tablespoons Spicewalla Blackening Rub
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped celery hearts
⅓ cup mayonnaise (preferably Duke’s!)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh fennel fronds, or dill
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
4 brioche split buns
Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves, shredded
Arrange your oven rack to the second level from top. Preheat oven to broil.
Toss shrimp in blackening seasoning, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt and olive oil. Place the shrimp in an even layer on the baking sheet and place under the broiler for two minutes, then remove the shrimp and turn. Place shrimp back under the broiler and broil for about two more minutes, until they have begun to curl. Place shrimp aside and let cool. Once cooled, chop shrimp.
Combine celery, mayonnaise, chives, fennel fronds or dill, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon salt. Gently fold in chopped shrimp.
Spread butter on buns and griddle to toast. Once toasted, add shredded lettuce and fill with shrimp salad. Garnish with additional chives. (I like to crumble my chips and put them on top for a great crunch.)
The Art of Sue Dolamore
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
Cheesemaking
How to Turn Your Kitchen into a Home Creamery
WRITTEN
BY AMY BESS COOK | INSTRUCTION BY SOIRÉE-LEONE
What is it about cheese that makes it so universally beloved? Maybe it’s the obvious “yum” factor—but cheese is not only delicious, it’s also an excellent source of nutrients. Over the ages, it’s won an exalted reputation as a versatile food that can be created from basic ingredients, then (in the case of aged cheeses) stored away until most needed or desired. Dare we say cheese is downright essential?
What’s more, many cheeses are easy to make on your own. Below we outline the process for all you curious turophiles (translation: cheese fiends) to learn to make a delicious cream cheese.
As a guide, we turned to writer, teacher and fermentation expert Soirée-Leone. Originally hailing from an off-the-grid
homestead in Maine, she practiced urban homesteading in San Diego before settling on a 57-acre farm in Tennessee. In her work, she encourages students to explore home fermentation as a way to ensure food security, influence food distribution systems and minimize waste.
“Fermentation and food preservation broadly offers an opportunity for people to preserve their local bounty while enjoying delicious foods,” she says.
Here we off er a recipe for luscious cream cheese. While not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of the process, we hope it inspires you to research the topic further or enroll in an upcoming course at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
Ready to begin making cheese?
Collect Your Ingredients
To begin, you will only need a few ingredients: milk, cultures, rennet and salt.
Soirée-Leone recommends using nonhomogenized, pasteurized (but not ultrapasteurized) milk from a local dairy.
“We are uniquely positioned in our home cheesemaking practices,” she says, “to make cheeses that reflect our local terroir.”
To achieve reliable results, she recommends that beginning cheesemakers use commercial rennet (the enzyme that coagulates the milk) and commercial cultures.
Gather Your Tools
One appealing aspect of cheesemaking is that, for many basic recipes, it requires very little in the way of specialized equipment. You’ll want to make sure you sterilize any tools you do gather, along with your work space, with your preferred food-grade sanitizer.
• Nonreactive stockpot (stainless or enameled cast iron) or stoneware crock with lid, 1 gallon capacity
• Large bowl
• Thermometer
• Measuring spoons or gram scale
• Small baggies
• Small dish and spoon
• Slotted spoon or skimmer
• Towels or blankets to wrap stockpot or crock with lid to keep it warm
• Colander or strainer
• Butter muslin
• Rod or hook to hang cheese to drain
Make the Cheese
You can make this cream cheese to serve with bagels at your next brunch or book club gathering. While quick and easy, the process does take 48 hours from start to finish, most of which is hands-off. You may find that starting in the evening makes it easier to work into your schedule.
*Flora Danica mesophilic culture preferred. This is sold in a package suitable for culturing 50 gallons of milk. After opening the package, divide the Flora Danica
into batch sizes by putting 0.2 gram (⅛ teaspoon) into small baggies and store all the bags in the empty Flora Danica bag closed tightly inside another plastic bag in the freezer.
1 tablet rennet diluted in 1/4 cup unchlorinated water
*Walcoren is a non-GMO, animal-based rennet sold in tablets suitable for 1-gallon batches of cream cheese
Process
Designate a spot where a stockpot or crock of half-and-half can sit undisturbed overnight, wrapped in towels and/or blankets.
Warm pot or crock with hot tap water.
Pour half-and-half into a stockpot or crock.
Check the temperature.
Warm half-and-half gently (approximately 1 degree per minute) by putting the stockpot of milk in a bowl filled with hot tap water.
Once half-and-half is at target range of 86° to 88°F, move it to its designated spot.
Sprinkle Flora Danica on the surface of the half-and-half and allow the culture to hydrate for 5 minutes.
In gentle up-and-down motions, use a slotted spoon or skimmer to stir in the culture for 1 minute.
Cover the stockpot or crock and allow half-and-half to ripen for 1 hour.
Crush 1 Walcoren rennet tablet and stir to dissolve in ¼ cup of chlorine-free, lukewarm water.
Add diluted rennet to the half-and-half by pouring solution over a skimmer or slotted spoon over the entire surface of the half-and-half. With gentle upand-down motions, stir in the rennet for 1 minute.
Put the lid on the stockpot or crock. Wrap up in towels or blankets and leave undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
Look for the curd pulling away from the sides of the stockpot or crock. If you have pH strips or a pH meter, the target pH is 5.1 to 4.9.
Rinse butter muslin and drape over a colander over a large bowl.
Scoop curd into butter muslin.
Tie corners of butter muslin to form a pouch. Use a rod or hook to hang the cheese over a bowl or stockpot to drain. Capture whey and dispose of it in the compost or garden.
Drain until the preferred consistency, and reposition the cheese every 2 to 4 hours in the butter muslin to ensure even draining.
Salt the drained cheese. Store in a tightly lidded container in the fridge, and enjoy within a week or so.
THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
Intro to Fermentation and Natural Cheesemaking Aug. 30–Sept. 2
For a more comprehensive review of natural cheesemaking—and a broader introduction to the fermentation of vegetables, fruits and beans—check out Soirée-Leone’s weekend-long course at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
Located about two hours east of Asheville on a beautiful mountain campus, the John C. Campbell Folk School offers week-long and weekend-long courses on everything from baking and cooking to painting, writing and woodworking. View the 2024 course schedule at folkschool.org.
To learn more about Soirée-Leone, check out her website and follow her on Instagram.
At 45, Dan Chase has morphed from a math teacher to an outdoor guide. He’s learned to hunt and has bagged squirrel, turkey, deer and bear, often at his property in Buncombe County, where hunting is legal.
Fair Game Culinary Magic from Wild Game of the Woods
Noted food author Nan K. Chase interviews her son, local hunter Dan Chase, and shares tips and tricks for a walk on the culinary wild side
WRITTEN
BY
NAN K. CHASE | PHOTOS
BY
ERIN ADAMS
As a writer and unabashed food lover, I’ve written extensively about Asheville’s bustling food scene.
In addition to multiple features for this magazine (and others), I penned a 2019 book Lost Restaurants of Asheville, which followed an earlier book of mine Eat Your Yard. I’m also an avid gardener, with a penchant for plants and vines that produce foods and beverages. And when I don’t have my hands in the dirt or I’m not sliding into a booth at a favorite eatery, I have lectured nationwide about gardening, canning and creating non-grape wines.
In other words, I know a lot about food and I’ve eaten a lot of great meals. But I have to admit that some of the most exciting and adventurous fare I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating comes from the home kitchen of my son, Dan Chase.
He’s learned to hunt and has bagged squirrel, turkey, deer and bear, often at his property in Buncombe County, where hunting is legal.
Dan and his siblings grew up in Boone, about two hours northeast of Asheville, where food came either from a small garden we tended or the grocery store. Today, our family enjoys his squirrel tacos, sautéed venison heart, wild turkey chili and bear sausage.
When I moved away from Asheville five years ago, I ended up in the backwoods of southwest Virginia, where hunting has long been an important part of self-sufficient life. So when Dan learned to shoot— first from a friend and then with the Project Appleseed marksmanship program—I was interested enough to try it myself. I loved the intense concentration that shooting required, along with the satisfaction of hitting a bull’s-eye. While I’ve not taken up hunting myself, I have a new appreciation for the rewards it can bring.
Here, I offer a short interview with Dan about how and why he had taken up hunting and wild game cooking, as well as tips and tricks for successfully preparing your own wild game—remembering that even George Vanderbilt, of Biltmore fame, had a wild side, with his own hunting lodge and game chef.
You didn’t grow up hunting. So how did that begin?
Dan: Approaching 40, I wanted to learn how to catch my own fish. So my wife gifted me a guided day on local creeks and rivers: how to tie on the hook, cast, catch, and clean a trout. That day was a revelation.
Around that time I made a new friend, an accomplished marksman, who showed me the basics of shooting. I purchased a .22 rifle and trained enough to consistently hit a bull’s-eye on a paper target. It dawned on me that I had everything I needed to go into the woods and come out with meat. Archery gear came next.
What’s the attraction of hunting for food?
First, the self-reliance. Second, the personal connection to my food. I’ve always felt a tinge of unease about how meat arrives wrapped in plastic at the store, but I couldn’t articulate it until hunting.
Third, hunting is hard, and I like it that way. That chili or pot roast came about from some combination of waking before dawn, sitting silently for hours in the cold, hauling a hundred-pound animal out of the woods and then skinning and butchering it.
What have you learned about the natural world from hunting?
I’ve learned that the natural world is quiet. A hunter must melt into the scenery and disappear. Humans are loud! Even bikers and hikers cause a disruptive vibration.
Second, I’ve found that there is a lot of action on the small scale. Once when I was sitting in a tree stand a tiny movement caught my eye, a jumping spider about a quarter inch long, perfectly camouflaged. I watched it stalk an even tinier prey, then pounce and enjoy its meal. This spider and I were engaged in the same pursuit, and I was outclassed as a hunter. Another time I heard a soft rhythmic rattling sound from over my right shoulder. I slowly turned and saw a squirrel resting on a tree limb a few feet behind me. I was hearing its purring breath.
Any advice for cooking game meats?
Game meat is just meat. Start with your favorite dishes and substitute whatever game you have. My family loves making pho, and we pour the broth over thinly sliced venison instead of beef. A braised turkey leg makes incredible carnitas for tacos. If you can smoke a pork butt for pulled barbecue, you can smoke a bear shoulder the same way. I call it bear-b-q. Any cut of meat can be ground and stored in freezer packs for pasta sauces, burgers, meatballs, meatloaf or tacos.
An advantage of cooking game is that it encourages experimentation. I’ve gotten into Cajun dirty rice, with a grind of liver and kidney. My daughters and I like the fresh, clean texture of grilled heart. And venison tongue boiled, sliced and seasoned makes for a one-of-a-kind sandwich.
You’ve said squirrel meat is underrated. How?
In Spain, Iberico pigs feed only on acorns, which provide a sweet, nutty flavor and unsaturated fatty acids. Their meat is considered premium, sought by the best restaurants. Squirrels are the Iberico pigs of the forest. Their meat is lean, with flavor and texture reminiscent of dark meat chicken but with that added acorn-sweet nutty flavor.
How did you learn to butcher your meat?
YouTube videos and podcasts. I also had the opportunity to help a friend skin a deer. That hands-on experience showed me just how doable the process was. Butchering an animal is less cutting and more separating than one might assume.
What advice would you give folks wanting to begin hunting their own food?
Start small, and ask for help. I have found that the hunting community is extremely welcoming to newcomers of all ages and skill levels. People who hunt tend to be passionate about their connection to the natural world and to eating healthy, wild meat. We love to share our passion and expand the community of hunters.
Besides researching how-to videos and articles online, I would highly recommend aspiring hunters reach out to hunting and angling organizations like Opportunity Outdoors, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, First Hunt Foundation, and many more. New hunters might be nervous seeing pictures and videos of seasoned hunters with lots of gear and think, “I don’t belong with these people.”
However, if you reach out to someone in the organization or go to a meeting and say, “I would like to hunt, but I have no idea how to start,” I bet you’d immediately have several new friends in the form of seasoned hunters who would be thrilled to be a mentor and guide you in effective and ethical practices.
Squirrel and Kimchi Steamed Dumplings
(Adapted from Chinese Homestyle by Maggie Zhu,
Copyright 2022)
Serves 4–6 with 16 dumplings
2 Eastern gray squirrels, cleaned and parted
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
¾ cup hot water
1 tablespoon peanut/vegetable oil
2 cups kimchi, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1½ tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt, plus more if needed
Soy sauce to taste
16 gyoza wrappers
Parboil the squirrel for 2–3 hours, or sous vide at 165° for 4–5 hours. Remove the meat from the bones and finely chop.
Soak dry mushrooms in the hot water for 20 minutes, or until tender. Squeeze out excess water; mince.
Heat oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the kimchi and stir frequently until the liquid cooks off. Add wine to deglaze the pan with a spatula. Add mushrooms, chopped squirrel meat, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt. Cook and stir until the liquid is gone. Season with salt and soy sauce to taste. Transfer the mixture from the pan to a plate to cool.
Prepare the gyoza wrappers as directed. Fill each wrapper in its center with 2 tablespoons of the kimchi/ meat mix. Wet the edge of the wrapper with water and seal by pinching with fingertips or pressing with the back of a fork.
Steam the dumplings in a bamboo steamer or on a colander over a pot of water at a low boil for 10 minutes. Line the steamer or colander with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Poke or cut holes in parchment paper to let steam through. Add water as necessary during cooking to prevent it from boiling off entirely.
Serve dumplings hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
“Squirrels are the Iberico pigs of the forest. Their meat is lean, with flavor and texture reminiscent of dark meat chicken but with that added acorn-sweet nutty flavor.” —Dan Chase
WHERE TO SOURCE THE MEAT
Wondering where you can find bear shanks, squirrel and more? North Carolina law prohibits the sale or purchase of wild game meat, so getting a hold of it legally is difficult, unless a friend shares.
No one to gift it to you? In the Asheville area, King Farms in Leicester sells its farm-raised elk, bison, yak meat and other products direct to consumers. For venison (and bison), see Maui Nui Venison and delivery service HarvestBox. For an elegant dining experience, The Game Keeper restaurant near Boone, NC, specializes in dishes that feature legally sourced venison, bison, boar, duck and mountain trout.
Braised Black Bear Osso Buco
(Adapted from “Braised Venison Shanks Osso Buco” at TheMeateater.com)
Serves 6
Two bear shanks cut into 2- to 3-inch discs tied around the middle with butcher’s twine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Flour for dredging
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ⅓-inch rounds
1 rib celery, sliced into ⅓-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
2 quarts vegetable stock (or water)
Fresh thyme leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
Heat the oil in an 8- or 10-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Season shanks with salt and pepper, then lightly dredge the discs with flour. Sear meat in batches on all sides, then remove to a plate.
Add carrots, celery, and onions to the Dutch oven and cook until onions are browned. Add garlic and cook for a minute or less. Add tomato paste and stir it into the vegetables.
Add the wine and use it to deglaze the pot, scraping any brown bits from the bottom.
Return the meat to the pot and cover with stock. Bring to a boil, stir in the rosemary and thyme, then reduce heat to low.
Cook covered at a low simmer for 3½ to 4 hours, until meat is fork-tender. If necessary, add liquid while cooking to keep the meat covered.
“Each place has a different vibe, but we set really high standards at all of them and want our guests to relax and have a unique experience.”
— Mike Reppert | Chef and Owner Modern Southern eatery with award-winning wine selection
47 Biltmore Ave, Asheville New York’s favorite deli sandwiches on fresh-baked bread
2372 US 70, Swannanoa
Cool neighborhood bar with live music and food trucks 700 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville
Expect the Unexpected
Three Asheville chefs ask diners to forego the familiar for a culinary adventure
WRITTEN BY KAY WEST
For chain restaurants, the key to success is consistency and familiarity. The big restaurant conglomerates avoid throwing any surprises at their guests and each location offers pretty much the same experience as all of the others. The menu at Applebee’s Grill & Bar in Austin, for example, will be the same as the one in Asheville.
Independent restaurants and adventurous chefs, on the other hand, bank on surprise, on their own creativity and on diners’ curiosity and willingness to try something new. Menus change frequently, often with turns in the season and availability of local ingredients, and chefs are constantly looking to push their own boundaries—and, by turn, those of their guests—while still staying true to the need for impeccable flavors and textures.
We spoke with three successful Asheville chefs who have made a name for themselves and charted a path of success by embracing bold ideas.
Banking on Suprise
When Chef Jason Sellers opened Plant restaurant in 2011, veganism was far from mainstream and “plant-based diet” was not yet a branded term. After about six years cooking at Laughing Seed Café—a goto Asheville spot for vegetarian fare—he was ready to open his own place. Luckily, he found partners and a prime location on Merrimon Avenue.
What he didn’t find were many people who believed in his concept. “I wanted to be the first person to open a full-service, refined, casual vegan restaurant,” he recalls. “People straight up told me it wouldn’t work. Vegetarian restaurants did fine, but veganism was too extreme.”
It would take seven years of success before Sellers put the word vegan front and center on Plant’s website. “I wasn’t worried anymore about driving people off, and by then, people were seeking vegan menus. There are few things that make me happier than the look of surprise on the faces of people who are dragged in against their will and find themselves fully enjoying a vegan meal.”
The spring menu at Plant lived up to expectations for the unexpected, featuring, for example, hostas—as in, the green plants (and asparagus relative) found in many shade gardens.
“Hostas are the most fun thing to blow people’s minds with,” Sellers says with obvious delight. “I love hosta season because people come in and say, ‘You have what?’ And then they order them out of curiosity and the transformation that occurs as they find they are loving a garden plant is so fun. They’ll never look at a hosta the same way again.”
Sellers uses about six to eight inches of the pale green shoots when they first come up and before they unfurl. “This spring we cooked them very quickly in a wok with some garlic, ginger and sesame, added a little smoked tamari and finished it with a bit of toasted sesame oil and, oh man, it’s so delicious.”
Building Trust
“Delicious” is how Ryan Kline, executive chef at Jargon in West Asheville, describes the item often found leading the restaurant’s snacks section: pig ears. “I have a technique for turning things that feel unapproachable into something kind of familiar. We frame our pig ears like wings,” he says. “You want to bridge that gap between weird and something people are willing to try.”
Located in West Asheville, Jargon has a loyal following among local residents but views itself as “destination dining” for tourists who are often based downtown. But visitors do often make the short trek because of what Kline describes as “trust.”
“If you want to cook in unpredictable ways and make things people aren’t used to, your customers need to trust you and respect your skill,” he says. “Then they’re open to trying anything, because they trust it will be good.”
They may, for example, say yes to pork trotter (pig feet) tots with the classic French sauce ravigote, pickled onions and mustard flowers; and some type of offal is almost always a given on the Jargon menu. Liver mousse is a small plate Kline loves to play with, sometimes using duck, and recently rabbit. “It’s definitely not a traditional version of liver
Clockwise from top right: chefs Ryan Kline of Jargon, Silver Iocovozzi of Neng Jr.’s, and Jason Sellers of Plant
FARM TOURS
mousse. We use buckwheat [a seed, not a wheat] for the crust so it’s gluten free.”
Because the farms Kline sources from are not harvesting much produce in the spring, he relies more heavily on foraged and wild foods like stinging nettles and Japanese knotweed, as well as fruits the kitchen preserved to capture their fleeting presence for another turn on the plate.
“I really like to use Japanese knotweed, which is a wild plant and related to rhubarb,” Kline explains. “It tastes like rhubarb and has a tang to it. It’s super pink. We had a lot of knotweed juice, and my sous chef, Paul Taylor, made a sweet-and-sour sauce with it.”
Some ideas simmer on a back burner for a long time before emerging on a plate, like the braised pistachio plated with a Joyce Farms duck breast. “About 15 years ago I had a dish at McCrady’s [a Charleston restaurant chef Sean Brock put on the map] that had a pine nut risotto on it. They pressure-cooked pine nuts so they had the texture of cooked rice,” he remembers. “We pressure-cooked pistachios with ras el hanout [a Moroccan spice mix] and reduced duck stock until it had the creamy texture of cooked beans.”
Kline encourages his kitchen staff to pursue their creativity.
“We don’t put crazy things together that don’t work, or do anything for shock value, but we strive to make food that is different. If you could cook it at home, why would you go out?”
Creating Experience
When Asheville’s feverishly anticipated first Filipinx restaurant opened in July 2022, it was a smash hit from the start. Neng Jr.’s earned top spots on several national Best Restaurant lists and received a finalist nomination for the 2023 James Beard Best New Restaurant.
The vibrant personality and life story of trans chef Silver Iocovozzi and his husband, sommelier Cherry Iocovozzi, also drew people to the mystique of the tiny 17-seat dining room accessed through a back door on an alley in West Asheville.
People who snag a coveted dinner reservation for one of Neng Jr.’s four nights of service will not find a menu to preview on the website.
If they’d like a hint of what Iocovozzi is pulling from his Filipino/American Southern heritage, there’s evidence aplenty on the restaurant’s Instagram account. For example, oil pickled shrimp served on a black paste of pamapa itum—described as coconut ash paste with root spices, ginger, galangal, lemongrass and shrimp oil—marries Low Country and Filipino techniques.
An oval plate of shad roe—touted as a Southern delicacy—is a study of dark brown on reddish brown. “My fish purveyor tells me when they get something super seasonal and I almost always take it, then figure out what to do with it,” Iocovozzi says. “The extraction of shad roe was taught by Indigenous people to early colonizers and became a deeply Southern thing with grits. I did my version of that with black rice, bacon, lemon and parsley. It’s not visually appealing but people who tried it loved it.”
On any given night, there are a dozen or so opportunities for first timers to experience something entirely new, though regulars can count on four staples: the adobo oyster, seasonal fruit, lumpia and queso ice cream. The oyster sets the stage with a memorable first impression: two plump, briny, silky raw oysters in their shells in puddles of adobo mignonette, topped with bright yellow cured quail yolks, encircled with a rope of tiny sea grapes.
Because the dishes on the printed menu are unfamiliar to even the most sophisticated and well-traveled of diners, Chef Silver relies heavily on his staff to deeply understand and translate to guests. “We fully describe the menu before they have to ask,” he says. “People can be intimidated by what they don’t know, so we want to take that on right away and just invite them to relax and enjoy.”
In early spring, Silver embarked on an adventure that is sure to unfurl in multiple ways at Neng Jr.’s. With Cherry, he went to Copenhagen, where they dove into the experience of three-Michelin-starred Noma, often described as the world’s best restaurant. In addition to more than a dozen courses of Nordic cuisine, Silver staged for two days— in the kitchen and in the fermentation lab.
“It was absolutely insane,” he says. “Sometimes you have experiences that just turn you around. I want people to come to Neng Jr.’s and have an experience.”
THE ULTIMATE SEAFOOD EXPERIENCE
The Moloka’i Bowl at Yum Poke Spot
The Moloka’i Bowl at Yum Poke Spot showcases everything that is wonderful about poke bowls. With origins stemming back to the Hawaiian Islands, poke bowls (pronounced po-kay) usually start with rice and raw fish and then invite a near endless combination of fresh vegetables and sauces. The result is a delightfully flavorful meal that is hearty, healthy and prepared in minutes—you can almost hear the tropical breezes in the background—ideal for in-restaurant dining as well as convenient to-go meals.
The ingredients in The Moloka’i Bowl, named for one of the Hawaiian islands, create magic when mixed together. Sitting on a base
of rice, the chunks of fresh-caught tuna are obvious stars of the dish, marinated in a housemade Hawaiian poke sauce of soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, lime juice and vinegar. They set the tone for the dish’s rich umami flavors.
A spoonful of seaweed salad lends its signature savory notes with hints of sweetness, while a small bunching of sliced jalapenos and red onion deliver a brilliant kick. Sprinkled on top are small bits of crispy onions and sesame seeds, which are then coated with a sweet shoyu sauce.
“This one is definitely one of the favorites,” said Yum Poke Spot co-owner Nigel Shao. “It’s got all of those flavors people are looking for in poke bowls.”
Our founder, Robert Ingle, saw a need to invest in smaller towns and rural communities throughout the Carolinas that were being unsupported by large grocery chains. So, he opened the first Ingles supermarket in Asheville, North Carolina in 1963 working primarily with local farmers to get their product into the hands of consumers.
Today, we continue building on our founder’s ambitious dreams of supporting underserved and local communities, farmers, and producers. Together with our customers we proudly provide assistance to more local children and families, schools and universities, athletic and arts programs, and those hungry and in-need than any other grocery store in the southeast.
