Text 36938, 123 rader
Skriven 2010-04-19 21:40:09 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 36898 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: North Carolina trip
===========================
Hi Dale,On (19 Apr 10) Dale Shipp wrote to All...

 DS> About ten days ago Gail and I went on a trip to North Carolina.  The
 DS> first part was family -- the wedding of a close family friend.  Since
 DS> we were down there anyhow, we decided to tack on a visit to Asheville.

 DS> The wedding was on the beach in the town of Emerald Isle -- think
 DS> Outer Banks, but further south.  We drove down from MD on Thursday 8


You weren't too far from where we used to live--in Swansboro.  AAMOF,
Steve proposed to me out on the Bogue fishing pier on Emerald Isle.  Did
you possibly get up to T&W's Oyser Ba (HWY 58, heading towards
Maysville) while you were there?  We knew the original owner.  When we
visited the area in October, 07, we stopped there for a meal on our frst
night.  Other than expanding the restaurant, it hadn't changed.  Lots of
good food, decent price.


 DS> Friday night was the wedding rehearsal and afterwards they served a
 DS> dinner for everyone there.  It was quite nice.  The wedding planner
 DS> arranged the table set up under a huge canopy at the hotel for about

Which hotel?

 DS> and a choice of martinis.  The chocolate martini was quite good.


Much as I like chocolate, I don't think I would have liked a chocolate
martini. (G)


 DS> The meal was a pig.  Brought back memories of the Montreal picnic when
 DS> Flo had a small pig cooked.  This pig was done by one of the
 DS> restaurants on the chain of islands.  I talked to the guy a good bit,
 DS> and learned a few things. He said it was about 120 pounds to start
 DS> with.  It was split down the belly and laid out on a heavy metal grid
 DS> work.  The pig has
 DS> started cooking early that morning at his restaurant in an electric
 DS> oven.  He then transferred it to a portable gas grill that was perhaps
 DS> three feet by six feet.  The grill had a trailer hitch, but I'm not
 DS> sure if he used that to transport it down or if he brought it down in
 DS> a
 DS> trailer.  The grill was used to keep the meat hot during the dinner.

A real pig pickin'!


 DS> portion
 DS> from the chopped pile.  As need be, he would pull other parts
 DS> (shoulder, loin, etc.) in to the center and chop.

Standard for the area.

 DS> There was a gallon jug of his own sauce on the side.  The sauce was
 DS> vinegar based, thin with little bits of red pepper flakes floating in
 DS> it.  I'm pretty sure that there was no sugar type product in it.  I
 DS> don't think it had tomato either. Closest thing I've had to his sauce
 DS> is Bone-Sucking Sauce.  He also had a small squeeze bottle of Texas
 DS> Pete
 DS> for those who might want it.   IMO, the pork did not need anything --
 DS> but I did try a little bit of his sauce on it.

 DS> Since we were in Eastern Carolina, the chopped pork and vinegar based
 DS> sauce were consistent with what is typical there.  Apparently, Western
 DS> Carolina goes more for pulled pork and sweeter tomato based sauces.

Now you know what I missed in our travels while Steve was in the Army.
No other place like eastern NC for bbq like that.

 DS> This pig left its head at the restaurant.  The pigmaster said that
 DS> they would no longer allow him to serve the head -- alluding to things
 DS> similar to mad-cow.  He did have the cheek meat left on the grill

We used to see the whole hog when we went to fund raisers and such like
before we left the area in 83.  Rules must have changed after that.


 DS> When I got my first portion, I jokingly pointed to the skin on the leg
 DS> and asked for crackling.  He pulled out a tray full and gave me a
 DS> generous portion.  I asked how he had made it.  He took the skin and
 DS> fat off of cooked shoulders in his restaurant and then deep fried that
 DS> briefly.  It was crisp, fresh and VERY good.   I let Gail taste a
 DS> piece when I got back to our table.  She liked it enough that I went

 DS> back for a second plate full.  This stuff was so much better than the
 DS> bagged
 DS> crackling available in the grocery store.  That stuff is often stale
 DS> and even sometimes going rancid.

You're spoiled now!


 DS> In addition to the pig, he had a steam table lined with baked beans,
 DS> cole slaw (wet and vinegary), hush puppies, potato salad and BBQ
 DS> chicken.  I saw a lot more pork being eaten than chicken:-}}


Normal sides.  Cole slaw varies from maker to maker.  Another really
good place, this one for bbq, is Moore's just off HWY 17 in New Bern.
They are really good!  The eastern NC style bbq is quite limited in the
area where you can get it.  I know it's available here; we usually go
over to the Smithfield's branch that's nearby.  We should start looking
for more mom & pop places tho but school keeps taking priority there.
I'm not sure where the east/west dividing line is but I don't think it's
too far west of us.  Anyway, it sounds like you had your first taste of
hog heaven, eastern NC style. (G)

 DS> For us, this meal was excellent -- doesn't get much better.

Amen!  About the only thing just as good is kalua pork. (G)


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... The Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge. . . Prov 2:6

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)