Food Life Fall 2016

AB-Tech Culinary Arts Beats the Big Dogs

Chef Joe Scully At Home Among the Oddballs

Highland Brewing

Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer

a toast to

Beer City

Cornerstone of Asheville’s Brewery Scene

FALL 2016 Vol. 3, No. 3

FoodLifeMag.com

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

1

2

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

features FALL 2016

VOL. 3 • NO. 3

8

AT HO M E AMONG THE ODDB A LLS

Chef Joe Scully of Corner Kitchen & Chestnut shares how he discovered his place—in the culinary world & in WNC.

by MAGGIE CRAMER

12

C O RN ERST O N E O F A SHEVILLE’ S B REWERY SCENE

Highland Brewing, Asheville’s first legal brewery since prohibition continues to grow and evolve while staying true to its WNC roots.

by NOAH ROBINS

16

T H E C O MMU NITY COLLEGE C ULI N ARY PROGRA M THAT COU LD

Discover how A-B Tech competes with—and beats—the big dogs.

by MAGGIE CRAMER

26

FRO M FIELD TO FERMENT

WNC Breweries are crafting a market for the local farm economy.

by SHANE MAXSON

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

3

VOL. 3 NO. 3

FA L L 2 0 1 6 AB-Tech Culinary Arts Beats the Big Dogs

Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer

O N THE CO V ER A Toast to Beer City.

Photo by Tiffany Welsh Chef Joe Scully At Home Among the Oddballs

32

Highland Brewing

a toast to

STAY CO NNECTED

Beer City

FoodLifeMag.com facebook.com/foodlifemag

Cornerstone of Asheville’s Brewery Scene

FALL 2016 Vol. 3, No. 3

FoodLifeMag.com

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

1

the guide FO O D FO R THO UG HT 22 Lin Johnson of Mimi’s Mountain Mixes, is making delicious “just add beer” mixes for a good cause. by TIFFANY WELSH

34

KI TCHEN CO N V ER SATI O N S 27 Tiffany talks with Vivian Howard, of the TV show A Chef’s Life and owner of Chef & the Farmer & The Boiler Room restaurants.

HO PS FA R M I N G 32 Asheville’s hops crop is growing to meet the demands of the local craft beer scene.

by JOSH O’CONNER

FR UI T FO R A G I N G 34 A look at fruit foraging in Acadiana. by LARRY STEPHENSON THE B R EWHO P P ER S G UI DE TO WN C 40 Where to find all the best craft breweries in Western North Carolina.

the

27 4

Photo by Rex Miller

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

46

CO O KBO O K R E VIE W 42 Reviews of Victuals by Ronni Lundy and the upcoming Biscuit Head cookbook.

FEAST O F THE SE VE N FI SHES 43 Inspired cuisine at Strada Italiano.

CA LEN DAR 45 A TO AST 46 The official NC State Toast.

recipes PO R TER BAN ANA BR EAD 23 G R AN DM A HI L L ’ S CA N DI ED YA M S 30 JUI CI EST TUR KEY & APPLE BUR G ERS 39 PECAN HUM M US 39

Old North

State!

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

5

EDITOR’S LETTER

2 0 1 6 c l o s i n g d at e s asheville city market December 17 Saturdays 8-12

asheville city market south October 26 Wednesdays 12-4

black mountain tailgate market October 29 Saturdays 9-12

french broad food coop tailgate market November 23 Wednesdays 2-6

henderson county tailgate market

If you’re a regular reader of Food Life, it will come as no surprise that Fall is my favorite season. The weather is perfect, the sweaters are cozy and the food is warm and spiced and delicious. After the busy Summer season, Fall feels like the perfect way to slow down. What better way to relax than with a glass of a fantastic locally brewed beer? I mean, this is Beer City after all.

When you’re standing in the beer section trying to decide just which craft beer to buy - an old favorite, a seasonal variety, the new guy in town...then, and only then, can you understand the difficulty I had in deciding what beer topics to include in this issue. There are so many amazing breweries, over 2 dozen by my count, that there is no way to pick just one - so what to do when paralyzed with indecision? How about go straight to the local beer king himself, Oscar Wong at Highland Brewing (page 12). As the first brewery to open in Asheville after the end of prohibition, after 61 long dry years, Highland is no stranger to leading the pack.

original waynesville tailgate market

But one glass of beer is rarely enough to satiate. So we will also talk with farmers who are growing those great botanical ingredients (page 20) that are flavoring some of the most exotic craft beers, people who are trying to bring hops farming (page 32) to our area and even a sweet lady from Hendersonville who makes a killer beer bread (page 22). Of course, even beer lovers have to eat sometimes, so you’ll also want to make sure to check out Chef Joe Scully of Corner Kitchen and the Chestnut (page 8), who was doing farm to table before farm to table was cool.

river arts district farmers market

There’s so much more to share, but I’ll leave that you to explore over a nice cold one. Dig in Y’all!

November 26, Saturdays 7-12

leicester farmers market November 26, Saturdays 9-2

mills river farmers market October 29, Saturdays 8-12

north asheville tailgate market November 19, Saturdays 8-12

October 29 Wednesdays + Saturdays 8-12 November 23 Wednesdays 2-6

weaverville tailgate market

October 26, Wednesdays 2:30-6:30

west asheville tailgate market November 23, Tuesdays 3:30-6:30

For a complete list of the 90+ tailgates in the region, including their season closing dates, visit ASAP’s online Local Food Guide at appalachiangrown.org

6

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

EDITOR twelsh@iwanna.com

General Manager/Publisher PATRICIA MARTIN BETTS Editor TIFFANY WELSH Art Director CARRIE FAYE HARDER Production/IT Manager JEFF RUMINSKI Contributors PHILIP BOLLHOEFER CHELSEA LANE PHOTOGRAPHY MAGGIE CRAMER PAUL JONES SHANE MAXSON JOSH O’CONNER NOAH ROBINS PAMELA R IMAGRY TIM ROBISON LARRY STEPHENSON Advertising Consultants PAM HENSLEY RICK JENKINS ROSE LUNSFORD CRYSTAL PRESSLEY Production DAVID DENTON DEBI MANFRE RACHEL HOEFT RANDY WHITTINGTON Distribution Manager SAM HOWELL A Publication of I WA N N A P UB L I C AT I ON S 3 1 CO L L E GE PL ACE A S H E V I L L E O F F I CE PAR K, I WAN N A BUI L D I N G A S H E VI L L E , N C 28801 828. 274. 8888 Food Life, a publication of IWANNA, has accepted contributions which may not reflect the opinion of the publisher. No portion of Food Life may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

7

FEATURE

CH E F

At Home Among the Oddballs CHEF JOE SCULLY of Corner Kitchen and Chestnut shares how he discovered his place— in the culinary world and in WNC.

by MAGGIE CRAMER photos by TIM ROBISON

by TIM ROBISON 8photographs FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

photographs by TIM ROBISON

VIEW THE MENU AT THECORNERKITCHEN.COM

“It was a confederacy of oddballs.

It was , and I loved it.”

I

wild

IN THE LATE 1970S, Joe Scully was supposed to be hard at work at Farleigh-Dickson University in New Jersey pursuing a communications degree. After all, if he graduated, he was promised a position at NBC by his childhood neighbor Don Pardo, the famous announcer and voice of Saturday Night Live. It sounded like a dream gig for a kid who enjoyed performing. But he admits, he was focused on acting in plays and partying. “Then, I got a job at a restaurant,” he says, “and the college thing just fell away, like the first stage of a rocket going out into orbit.”

The job was at a Houlihan’s in Hackensack, and its vibrant, buzzing atmosphere fascinated him. “I realized that I had arrived in some sort of a home,” he recalls. The Houlihan’s team saw that spark in his eyes and right away began grooming him for management. He held various roles in the front of the house before entering what was intended to be a quick cooking rotation.

“I went in the kitchen, and I never came out,” he shares.

“It was a confederacy of oddballs. It was wild, and I loved it.”

He dropped out of school, forgot about becoming a manager, and began cooking his heart out.

Of course, the transition wasn’t all smooth sailing, as he had no prior restaurant cooking experience. “I remember being on the line and being terrible,” Chef Scully confesses.

In fact, he says he was so bad initially that a kind manager, Jimmy Knicos, would hop on the microphone that amplified into the kitchen and instruct him step-by-step—things like turn around, open the oven, grab the shrimp. He took all the help he could get until cooking became “cellular,” he describes, “to the point where I was the fastest cook you ever saw.”

A Family Affair Looking back, Chef Scully recognizes that despite a lack of experience, he felt comfortable being in the Houlihan’s kitchen from day one thanks to his mother. She cooked every meal at home for the family, which included his dad and eight siblings, and he often cooked beside her. Every night, they ate a formal dinner together—complete with a tablecloth, ironed napkins, and a dress code.

To that end, she never served fish sticks or other casual fare popular at the time. “Anything processed would have been referred to by my father as an abomination,” he says, noting that his dad knew and appreciated “good food.”

What’s more, his mother was an artist. “She put a lot of that artistic fervor into cooking,” he says. “We’d have per-

fectly roasted chickens. Bouillabaisse is something my mother would just put on the table, and we had fondue nights.”

His older brother, Vincent, also had a big influence on his path. Vincent got a part-time job as a cook during high school and went on to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hudson, NY. “I was sort of watching that from the sidelines.”

Back to School By 1979, Chef Scully had moved to Colorado with Houlihan’s, but he quickly became disenchanted with the food he was cooking for the chain restaurant. When he first started with the company, they made everything from scratch. However, beginning in the 80s, by hand was anything but the norm; profit became the main driver, he says, not the menu.

“When I saw that happening, I immediately started gravitating to what I call ‘real food.’”

One of the only places to find real food, he notes, was in fine dining. So that’s where he got his second restaurant job.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

9

FEATURE

CH E F

And it was tougher than Houlihan’s, with no Jimmy Knicos behind the mic.

“There were times when I would almost start crying it was so hard,” Chef Scully remembers of his stint as the daytime sauté cook at a classic French restaurant in Denver. Everything had to be just so. If it wasn’t, the executive chef would toss the dish in the trash.

He pushed himself through the challenges and sought mentorship from his brother, who by that time was achieving acclaim as a chef in New York. On a lark while back home for his sister’s wedding, Chef Scully accompanied Vincent on a visit to the CIA. “I walked into the building and went OMG. It was that same feeling again of having a home, of being at home, of finding a level of comfort in a place,” he says. He enrolled in 1987 and graduated first in his class in 1989.

With the best training under his belt, he continued his fine dining career trajectory with more confidence and landed at the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria. He worked in every kitchen there: the banquet and catering hall, butcher shop, garde manger or cold kitchen, and the list goes on.

He appreciated that everything was handmade, but often found the mass-production tedious. He remembers parties of 1,500 people, all of whom ordered an eight-ounce filet mignon. One whole day would be spent trimming the steaks, then another day cooking them. It still wasn’t the right fit.

Carving Out His Corner of Asheville After the Waldorf, Chef Scully finally became an executive chef, at The Old Drovers Inn in Dover Plains, NY. There he served the likes of Paul Newman and Mick Jagger. “It let me know I could run a kitchen,” he explains. Yet, he still wondered what was next.

10

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

He bounced around looking for the perfect culinary match—back to the CIA for a fellowship and then to Atlanta for a job at a country club. While down South, he visited Asheville on his mother’s order. She wanted him to see the breakfast room at Biltmore, which had been outfitted in leather by his grandfather’s company.

Eventually, he ended up back in New York as executive chef of the United Nations, overseeing an impressive 2,000 breakfasts and 4,000 lunches daily. By that time he was married with two children, and he decided to trade in the grandness of the Big Apple for a slower pace of life. He enjoyed his visit to Asheville and made his way back, serendipitously, first to the Biltmore Estate.

The food scene was still somewhat sleepy when he arrived in 2000, he says. Thus, after his time at Biltmore, he struggled to find work. He started catering and cooking for anyone and everyone. Before he knew it, he had built a name for himself. So much so that a fan of his food offered to sell him the space at 3 Boston Way in Biltmore Village if he would open a restaurant there—which he did in 2004.

Since its launch, Corner Kitchen has served up fromscratch new American dishes with high-quality, local ingredients. It’s just that back then, those ingredients were a tad more difficult for Chef Scully to get his hands on.

He remembers just one farmers market and only one bread maker in town. “Corner Kitchen was one of four farm to table restaurants when it opened,” he estimates. “Now it’s one of, say, 30 restaurants using local food in a handcrafted way. The dynamic of the community has changed.”

Chef Scully and his team welcome the changes. After all, now they can do “the kinds of things we wouldn’t have even imagined doing when we opened.” For example, Thursdays at Corner Kitchen are Tailgate to Table days. The chefs go to

VIEW THE MENU AT CHESTNUTASHEVILLE.COM a nearby market and purchase the freshest produce and local products to make a special menu item.

An Expensive Afterthought There’s also a Tailgate to Table day on Wednesday at Chef Scully’s other restaurant, Chestnut, which he opened with his business partner from Corner Kitchen, Kevin Westmoreland, in 2012. But a second eatery wasn’t necessarily the plan.

Corner Kitchen has always maintained the catering services that got Chef Scully started in Asheville. In fact, Corner Kitchen Catering outgrew the cooking quarters on Boston Way in 2010, and they had to rent a commercial kitchen. So when a two-story space downtown at 48 Biltmore Avenue became available, Chef Scully and his partner signed on. They moved Corner Kitchen Catering downstairs and opened Chestnut upstairs.

“I refer to Chestnut as the most expensive afterthought I’ve ever had,” he jokes. Of course, the restaurant has since become a central focus. Because of its large kitchen, it can serve up more options on its nighttime menu than Corner Kitchen, and has quickly become a favorite dinner spot for locals and tourists alike. Although, he encourages, “I think one of the best kept secrets in the city is how great Corner Kitchen is for dinner,” saying the same is true for Chestnut’s Saturday and Sunday brunch.

These days, Corner Kitchen Catering is still going strong— making items like demi-glace and chips for Chef Scully’s ventures, as well as chips for other Asheville eateries, and handling more parties than ever before. “It’s the bedrock of what we can do in the culinary world in both restaurants.”

After all these years in the industry, Chef Scully says he now feels pretty clear about what his guests want and expect: the highest quality ingredients along with consistency and care.

However, he stresses that he also knows his culinary journey has never been about him.

“Some chefs think they can tell people what to eat,” he says. “If somebody comes into our restaurants and wants something … we simply say yes. At Corner Kitchen, Chestnut, and Corner Kitchen Catering, we never forget the fact that we’re servants. I’m a servant, and I’m okay with that today. That’s who I am.”

Visit cornerkitchen.com, cornerkitchencatering.com, and chestnutasheville.com for menus and to learn more about Chef Scully and his team.

MAGGIE CRAMER is an Asheville-based freelance writer, editor, and communications specialist. She can be reached at mcramerwrites@gmail.com

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

11

FEATURE

BR B R E WE RY

HIGHLAND BREWING: Cornerstone of Asheville’s Brewery Scene Asheville’s first legal brewery since prohibition continues to grow and evolve while staying true to its WNC roots.

by NOAH ROBINS photos by PAMELA R IMAGRY

12

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Y

YOU CAN’T REALLY SEPARATE the history of Highland Brewing from the history of the Asheville brewing scene – in many ways, Highland’s 1994 launch in downtown marked the beginning of the movement that has seen Asheville win repeated awards as “Beer City USA” and locals and tourists alike come to identify much of Asheville’s identity with malt, barley, and hops. From Highland’s humble, hobby-based beginnings, it has grown into a large craft brewery with widespread distribution, an impressive facility with amenities for families, groups and events, and a hub of community activity. In large part due to a strong leadership commitment to the community it calls home, Highland has managed this growth with deftness and grace and is well poised to continue as a centerpiece of Asheville’s craft beer industry.

Sitting in Highland’s spacious tasting room, with dozens of employees bustling from hip shipping-container offices to the production line and bar staff readying the twenty-plus tap lines for 4:00 opening, Highland founder Oscar Wong reflected on his original vision for Highland and how that vision brought them to this point. Actually, reflected may be a little strong – in fact, he laughed. “Absolutely not – this wasn’t the goal at all,” he said. “We started this as a hobby, using old dairy equipment. We had no idea we would get to this point.”

Oscar was introduced to beer through family meals growing up in Jamaica, when cold Red Stripe beer or hard cider would help balance “hot,” heavier meals of roasted pork and fried prawns. An avid homebrewer since college (when he brewed what he describes as “barely drinkable” beer), after a 30-year career in engineering Oscar landed in Asheville in 1994 and opened Highland truly as a hobby. Setting up operation in the empty basement of Barley’s Taproom on Biltmore Avenue, Oscar’s initial goal was simply to make a consistent product while coping with the limits of pieced-together equipment and in a regulatory environment where state and local officials often “didn’t know what to do with us.”

For several years Highland’s beer was available only in kegs and 22-ounce bottles; gradually scaling up to include on-site bottling, Highland began selling its first six-packs in 1998. I vividly remember the cool fall day when a family friend came out to Madison County for a weekend camping trip and pulled out a bottle of Highland Gaelic, gushing about how this

FOR MORE INFO, VISIT HIGHLANDBREWING.COM beer was really, truly made in Asheville. Increased production While Highland’s growth has been an organic process with and wider distribution followed; in 2006 Highland moved to a great deal of change, one constant is a strong commitment its current facility in east Asheville, a large warehouse space to give back to the community it calls home. Drew Stevenwith plenty of room for expansion. Currently they brew four son, Highland’s head of Community Outreach, describes this times a day, five days per week on a 50-barrel brewhouse. commitment with the phrase “Beyond the Beer,” something Their cellar includes twenty-four fermenters, mostly 200-barof a mantra at Highland. As Drew puts it, “Asheville helped rel, with plans for added capacity. On their state-of-the art start this thing, too, and partnerships are for showing up and 48-valve rotary bottling line Highland can bottle up to 320 being active. Community outreach is about where we live bottles per minute, averaging 800 cases per hour; a recentand how Highland interacts with our community.” Highland ly-added canning line partners with a broad employs a 14-valve range of nonprofits, rotary canner, adding and each month feacanned beer to the mix tures a different organiof Highland offerings. zation for outreach and Increased brewing fundraising opportunicapacity has gone ties. hand in hand with furTheir longest-runther development of ning partnership is with their space as a gatherthe Southern Appalaing and entertainment chian Highland Conservenue. In 2010 Highvancy, an accredited, land opened their tastnon-profit land trust ing room to the pubheadquartered in Ashelic to allow visitors to ville with the mission sample Highland beers to conserve the unique and mingle with staff. plant and animal habThe tasting room is itat, clean water, farmopen Monday through land and scenic beauty Sunday; Friday and of the mountains of Saturday evenings feaNorth Carolina and ture live music, an array Tennessee. The relaof food trucks, and a tionship between the LeahWong Ashburn & Oscar Wong. Photo by Carrie Turner family-friendly feel. In organizations is formalthe summer months, Friday and Saturday’s events take place ized as the “For Love of Beer and Mountains Partnership.” in “The Meadow,” a grassy expanse just behind the building The partnership arose from a shared recognition of the newith a large outdoor stage, outdoor bar, and space for kids cessity to conserve western North Carolina’s natural environto run, play and relax. Recently Highland opened a rooftop ment for its beauty, historical notoriety, and recreational use. bar and event space which has hosted weddings, receptions As part of the partnership, Highland names seasonal beers and other gatherings. after landforms, flora and fauna that are featured parts of This family-centric feel is echoed in the company’s leaderSAHC’s conservation efforts; Clawhammer Oktoberfest Laship; in 2011, Oscar’s daughter Leah Wong Ashburn joined ger, Lost Cove Kolsch, and Saw-Whet Saison are all examples.

Highland and is now President, taking over day-to-day manHighland donates $1 from each pint sold at seasonal release agement of the company from her father. To hear Leah tell it, parties, helps SAHC with venue space and “friend-raising” she wanted to work at Highland as early as the mid-1990s, opportunity at events, assists with wildlife habitat restoration but Oscar politely pushed her to find work elsewhere. Leah and management through Highland employee volunteer worked in the printing industry for fifteen years before movworkdays and co-leads outings to the namesake mountains ing into a full-time role with the family business; as Oscar and coves. For Highland, conservation isn’t just a feel-good; puts it, he and Leah had “orbited around” the idea of her there’s some enlightened self-interest at work, too. Stejoining the business for some time, and he’s delighted that venson explains that “when you’re conserving a mountain, she’s here running things. you’re not just protecting the peak – you’re also protecting FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

13

FEATURE

BR E WE RY

what you see from the peak. And you’re protecting water.

Good water is critical to making good beer.”

And Highland has certainly been making good beer, with plans for much more to come. Since launching, Highland has focused primarily on English-style ales; the flagship brew, Gaelic Ale, is a balanced, flavorful and drinkable amber ale. Other year-round favorites include Oatmeal Porter, a surprisingly smooth dark beer, St. Terese’s Pale Ale, and Black Mocha Stout. In recent years Highland has introduced more variety and innovation to its core lineup - brewmaster Hollie Stephenson came to Highland in early 2015 from Stone Brewing in San Diego and has overseen an expansion of beer offerings while ensuring that consistency and quality remain at the forefront. As such, a revamped American-style IPA is now part of the Highland core lineup, along with a canned Highland Pilsner and Mandarina IPA, which draws on Mandarina Bavaria and Hull Melon hops for tropical notes.

Innovation hasn’t just been limited to year-round offerings. Highland’s diverse beer lineup now includes nearly a dozen small batch, boundary-pushing beers such as the 14

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Old Mollusk Barleywine, the Zentennial Ale (a “light-bodied, dank and bitter session ale”), and Cranberry Ridge Wheat.

Highland has launched a “Warrior Series” of Scottish-inspired, higher-gravity brews, leading off with King MacAlpin, which Hollie Stephenson calls a double IPA “hop bomb” packed with 5.5 pounds of hops per barrel and weighing in at a piney, citrusy 10% alcohol by volume.

Highland’s newest idea, the “Kinsman Series,” blends all natural (and local, where possible) ingredients into their flagship beers, creating complimentary flavors in small batches. For instance, Black Mocha Stout is enhanced with dried chipotle peppers and handcut and scraped vanilla pods and beans to add complexity, nuance and unique character to each small batch creation.

Ironically, for a brewery pushing out an ever-increasing array of innovative brews, as the calendar ticks over to fall many in the region will think of Highland for the popularity of one beer: Cold Mountain. The spiced winter seasonal ale with notes of vanilla and hazelnut has become a highly sought-after commodity, and Highland’s annual release party has taken on the feel of a movie premiere meets beer festival. In the last few years, a line of thirsty patrons typically snakes around the Highland parking lot, which Drew says is an amazing validation: “We take it as a tremendous honor that so many people are willing to wait in line for our product.” This winter marks the 20th anniversary of Cold Mountain, first brewed in 1996, with an “Extravaganza” celebration planned for Thursday, November 10th featuring live music and specialty casks. Save the date, and be sure to arrive early – although Drew was at pains to point out that sales are carefully monitored to be sure as many customers as possible go home with Cold Mountain. As in all their operations, Highland’s eye is firmly on community.

For more information on Highland Brewing, visit highlandbrewing.com. For more on the “For Love of Beer & Mountains” partnership, visit beerandmountains.com

NOAH ROBINS, a native of Madison County, grew up on a farm and is passionate about all things local, particularly food and drink.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

15

FEATURE

A B - T E C H C UL I N A RY P R O G R A M

L

LONG BEFORE ASHEVILLE boasted a top-notch restaurant on nearly every corner, or claimed a prime spot on practically every magazine’s list of must-visit edible destinations, the town was already making waves in the world of food: In 1968, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College became the first educational institution in North Carolina to offer an associate degree in culinary arts. It has continued to stir things up ever since.

A little over a decade ago, A-B Tech was the first school in the state to add a baking and pastry degree to its culinary roster. And in 2013, it not only made headlines as the first NC college to offer an associate in brewing, distillation, and fermentation, but the very first in the US. “We’ve been able to create a centralized education program revolving around the hospitality industry,” explains Christina Harley, current culinary chair and a culinary arts graduate herself. Over the years, the program has earned a prestigious reputation. “I hear from chefs that they’d rather hire an A-B Tech grad than someone from any other school in the country,” shares chef instructor Chris Bugher.

Chefs Bugher and Harley attribute this success not only to the culinary and hospitality department’s pioneering past but also its ability to look ahead to the future.

Cutting-Edge Curriculum: Molecular Gastronomy & Culinology

The Community College Culinary Program That Could Discover how A-B Tech competes with—and beats—the big dogs.

by MAGGIE CRAMER photos by TIFFANY WELSH

16

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

“As instructors, we’re always looking for the next thing to teach our students,” Chef Bugher shares. “We have to learn something every day, and we do a lot of research to be ahead of the game.”

Much of that research happens during culinary competition. The school’s hot foods team has competed locally, regionally, and nationally for the past 20 years. In that time, they’ve won a whopping 15 state championships and nine regional competitions. They took home the top prize at nationals in 2007.

“It’s not just the students on the team that get benefit, it’s all the students in our program,” says Chef Harley. “Going to those competitions, we’re able to bring back so much knowledge, from our instructors that are participating, to the knowledge we’re able to glean from watching other teams, to the critiques that we get from the world-class chefs that are judging.”

In order to keep curriculum closely connected to what’s current in the industry, the faculty also regularly brings in adjunct instructors actively working in the field. “That’s a strong

FOR MORE INFO, VISIT ABTECH.EDU

“I hear from chefs that they’d rather hire an A-B Tech grad than someone from any other school in the country.”

Industry Shifts: Umami & Widening Career Paths

piece of our program,” notes Chef Harley. “We’re not in a bubble.”

“We don’t want to just follow all the trends, we want to set the trends,” Chef Bugher echoes. “So we really focus on what’s going to be next.”

As a food science instructor, what’s next for Chef Bugher has been made-new-again techniques like sous vide and the molecular gastronomy approach, which uses a blend of physics and chemistry to transform the taste and texture of food.

He has also been staying abreast of new degrees in Culinology, a rapidly expanding area melding culinary arts and the science of food.

“Food science, just like any other science, is always changing,” he shares, using the one-time frustrating experience of trying to pour ketchup out of the bottle as an example.

Now, thanks to advances in the field that make it less viscous, there’s no pounding needed.

What’s happened with ketchup is just one illustration, both say, of larger changes in the industry—changes driven by the consumer.

“The next generation, they’re going to have stronger taste buds and stronger flavor profiles,” says Chef Harley, citing broader exposure to different foods and a wide availability of information online. In particular, both chefs note, people now have an understanding of umami, or the “fifth taste.”

That means that future chefs will need to be able to deliver bigger and better flavors to every eater, including those with specific dietary needs and restrictions who no longer want to settle for bland.

It’s these industry shifts and opportunities for which A-B Tech is preparing its students. “The program does a really good job working with what’s happening in the industry— in the culinary world and food service overall—to bring in the techniques our students are going to need going out into their workplace,” says Chef Harley, “whether that’s in a restaurant or in food writing or food photography.”

“It’s no longer just you go to culinary school and you enter a restaurant and that’s your career path,” Chef Harley continues. “We’re able to introduce students to a broad range of careers and talk about the different ways to go.” In fact, both she and Chef Bugher are evidence of the ever-expanding job options available to culinary majors. Before she joined as program staff, she was employed in school nutrition, while Chef Bugher worked in corporate health care.

Job Training: Accessible & Outstanding in the Field Whatever path they choose, chefs Bugher and Harley are confident A-B Tech’s culinary students will find work in their chosen arenas after graduation.

“Our students that seek a job, get a job,” Chef Harley says emphatically, stressing how the program’s forward-thinking approach and high standards come together for the benefit of the students.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

17

FEATURE

A B - T E C H C UL I N A RY P R O G R A M

Over the course of the two-year program, each student must complete a summer internship and a capstone project, which includes launching and executing a restaurant, or bakery, concept. These elements help provide the skills students need to be job-ready on day one. At the end of internships, Chef Bugher and other instructors routinely hear that the restaurateurs and executive chefs found their students capable of the tasks set before them, and that they would re-hire those interns without second thought.

It’s more than lip service: “Not only do they say they would, but they do keep them on part-time throughout the seasons,” he shares, adding, “Almost every single restaurant within 20 miles of Asheville either has or has had an A-B tech student or graduate working for them.”

In other words, the program is true to its mission of providing hands-on training and the knowledge needed to achieve success in the culinary world. What’s more, students don’t have to travel to California or New York and pay the fees of private schools for the experience—A-B Tech’s program costs about 13 percent of a traditional school. “We are a community college,” reminds Chef Harley. “We make a degree very accessible to students who are interested in making this their chosen career.”

Learn more about A-B Tech’s culinary arts and hospitality department at abtech.edu

MAGGIE CRAMER is an Asheville-based freelance writer, editor, and communications specialist. She can be reached at mcramerwrites@gmail.com

18

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Taco Temple | Asheville Tacos and Taps COMPETITORS: Belly Up Truck | Mamacita’s Grey Eagle Taqueria Chupacabra Latin Cafe | Salvage Station | The JUDGES: Stu Helm | Jonathon Ammons | Steven

Goff | Scotty Robertson

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

19

FEATURE

PL O W T O P I N T

From Field to Ferment

WNC Breweries are crafting a market for the local farm economy.

by SHANE MAXSON FROM THE MOMENT you walk into the taproom of Burial Beer Company you can feel that it is a celebration of the land. The cyclical nature of the world is captured in old farm tools gracing the walls and tap handles, images of harvest and rebirth, and flavors both bold and familiar. Burial Beer Company, co-owner and Head Brewer, Tim Gormley has a love affair with the people of the land and the flavors which capture the essence of agriculture.

“The whole idea of a farmhouse brewery is so romantic.

The concept of brewing with what’s available on the farm at the time, the rustic quality you get from brewing with raw grains in makeshift, dairy equipment, the idea of brewing for the farm workers…” Gormley says, “…it’s just such a beautiful amalgamation of necessity and art and craft.”

It comes as no surprise that in this age of “Farm to Table” restaurants and a thriving beer industry that craft breweries are returning to the land for inspiration and ingredients.

“There are talented and creative farmers all over the region that are growing things that we can’t help but want to experiment with.” Gormley continues.

The U.S. craft brewing market is home to over four thousand breweries and growing. In 2014, the Brewers Association reported an economic impact of $1.2 Billion in craft brewing in North Carolina alone. This growth has created a wonderful opportunity for small farmers with a penchant toward creativity and the drive to join this armada of brewers. Michael Rayburn, of Rayburn Farm in Barnardsville, NC is one of these local farmers who recognized the potential.

Rayburn often uses the term “Plow to Pint” to describe the marriage between local farms and craft breweries. “We have found a lot of success working with breweries. It is not easy, there isn’t a textbook that tells you this is what to grow 20

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

above: @burialbeer Gang of Blades Double IPA & Scythe Rye IPA. right: @rayburnfarm pumpkins on their way to Zebulon Brewing

and here’s how to do it.” Rayburn says.

In February of 2015, Rayburn went door to door asking brewers what they wanted. As the cold winds of winter were blowing, a new chapter was germinating at Rayburn Farms.

This year, Rayburn is growing a variety of crops for eight breweries across western North Carolina, and has broken into the homebrew market as well. Among the offerings are New England pie pumpkins, delicata squash, roselle hibiscus, black elderberry, and various herbs including six varieties of basil.

“Growing this diversity and having a guaranteed buyer allows us to experiment with things that a market farm is unable to.” Rayburn says.

North Carolina Barley farmers are another group who are riding the craft beer wave. In general, beer malt is produced by large companies like Cargill and Malteurop. In 2010, Brett Manning and Brian Simpson opened Riverbend Malt House, a business with the aim of supporting local farmers who were growing barley in North Carolina. Their traditional floor malting process revives the quality driven art form which faded into obscurity during prohibition.

“At first we thought that all the grain for Asheville brew-

@wncmalt A fresh bag of Heritage Malt

eries could be grown right here in Buncombe county.” says Simpson with a chuckle. The steep mountain land and more property tied up in development than agriculture made this more of a challenge than anticipated. “We have converted to a regional approach. Our malt house helps support grain farmers in a 500 mile radius.” Simpson continues.

The brewers, farmers, and beer lovers of North Carolina are creating a revolution. The state boasts hop and barley farms, a malt house, a yeast lab, perfect water, as well as innovative farmers and brewers seeking to lift the craft of brewing to new heights. Whether you prefer the intense hop forward flavors of west coast style IPA, the wild style of sours, or the full meaty body of a porter, there is one unmistakable flavor tying all these beers together – the farm.

To borrow from author Wendell Berry and Riverbend Malt House co-founder Brent Manning:

“Drinking is an agricultural act!”

SHANE MAXSON is a freelance writer on sustainable agriculture, seed saving, regional food, and food security. He also works as the Outreach Coordinator for the Appalachian Institute for Mountain Studies and the Southern Seed Legacy Project. Contact him at plowandlace@gmail.com FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

21

THE GUIDE

F O O D F O R T H O UGH T

Have Your Beer & Eat it, Too

by TIFFANY WELSH

I SHOULD WARN YOU, Lin Johnson is a hugger. But once you spend a few minutes with her you may not mind the embrace. Johnson is the owner behind Hendersonville’s Mimi’s Mountain Mixes. A product which was a long time in the making.

In 2008, Johnson began looking for a way to supplement her income. She was living in Florida and the recession was in full swing. She decided to start baking treats to sell at the local farmer’s market. Her church generously provided the use of their commercial kitchen and she set to baking. Specifically, she came up with a lot of tropical flavored desserts, because it was Florida after all. She was making good money at the markets, but then she decided to move to Ohio to be closer to her family. In Ohio, the shoppers were not in the market for tropical, so Johnson had to rethink her strategy.

She decided to try a beer bread and found that people loved it. But over time, she began to grow weary at the amount of physical work involved in baking and selling at the market. So once again, she adapted her strategy, this time into a something she could sell as a mix. It was a big hit. Then Johnson decided to move again. This time to North Carolina.

“I’m stalking my family, is what I am doing,” says Johnson.

“Family is what makes me rich.” In fact, Mimi’s name is derived from her grandchild, who couldn’t pronounce Grammy and instead said Mimi and the name stuck. Now all of her family calls her Mimi and she loves it.

After moving here, Johnson had trouble finding a new job.

22

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

“There are not a lot of job offers for someone my age,” she tells me. So her husband, Gene, suggested she start selling her mixes. Gene told her, “Your mixes are amazing and this is Beer City, why don’t you try it here?”

Johnson decided to give it a go. She approached a couple of smaller stores and asked if they would sell her product. The first two days, the product sold out. With a taste of success, Johnson decided to go official and become Mimi’s Mountain Mixes in 2015.

When she started her business, she was working in the basement of the Dandelion restaurant in Hendersonville. Dandelion is a job training program for Safelight, an organization that provides assistance to victims of interpersonal violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Johnson loved the idea of helping women with job training, so she began to take on some of the trainees for work in her company. Something she describes as a “crazy blessing” for Mimi’s. And she tells me, “Because those that are given much, should give much”, they also try to give back to other charity organizations, including the Black Mountain Family and Children’s home.

In the past 18 months, Johnson’s life has changed. She is now selling her mixes at several big grocery stores, including Ingles. She says, “Ingles has been so embracing and encouraging. I appreciate them so much. Because they gave me a chance, they stepped out on a limb for me, it’s really opened a lot of doors. It’s given us credibility.”

Mimi’s produces 11 different mixes, including 2 gluten free products. The beer soft pretzel is the most popular. Johnson’s goal is to make everything very easy. She says, “If you just have to put in a can of beer and bake, you’re more likely to do that. You can bake with Mimi.”

Learn more at mimismountainmixes.com

RECIPE

THE GUIDE

Porter Banana Bread

created by CHEF PHILIP BOLLHOEFER photo by CHELSEA LANE PHOTOGRAPHY

• • • • • • • • • • •

½ C Butter, softened 1 C Sugar 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar 1 tsp Vanilla 2 Eggs, beaten 3 Bananas, very ripe (almost black) - smashed 2C plus 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Baking Powder ½ tsp Salt 1 bottle of Green Man porter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour the porter into a shallow sauce pan with brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the beer has reduced to ¼ cup, approximately 12 minutes. Chill beer reduction in fridge while mixing remaining batter.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add bananas, vanilla, and eggs. Sift dry ingredients into the banana mixture and mix well. Swirl beer reduction into banana bread batter and mix in a circle 2 times. Do not over mix or you will lose the swirl effect. Pour the banana bread batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake for 70-90 minutes or until a knife pulls out clean when put into the center of the loaf. Cool before cutting.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

23

24

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

25

26

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

KI TCHEN CO N V ER SATI O N S

THE GUIDE

Q&A with

Vivian Howard The owner of Chef & the Farmer and Boiler Room restaurants, star of A Chef’s Life on PBS and author of a newly released cookbook, Deep Run Roots, catches us up on life in Kinston, NC and her new cookbook.

by TIFFANY WELSH photos by TIM ROBISON

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

27

THE GUIDE

KI TC H E N C O N VE R S AT I O N S

“I’m also really excited about the Tom Thumb recipe, but I don’t expect many home cooks are going to run out and get a pig appendix...”

V

VIVIAN HOWARD, who started a restaurant in the small town of Kinston in eastern NC ten years ago has really made a name for herself in the food world. She has turned a indie TV show into a hit for PBS and now written a cookbook. Having grown up “country”, she has decided to use her voice to really spotlight locally grown produce and the farmers that bring them to our table.

For those people who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about your relationship to farming?

I grew up on a tobacco farm and we grew up with a big garden in the backyard and everyone in the neighborhood had a garden, so we grew a lot of what we ate. Pretty much everyone in our community was a farmer of some kind, so I’d say that I am very much connected to farms of all kinds.

Let’s talk about your show for a minute. In the opening credits, you tell how you swore off ever moving back to eastern NC. Now you’ve become quite a success in Kinston and beyond, do you ever miss living in the big city?

No. I get to go and visit. There are times I wish I lived in a community with a little bit more stuff, but for the most part I really like small town living. I live across the road from my parents and that’s kind of like the biggest perk you can have.

So we’re happy here.

So, your new cookbook is just out and it is amazing. There are so many wonderful looking recipes in there, but the one I am going to make first is the chicken and rice. My grandma always made that when I was growing up. Do you have one recipe in the book that is really special to you, a favorite?

The book is meant to serve a lot of purposes, one is to preserve those recipes that our families made here but no one ever wrote down because they were considered too mundane or simple, but they’re actually deceptively simple.

So certainly the chicken and rice is one of those for me and that’s something we make at my house all the time because it’s something the whole family likes. I’m also really excited about the “Tom Thumb” recipe, but I don’t expect many home cooks are going to run out and get a pig appendix and make a Tom Thumb and hang it in the refrigerator, but that’s 28

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

a recipe that you can’t find online - and people my age are not making them, except in our restaurant. So it’s something that I feel really strongly about writing down and preserving in this book. This is probably the only book ever written that has an entire chapter dedicated to muscadine grapes - I can’t say that for sure, but it’s certainly not a common thing. Those grapes are so representative of our culture here and much of the south, they grow all over the south, and they have a distinct flavor and they are so important to my personal memories. That “Triple Decker Grape Hull Pie” is pretty cool.

Also the “Eastern NC Fish Stew” finished with hard boiled eggs…these are all traditional recipes that I haven’t tweaked at all. I’m excited about those.

The book is organized by ingredient and your TV show is the same. Is there one particular fruit or vegetable that you look forward to all year?

That’s the beautiful thing about the seasons. At the end of every season, I’m really looking forward to my favorite thing about the next season. In early fall, I can smell the muscadines in the farmers market and in backyards. They are really one of the things you can’t get any other time of the year. When it gets a little cooler, I really get excited about sweet potatoes, because they say fall and Thanksgiving to me more than anything else. And then during the winter, I really look forward to oysters, like the idea of having an oyster roast when it’s cold outside and warming my hands over the fire and the communal feeling of it all - that screams winter in eastern NC to me. Come April, if I see another rutabaga or turnip root, I want to vomit, So I really look forward to greens of all kinds in spring. We call lots of greens here turnip greens, so turnip greens, run up turnips. Those are one of the first things you see in late March, even before ramps or scallions, are the run up turnips. So that’s something that I get excited about every year. Then summer…I break summer into two categories, early summer and late summer. So in early summer, I get real excited about squash and sweet corn and then tomatoes bridge the gap between early and late summer and then in late summer, I am really thrilled about okra and watermelon.

I know I just gave you a lengthy answer, but it’s just because I like to eat.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT VIVIANHOWARD.COM

It’s so hard to pick just one. Especially in the Summer, it’s like a cornucopia if you go to the market - you have food in every color of the rainbow. How could you choose.

I am really sad to see tomatoes go every year and watermelon.

We are like, let’s have one more tomato sandwich or one more watermelon and avocado salad. You’re really saying goodbye to those things.

You mentioned in your book that you read and reference a lot of cookbooks. If you could recommend one cookbook, other than your own, what would it be?

Now, that’s not a fair question! It depends on what you’re doing. For people who want to cook professionally, I think The French Laundry Cookbook is really important and I learned a lot from it in terms of philosophy and technique. It really demystifies a lot of things you don’t necessarily learn in culinary school or as a low-level cook in a restaurant. If you’re really interested in thoughtful, ingredient focused Southern food, I was always really inspired by Not Afraid of Flavor by Ben Barker. If you’re interested in storytelling and connection of food to place and history, I’ve probably been most influenced

by Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking.

So you’re about to go on tour for your cookbook in a food truck. What made you decide to do that?

When chefs write cookbooks, often the tour centers around dinners in restaurants all over the country. I’ve done a lot of dinners in other folks restaurants, to be frank, I’m tired of walking into an unfamiliar kitchen and trying to figure out where everything is and trying to get my bearings and asking for help and apologizing every time I ask for help. I knew that I needed to have a food component to my tour and I started thinking about creative ways to do that. So I had the idea to do it in a food truck, so the kitchen stays the same everywhere you go. And it’s a new adventure. We’ve always wanted a food truck to do catering, so we have a use for it after the tour.

If you could have dinner with one person (living or dead) who would it be and why?

You know I could give you lots of answers, but I’m going to say right now, probably Michelle Obama. I think that she has handled the office of the First Lady with tremendous grace and particularly being a parent during that time. I was so inspired by her speech at the Democratic National Convention, like I literally say on my bed and cried. When you hear the word inspired, what does that mean? I’m so rarely inspired by someone, but she inspired me to be a better parent.

When she said “when they go low, we go high.” Wow, that’s such great advice and I’m not always doing that. So being someone who is a little bit in the public eye, but to no degree the extent that they are, I would love to have dinner and talk about how they have handled that. She’s conducted herself

Chef Howard in the kitchen at Chef & the Farmer

in such a wonderful manner and it seems like they really love each other. I think I could learn a lot, in a short period of time.

When you started the restaurant, Chef and the Farmer, you didn’t have any previous experience owning a restaurant. What kind of advice would you give someone else wanting to do the same thing?

Well, we had worked in restaurants, but we had never been in a real leadership role. We really struggled for a while because of that. Everything we learned, we learned the hard way. It’s a lot more than being able to be a good cook. It’s so much more about managing people and managing money and expenses and customer expectations than just your ability to make tasty food.

Tune in to A Chef ’s Life on PBS Saturdays at 4pm. Look for Deep Run Roots at your favorite bookseller. For more information on the restaurants and what Chef Howard is up to next, visit vivianhoward.com FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

29

THE GUIDE

KI TC H E N C O N VE R S AT I O N S

Grandma Hill’s Candied Yams Serves 6

IF YOU’RE LOOKING for syrup-sweet, marshmallowcrowned yams, this is not the recipe for you. If you’re interested in sweet potatoes that taste like sweet potatoes with a little extra, then consider Grandma Hill’s approach. I like the fact that you can assemble them ahead of time and bake the yams off just before you want to serve them.

INGREDIENTS 2 pounds roasted sweet potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes) ¼ cup dark brown sugar ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes (1 cube per round of potato) Zest of 1 orange

PREPARATION Preheat your oven to 350°F. Slip the skins off the roasted sweet potatoes and slice them into 1½-inch-thick rounds. Lay the rounds flat on the bottom of a baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer with about half an inch separating each round.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.

Sprinkle each round with equal parts of the sugar mixture and dot the top of each round with cold butter. Grate the orange zest right over the sweet potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes so things caramelize a little.

30

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Common sense tells you to serve these warm, but I actually prefer them room temperature. Do whatever works for you.

Excerpted from Deep Run Roots, Copyright © 2016 by Vivian Howard.

Used with permission of Little, Brown and Company, New York. All rights reserved. Recipe photo by Rex Miller.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

31

A

Asheville’s Hops Crop Growing to Meet Demands of Craft Beer Scene

by JOSH O’CONNER photos by TIFFANY WELSH

32

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

ASHEVILLE HAS BEEN BREWING a premier destination for beer connoisseurs for over twenty years. Local beer brewed using local hops is intuitive in a beer culture like Asheville’s. However, the local hops scene is in its infancy and has yet to work through the issues required to create a viable connection to the local beer market.

Hops create beer’s “hoppy” or bitter flavor and impart citrus flavors reminiscent of grapefruit. Hops also add depth through aromatic elements that enhance presentation and palatability. The variety of hops incorporated into a beer create the nuance of its experience. Beer is an exercise in complex biochemistry where any number of wild microorganisms battle for control of the wort (the liquid that is fermented to produce beer). Hops add stability to the brewing process with antibacterial properties that complement the brewer’s yeast responsible for converting the sugars provided by the malts into alcohol.

Hops are typically cultivated from rhizomes (sections cut from the below ground portion of the plant) and grow as a vine directed up trellises. The portion of the plant of interest to brewers is the cone or hop flower. Hops have traditionally grown near the 48th parallel north (for comparison, Asheville is on the 35th parallel north). Within the United States, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon produce over 95% of the domestic crop.

Geography plays a major factor in the regional limitations for hop crops. “The commercially available and commercially accepted hop varieties were developed for growing at northern latitudes”, says Jeanine Davis, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist with NC State. “Hops are sensitive to daylength and our southern day length is too short for these varieties. This has a serious negative impact on yield.” Existing varieties of hops are also accustomed to less humid conditions.

Hop farming in the south is not for the faint of heart, the relative youthfulness of hops as a regional crop mean that farmers are tackling each stage of hop production by hand. Economically sustainable hop production requires farm infrastructure that reduces labor demands. Meghan Baker, Buncombe County’s Small Farm NC Cooperative Extension Agent, highlights that, “With our existing varieties, disease pressure can also be a huge management challenge for growers.” A lack of experience with local hops means the management approach for disease and insects is still evolving.

McGregor Holmes of Holmes Brothers Hops, an operation with ½ acre in production in Leicester, affirms the issues raised by Davis and Baker. He adds farm size limitations spurred on by local land costs and topography.

HO P S FAR M I N G

Smaller farm sizes limit the ability of growers to achieve the economies of scale for local hops to compete with those grown in the Northwest. The Holmes brothers engage hop farming in addition to full-time jobs, so production has suffered while dealing with the endemic issues. Their goal yields comparable to 50% of Northwestern growers (which he estimates to be about 1,000lbs/acre). Holmes has seen use of their hops in small batches for breweries across the state, but their primary market is homebrewers. His vision for local hops is pragmatic focusing more on expansion for homebrewing with a lesser emphasis on commercial brewing for small run beers. In his mind, local production will not create a major offset within the existing national market. “Hops are still really fun, rewarding, and beautiful plant to grow”, emphasizes Holmes, “So even if we can’t commercialize it, we will certainly continue to grow for personal consumption.

Our quality has always been very good, and the satisfaction of an estate grown hop/beer is great.”

The collaborative nature of Asheville’s brewing scene is pivotal in ensuring the viability of local hops. “Yes, local breweries want locally grown hops. The issues are the volumes produced are low and the growers need prices that are often higher than the brewers want to pay”, notes Davis, “So

THE GUIDE

the growers and brewers need to work together so the growers can continue to expand and mechanize their operations so they can lower their prices.” Brewers are accustomed to processed hops that arrive dried and pelletized, but have been willing to experiment with fresh local hops by “wet hopping” specialty batches.

Davis notes that recent efforts include a breeding program to develop varieties that are designed for performance in the South. Breeding is a process of trial and error that requires a significant investment of time before production can become commercially viable. The process requires hops to be grown, assessed, and tweaked over several seasons before a field ready crop selected for its genetic adaptation to local conditions comes online. Davis’s tone toward local hops is one of cautious optimism. “If we could find or create varieties that would produce yields that are at least 80% of those up north, with the support of our many breweries, I think we could turn this into a business as our vineyards and wineries have done”, she predicts. “But it will take time.”

JOSH O’CONNER is an urban/land use planner for food and urban agriculture.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

33

THE GUIDE

F R UI T F O R A GI N G

Lookout for Loquats!

Fruit Exploring in Acadiana

W

WHEN MOST PEOPLE think of Louisiana, New Orleans is what springs immediately into mind. N’Awlins is a different kind of city – nowadays, most large cities seem pretty much akin, to me – when you’re in Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, Des Moines – is there REALLY much there to distinguish one from another? I think New Orleans is the most “European” of all American cities, with a flavor all of its own, which is distinctive.

New Orleans is not ALL of Louisiana, though. Just west of New Orleans to the Texas border along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and about 100 miles inland to Marksville, you’ll find the region known as “Acadiana” – this is Cajun Country here, inhabited by the descendents of French and Spanish colonists.

The original French settlers, forcibly deposed from Canada and resettled in Louisiana around 1760, have thrived, and those family names are still there. Being of French and Spanish descent, those people, of course, know how to spice food properly; it’s a family tradition that has stuck with them. “Cajun” food is mostly simple dishes, prepared carefully, with fresh, local in34

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

story & photos by LARRY STEPHENSON

gredients; homely, or “comfort” food, the kind that sits well in your belly and makes your mouth tingle, and different from the “Creole” dishes you’ll find in New Orleans. A bland diet of pre-packaged and processed food is a diet no self-respecting Cajun would accept.

Mild winters, a long growing season, ample rainfall, rich black delta soil, inhabitants with an appreciation of fine dining, proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, and miles and miles of salt marsh and swamps make Acadiana a Food Paradise; you only have to reach out to pluck it from the trees, or dig it from the ground, or dip it out of the Gulf. The best of it, I assure you, never gets shipped Up North, but is eaten fresh, on the spot. I like a shrimp that takes three bites to eat!

My family and I were visiting with my sister during spring break, mid-March. Not normally the best time for fruit exploring, maybe, but this area is in Zone 9, and just had a very mild winter…I was quite surprised at what we found. It was my sister who spotted the first one. She was well aware of my pen-

FOR MORE INFO, VISIT SOUTHERNFRUITFELLOWSHIP.COM

“Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

Translation: “Let the good times roll!”

- Motto of the Great State of Acadiana buckets of them up to us in Mississippi for Christmas), many chant for fruit exploring, and was keeping a sharp eye out as we were still hanging on the trees on St. Patrick’s Day. It amazes cruised through the suburban neighborhoods of New Iberia, me how long satsumas will last even after being picked; after Louisiana. “Look, is that a kumquat?” she asked, pointing to a a month or two sitting on the counter, the skin begins to turn dark green tree covered with orange fruit, standing in a neighbrown, and you’d think they were rotten – not usually; when bor’s yard. We pulled over to the curb to check it out. “No,” I you peel it (the skin is so loose you can peel a satsuma with just said, breathlessly, “that’s a LOQUAT!” It was, too, the first one one hand), you’ll find the flesh is still plump and juicy, and the I’d ever seen; they’re not common in north Mississippi. I’d seen sugars have concentrated a bit more, almost like citrus candy, pictures, though, and through the process of elimination…a delicious. To me, satsumas are the ultimate form of citrus. DesLOQUAT! serts during our stay were fresh satsumas and Dove chocolate, We knocked politely on the owner’s’ door to ask permission washed down with cabernet sauvignon - a combination you – nobody home, and by the overflowing mailbox, it appeared won’t regret. they’d been gone some time. The ground beneath the tree was We found even more citrus during our visit. On a day tour covered with fallen ripe fruit as well, so – we helped ourselves to the Jefferson Island Gardens we discovered fine grove of to a handful of fruit. They were delicious! The taste – hard to Nagami kumquats, just ripendescribe, sort of like a peach, or ing. They’re normally a late-ripmango, with a citrus-like bite to ening fruit, like most citrus, in it; something about the texture December or January, but I was reminiscent of persimmon. guess the past year’s mild winAltogether, a most delectable ter had fooled them into being tidbit. We went back several very late. Kumquats are the times, hoping to find the owners opposite of most citrus; the at home, but they never were – I peel is sweet while the flesh got another handful of fruit each is tart and sour-ish. To eat a time I visited, and picked fallen kumquat properly, roll it beones from the ground. I did get tween your palms for a while the address, and will send them to warm it and break up the a copy of the Southern Fruit little cells of sweetness and Fellowship Newsletter as rectartness, blend them a little, ompense. I saved the seeds, of then pop the whole thing into course. your mouth. Nagami kumquats Loquats are odd in that they are most often used in marmaflower during the fall and winlades and relishes, rather than ter (providing a timely source eaten fresh, but I found them of off-season bee fodder), and quite sweet, compared to my spring is when the fruit ripens, so Changshu kumquats, which are we caught them just right, and really sour; you know you’re sampled them all over town. eating citrus when you bite My sister has two satsuma down on a Changshu. Meiwas mandarin trees in her backyard, have sweeter flesh than Nagaan Owari and a Brown’s Select, mis or Changshus, and the unand though they’re normally Loquat tree commonly-seen Maurumis are ripe in December (she brings FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

35

THE GUIDE

F R UI T F O R A GI N G

How to Predict Weather With a Persimmon Seed

Citrus blossoms

reportedly even sweeter. One good thing about kumquats is that they are normally a smallish tree and can easily be cultivated as an indoor potted plant. If you’ve never smelled just-opened citrus blossoms, you’ve missed one of the great olfactory experiences of the world. They’re better than apple blossoms, better than honeysuckle, and that’s saying a lot. They can bloom a long time, too, almost year-round if you keep pinching off the fruit. Stop buying air fresheners and get a potted citrus plant instead.

Acadiana, like anyplace else in the world, changes; that seems to be the nature of human societies; they don’t remain static, but constantly evolve. There has been a heavy influx of Asian people into the area in recent years, mainly from Vietnam and surrounding countries, possibly lured by the mild climate, oil-field wages, groves of citrus, and the abundant seafood. The last decade has seen a lot of Mexican and Central American emigrants. When peoples migrate, they take their food cultures along with them. So – judging by the signs I saw on restaurants and grocery stores as I drove by, something new and exciting seems to be birthing on the food scene – a Cajun/ Asian fusion cuisine and Cajun/Mexican. Cajun/Asian/Mexican food! I ask you, can that possibly be a bad thing? I think the next few years will see some exciting changes in how people eat Down There.

The next time you’re down by the Gulf Shore, stop in the Big Easy for a few days; it’s a unique city with a flair entirely of its own, and the best, most innovative chefs in the world dwell there, but then head west to Acadiana to savor a bit of the Cajun lifestyle, which is slightly different from the “Creole” found in New Orleans. Comfort food there is what they find all around them – frog legs, alligator, rabbit, duck, fish, oysters, shrimp, crawfish, citrus, pecans, many, many types of semi-tropical fruits and vegetables, with the right blend of peppers and spices – how can you go wrong?

LARRY STEPHENSON lives in rural Carroll County, Mississippi. An avid amateur fruit grower, he finds that talking and writing about fruit is even more interesting than actually growing it. He belongs to more fruit organizations than you can shake a stick at.

36

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Persimmons are small orange fruits the size of a plum. The trees usually grow in zones 6 or warmer. According to folklore, you can predict the winter weather with a persimmon seed. Here’s how: 1) Cut open a locally-grown persimmon seed. It’s best to use ripe seeds.

2) Look at the shape of the kernel inside.

• If the kernel is spoonshaped, lots of heavy, wet snow will fall. Spoon = shovel!

• If it is fork-shaped, you can expect powdery, light snow and a mild winter.

• If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect to be “cut” by icy, cutting winds.

2016 Persimmon seed photo by Wendy Stancil, owner of Rising Flour Bakery in Hot Springs. To see what she’s baking, visit risingflourbakery.net

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

37

THE GUIDE

RECIPES

Blue Ribbon Try out two first-place recipes from Western North Carolina’s 2016 Mountain State Fair.

38

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

Best

FOR MORE WINNING RECIPES, VISIT WNCAGCENTER.ORG

Juiciest Turkey & Apple Burgers 2 cups N.C. apples, such as Honeycrisp 2 pounds lean ground turkey 1/2 cup chopped onions 3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Peel apples and grate using the largest side of a box grater. In a mixing bowl, combine apples, turkey, onion, bread crumbs and seasonings. Form mixture into 8 patties. Grill or fry in skillet for 5-6 minutes per side, or until done. Top with cheese or other toppings and serve.

Sharon Gates of Buncombe County won big at the 2016 Mountain State Fair this past September, earning 1st place honors in both the NC Apple Growers Association contest and the “Anything Pecan� contest sponsored by the NC Pecan Growers Association. recipes courtesy of PAUL JONES photos by TIFFANY WELSH

Pecan Hummus 2 cups pecans 1 cup garbanzo beans 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 1/2 cup olive oil Juice of one lemon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water Place pecans, beans and garlic in food processor, and process until chunky. Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add water a little at a time and process until mixture becomes smooth and thick. Place mixture into bowl and chill until ready to serve.

Serve with crackers or vegetables.

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

39

THE GUIDE

WN C B R E WH O P P E R S GUI DE

burnsville Morganton

Asheville

Black Mountain

Waynesville Bryson City Hendersonville

Sylva

Brevard

andrews murphy

franklin

WNC is the brewing capital of the Southeast. On any given day, area beer lovers have a countless selection of locally brewed craft beers.

From dark rich porters & stouts, to hoppy golden ales, to innovative goses & sours, there is something for every beer drinker! Here’s a list of area breweries to get you started.

THE BREWHOPPERS GUIDE TO WNC

Andrews Brewing Co

Bhramari Brewhouse

Asheville Pizza & Brewing

Blind Squirrel Brewery

Boojum Brewing Co

109 West Main St, Burnsville (828) 536-9491 blindsquirrelbrewery.com

357 Dayton Dr, Waynesville (828) 944-0888 boojumbrewing.com

Blue Ghost Brewing Co

Brevard Brewing Co

125 Underwood Rd., Fletcher (828) 376-0159 blueghostbrewing.com

63 E. Main St, Brevard (828) 885-2101 brevard-brewing.com

Blue Mountain Pizza & Brew Pub

Burial Beer Co

55 N Main St, Weaverville (828) 658-8777 bluemountainpizza.com

40 Collier Ave, Asheville (828) 475-2739 burialbeer.com

Bold Rock Hard Cider

Catawba Brewing Co

565 Aquone Rd, Andrews (828) 321-2006 andrewsbrewing.com 77 Coxe Ave, Asheville 675 Merrimon Ave, Asheville (828) 575-2400 altamontbrewing.com

Basic Brewery

131 3rd Ave W, Hendersonville (828) 515-5030 basicbrewery.com

Ben’s Beer

195 Hilliard Ave, Asheville (828) 424-7580 benstuneup.com

BearWaters Brewing Co

130 Frazier St Suite 7, Waynesville (828) 246-0602 bwbrewing.com 40

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

101 S Lexington Ave, Asheville (828) 575-2204 bhramaribrewhouse.com

72 School House Rd, Mills River (828) 595-9940 boldrock.com

62 Brook St, Asheville • (828) 430-6883 32 Banks Ave, Asheville • (828) 552-3934 catawbabrewing.com

WN C BR EWHO PPER S G UI DE

THE GUIDE

Currahee Brewing Co

Lexington Ave Brewery

The Sneak E Squirrel Brewery

Ecusta Brewing Co

Lookout Brewing Co

Southern Appalachian Brewery

Flat Rock Ciderworks

Mills River Brewery

Sweeten Creek Brewing

French Broad Brewing Co

Nantahala Brewing Co

Thirsty Monk

Frog Level Brewing Co

New Belgium Brewing

100 Lakeside Dr, Franklin (828) 634-0078 curraheebrew.com

49 Pisgah Hwy #3, Pisgah Forest (828) 966-2337 ecustabrewing.com 305 N Main St, Hendersonville (828) 674-0154 flatrockciderworks.com 101D Fairview Rd, Asheville (828) 277-0222 frenchbroadbrewery.com

56 Commerce St, Waynesville (828) 454-5664 froglevelbrewing.com

The Funkatorium

147 Coxe Ave, Asheville (828) 552-3203 wickedweedbrewing.com

Green Man Brewery

27 Buxton Ave, Asheville (828) 252-5502 greenmanbrewery.com

Heinzelmännchen Brewery 545 Mill St, Sylva (828) 631-4466 yourgnometownbrewery.com

Highland Brewing Co

12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Asheville (828) 299-3370 highlandbrewing.com

Hi-Wire Brewing 197 Hilliard Ave (828) 575-9675 hiwirebrewing.com

Hi-Wire Brewing - Big Top 2 Huntsman Pl, Asheville (828) 738-2448 hiwirebrewing.com

Innovation Brewing

414 W Main St, Sylva (828) 586-9678 innovation-brewing.com

Lazy Hiker Brewing Co 188 W. Main St, Franklin 828-349-BEER lazyhikerbrewing.com

39 N Lexington Ave (828) 252-0212 lexavebrew.com

103 S Ridgeway #1, Black Mountain (828) 357-5169 lookoutbrewing.com 330 Rockwood Rd, Unit 103, Arden (828) 989-3747 millsriverbrewery.net 61 Depot St, Bryson City (828) 488-2337 nantahalabrewing.com Craven Street, Asheville (828) 333-6900 newbelgium.com

One World Brewing

10 Patton Ave, Asheville (828) 785-5580 oneworldbrewing.com

Open Brewing

20 Gala Dr #101, Asheville (828) 505-4564 obrewing.com

Oskar Blues

342 Mountain Industrial Dr, Brevard (828) 883-2337 oskarblues.com

Oyster House Brewing Co 625 Haywood Rd, Asheville (828) 575-9370 oysterhousebeers.com

Pisgah Brewing Co

150 Eastside Dr, Black Mountain (828) 669-0190 pisgahbrewing.com

Sanctuary Brewing Co

147 1st Avenue East, Hendersonville (828) 595-9956 sanctuarybrewco.com

Satulah Mountain Brewing Co 454 Carolina Way, Highlands (828) 482-9794 satulahmountainbrewing.com

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co

100 Sierra Nevada Way, Mills River (828) 681-5300 • sierranevada.com

1315 W Main St, Sylva (828) 586-6440 sneakesquirrel.com

822 Locust St, Hendersonville (828) 684-1235 sabrewery.com

1127 Sweeten Creek Rd, Asheville (828) 575-2785 sweetencreekbrewing.com 92 Patton Ave, Asheville • (828) 254-5470 51 N Merrimon Ave • (828) 424-7807 2 Town Square Blvd • (828) 687-3873 monkpub.com

Tipping Point Brewery & Tavern 190 N Main St, Waynesville 828-246-9230 tippingpointtavern.com

Twin Leaf Brewery

144 Coxe Ave, Asheville (828) 774-5000 twinleafbrewery.com

Upcountry Brewing Co

1042 Haywood Rd, Asheville (828) 575-2400 upcountrybrewing.com

Urban Orchard Cider Co 210 Haywood Rd, Asheville (828) 771-5151 urbanorchardcider.com

Valley River Brewery 71 Tennessee St, Murphy (828) 837-2337 valleyriverbrewery.com

Wedge Brewing Co 37 Paynes Way (828) 505-2792 wedgebrewing.com

Whistle Hop Brewery 1278 Charlotte Hwy whistlehop.com Coming Soon

Wicked Weed Brewing 91 Biltmore Ave (828) 575-9599 wickedweedbrewing.com

Zebulon Artisan Ales

8 Merchants Alley, Weaverville zebulonbrewing.com

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

41

THE GUIDE

C O O KB O O K R E VI E WS

COOKBOOK REVIEWS Fall 2016 brings two new cookbooks with ties to the WNC area.

Both are chock full of regional recipes to delight your family and friends with in the upcoming holiday season.

VICTUALS: AN APPALACHIAN JOURNEY, WITH RECIPES

BY RONNI LUNDY With a long history as both a journalist and a cookbook author, Kentucky native Ronni Lundy is regarded as an authority on the Mountain South. In her newest book, Victuals, Lundy explores the food of Appalachia one ingredient at a time through storytelling and essays about the farmers, hunters and chefs of the region.

Through her travels, she has gathered 80 stories and recipes from the region, which really distill the flavors of the Mountain South.

AVAILABLE NOW SRP $32.50

42

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

BISCUIT HEAD

BY JASON & CAROLYN ROY Biscuit Head is well known for it’s Cathead biscuits, toppings and sides. If you’ve ever tried to visit on the weekend, you may already be familiar with the line of fans wrapping around the block. Now, you can enjoy the flavors of Biscuit Head in your own home and impress all your friends with the recipes from their new book.

The book includes more than just biscuits, the owners also share recipes for their preserves, gravies, butters and side dishes. Whether you’re an adventurous eater or just after a picture-perfect brunch spread, Biscuit Head has what you crave.

COMING NOVEMBER 2016 SRP $25.00

STR ADA I TA LI A N O

RESTAURANT

The Feast of the Seven Fishes Inspired Cuisine at Strada Italiano ITALIAN TRADITION is rich with celebrations to commemorate saints, holidays, and other events that bring family, arts, music and food together. Esta dei Sette Pesci, or the Feast of the Seven Fishes is an elaborate seven-course fish dinner that many families of Italian descent serve on Christmas Eve. But ask any old-world Italian and you may hear “Non esiste in Italia.” Translation: It doesn’t exist in Italy. That is not to say Italians don’t eat seafood on Christmas Eve. They do and lots of it.

No matter what you call it, this seafood extravaganza is becoming more popular, and not just in the homes of people of Italian persuasion. Most theories about the origins of the feast and number seven are tied to Roman Catholic traditions dating back to the 4th century that required members of the church to refrain from eating meat during certain holy days. But cookbook author Amy Riolo, who writes about food and culture, and whose family

hails from Calabria, says it’s possible that the tradition predates Christianity and is rooted more in celebration than in abstinence.

“Fish was a celebratory food in ancient Egypt,” says Riolo. “At one time, people worshipped the Nile. The river flooded naturally twice a year and provided them with a bounty of fish. There were festivals around these occurrences.” Many of these pre-Christian festivals were Christianized as the church’s influence grew.

Locally, you can experience the Feast of the Seven Fishes at Strada Italiano. Chef Anthony Cerrato brings together all the important flavors of Italian heritage with this annual tradition. Mangia bene!

Reservations for Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve at Strada Italiano by phone, (828) 348-8448. Strada Italiano is located at 27 Broadway in Downtown Asheville. See more at StradaAsheville.com FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

43

THE GUIDE

CALENDAR (Mikey) Files will be in conversation with Elliott and they are bringing snacks to share! Free to attend. malaprops.com A SHE VILLE O KT O B E R FEST Oct 8, 1-6pm | Pack Square Park Asheville Oktoberfest is a celebration of beer and breweries including a parade and Oktoberfest games. Over 20 breweries will be participating. For info, visit ashevilledowntown.org TA C O T HR O WDO WN & T EQUILA TA STI NG Oct 8, 12-3pm | The Grey Eagle Local restaurants will compete for the title of BEST TACOS in Asheville in various categories. Cast your vote for your favorite taco while enjoying live music from Ouroboros Boys and Dave Desmelik and flights of tequila + local beer!

Partial proceeds will benefit River Link. For tickets, visit thegreyeagle.com C IDER F E ST Oct 15, 1-5pm | Salvage Station Riverside fall festivities for the whole family! Come to the premier cider-tasting event in North Carolina. Come sample ciders, meads, crafts, delicious food and music. There will also be a kids zone! For tickets, visit ciderfestnc.com

photograph by TIFFANY WELSH

OCT O B ER CO O KING CLAS S E S AT T H E F AR M October 4th - Bread baking October 11th - Italian Cooking October 25th - Spanish Cooking | The Farm, Candler Classes begin at 5:30 pm with appetizers & beverages served and are scheduled to end at 8:30 pm. Each class begins with hands on teaching and a hands on demonstration with Chef Mike and ends with a brief lesson in plating and a dinner based on the class criteria. Limited to 12 per class. Price of the class will vary depending on the menu. For more info, visit www.thefarm.kitchen E LLIO T M O S S AUT H OR E V E N T Oct 7, 7pm | Malaprop’s Bookstore & Café Asheville’s award winning chef Elliot Moss presents his cookbook, Buxton Hall Barbecue’s Book of Smoke: WoodSmoked Meat, Sides, and More. Fellow restaurateur Michael 44

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

B E AT S, B UR G E R S & B R E WS Oct 14-29, 6-8pm | Old Rock Cafe, Chimney Rock Village After leaf peeping, relax outdoors to the beat of bluegrass, Americana, folk, blues or other genres while enjoying a regional craft brew or glass of wine on the riverside deck.

Talented local musicians and singer-songwriters liven up the scene on Friday & Saturday evenings in October at this popular burger joint in Chimney Rock Village. The Old Rock Café features one of the 2014 Zagat-rated “Must-try Burgers across the Country” with Hickory Nut Gap Meats’ 100% grass-fed beef burger. For info, visit chimneyrockpark.com FRIDAY NIGHT BARN DANCE Weekly through October 28, 6-9pm | Hickory Nut Gap Farm From Contra to Square Dance &Two-Step to Swing, there’s something for everyone. Dinner served from 5-8pm. Bring the whole family. 10/7: Haw Creek Sheiks (String Band) 10/14: Spring Mountain Shiners (Square Dance) 10/21: Sour Mash String Band (Square Dance) 10/28: The House Hoppers (Swing) $5 (Kids under 10 FREE!). hickorynutgapfarm.com SOUTHEAST WISE WOMEN HERBAL CONFERENCE Oct 14-16 | Lake Eden, Black Mountain A weekend for women to learn, celebrate and connect.

Share inspiration, celebration and practical learning about earth-based healing and women’s health. Lake Eden offers a beautiful, serene backdrop for over 60 workshops and classes in herbalism, nutrition, personal growth and natural healing.

Featured speakers include Pam Montgomery, Jody Noe, ALisa Starkweather, Amikaeyla Gaston, Amy Jo Goddard, Kathleen Maier and many more! Visit sewisewomen.com CHILI COOK OFF & FALL FESTIVAL Oct 15, 11am-3pm | Downtown Bryson City

CALEN DAR The annual Bryson City Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook Off at the train depot downtown is now in its 26th year and a favorite of both locals and visitors. Sample chilis ranging from mild to wild and in red, white, and vegetarian recipes. Enjoy a festival atmosphere with decorated booths, live music, handcrafted arts and yummy homemade desserts. For more info, 800-867-9246 A PPLE H A RV E S T F E S T I VAL Oct 15, 10am-5pm | Downtown Waynesville Live mountain music, dance, craft and demonstration booths, apples, cider, fresh fried pies, and other apple delicacies. For more info, visit haywoodapplefest.com HARD LOX JEWISH FOOD & HERITAGE FESTIVAL Oct 16, 11am-4pm | Pack Square Park Come and enjoy delicious Jewish food, meet Asheville’s Jewish community, and listen to fabulous entertainment. Traditional Jewish food, Israeli dancing, crafts, a Kids Zone, klezmer music and lots more. For info, visit hardloxjewishfestival.org WARREN WILSON COLLEGE FARM FALL MEAT SALE Oct 22, 10am-12pm | Warren Wilson College Farm A great selection of grassfed beef and lamb, and pastureraised pork and chicken. Meat is sold in bulk packages for stocking your freezer for the season.. For info and order forms, visit warren-wilson.edu/farm

N OV EMB ER BLA CK M O U NTA I N B R E W K AMP Nov 4-6 | Lake Eden DRAFT Magazine and Porterhouse Presents introduce BrewKamp, a celebration and feast of live music, delicious craft beer, good eats and camping on the shores of Lake Eden in the Shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Featuring brewers from around the globe, open pit barbecue, traditional Spanish paella and more! Kick back with the best acoustic jams and down home rock and roll. brewkamp.com A SH E V ILLE O N TA P Nov 5, 5-8pm | U.S. Cellular Center Sample over 100 releases from some of America’s best craft breweries. Live music, delicious food available for purchase, and great vendors. $35-$60. For tickets and more info, visit americaontap.com H IGHLA ND S F O O D & W I N E F E S T I V AL Nov 10 - 13 | Downtown Highlands, NC Headlining musical talent will include Bruce Hornsby at the exclusive dining event, “Rockwood Rocks!,” where Hornsby will perform an evening of solo piano with selections spanning his two-and-a-half decade recording career. Sunday Gospel Brunch featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama. Rhiannon Giddens will perform at this year’s Main Event featuring an oyster roast in a picturesque location right off of Main St., and The Lone Bellow will perform at the Friday Truckin’

THE GUIDE

event, featuring a selection of the Southeast’s most beloved food trucks. There will be special wine dinners offered by Highlands’ award-winning restaurants, a sip and stroll and a grand tasting event. highlandsfoodandwine.com FA R M HER IT A G E T R A IL T HA N KSG IVIN G HO LIDA Y E VEN T Nov 20, 9am-5pm | Leicester Support local farms and start a new holiday tradition by enjoying a scenic tour of part of the Farm Heritage Trail.

Featuring three farms in Leicester - Franny’s Farm, Sandy Hollar Farm and Addison Farms Vineyard. Visitors can purchase a heritage turkey, organic garden vegetables, choose and cut their own Christmas tree and enjoy a wine tasting while enjoying scenic mountain and farm views. For info, farmheritagetrail.org 2N IXO N S P O P UP Nov 27 & 28, 6pm-12am | The Remingtin Room of Buxton Hall A two part guest-chef appearance with Jeffrey Stoneberger of 2Nixons, a Charleston, SC based pop-up restaurant serving next-level, nontraditional ramen and other Japanese and Korean-inspired dishes cooked over binchōtan charcoal grills. Sunday evening, Elliott Moss and Stoneberger collaborate on a special menu of panasian bites. Monday, 2Nixons takes control with a menu of ramen, yakitori, and other izakaya-style snacks. Both experiences feature a cool dinner party atmosphere with highenergy music and innovative food. buxtonhall.com NATIONAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION Nov 27 - Jan 5 | The Omni Grove Park Inn See the winning gingerbread houses and creations on display at The Omni Grove Park Inn, elaborately decorated for the season. groveparkinn.com

DE CE M BE R LEFT BRAIN/RIGHT BRAIN: AN EXTRASENSORY DINING EXPERIENCE Dec 7, 6pm – till | The Remingtin Room of Buxton Hall Left Brain/Right Brain is an extrasensory popup dinner by Ashley Capps and Jessica Rosenkoetter of Buxton Hall.

Featuring several guest chefs, yet to be announced, in a theatre-like dining experience. Participate in a sensory stimulating six course dinner. The first half of the dinner focuses on the left brain - through monochromatic, linear, edgy, simple and clean dishes and cocktails. The later half of the dinner will focuses on the right brain. These dishes will be creative, colorful and flowy. Each course is an interactive experience - think science fair meets circus. buxtonhall.com THIRD ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S EVE MASQUERADE Dec 31, 9pm-2am | The Social Lounge Come as your favorite superhero! Complimentary appetizers & champagne toast. $5 cover. socialloungeasheville.com

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

45

�ER

ND

E’S TOf THE �A o the

long leaf pine

⁄

sun doth shine ⁄ ⁄

�here

the weak grow strong

⁄ ⁄ ⁄

and the strong grow great,

Here’s to Down Home, the Old North State!

s to ’ e r e H

Where the soft

perfumes the breeze

i t e,

southern moss

‘Neath

the murmuring

&

pines

jessamine of the

Old North State!!

Here’ s to

Old Land North State! of the

Sky,

s to ’ e r e H

the land where

maidens are fair,

FRIENDS ARE TRUE TRUE & COLD COLD HEARTS HEARTS RARE,The near Where

land, the

dear land, whatever fate,

e s oa r

Mount Mitchell’s ,

I n th e

r he

su

m mit gr

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016

e

land, the best land... d e s les b the e h t

Old North

State!

“A Toast” by Leonora Martin & Mary Burke Kerr was adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1957. Artwork ©2016 Food Life Magazine.

46

s

the land where the galax grows, Where the rhododendron‘s rosette glows, In th e“

mate,

at

cotton bloom

wh

�

the land of the

�here the scuppernong

FALL 2016 | FOODLIFEMAG.COM

47

48

FOODLIFEMAG.COM | FALL 2016