04.20.07

The Amazing Range of Carolina Cuisine

Posted in Reviews at 11:20 am by Chef Matt

I just took a trip back down to Durham, NC - where I went to college - just to see some old friends who still lived there. Some of them have babies now, so it was good to meet them as well, but when asked what it was I wanted to do there by my host, I told him that I had to get some Barbeque.

Barbecue, slaw, hush puppies and sweet tea. This pig did not die in vain.

I can still remember my first experience with this sublime pork dish. On my first trip to North Carolina, back when I was nine, my parents mentioned in the car that they wanted to “get some barbecue”, which was a sentence that made no sense to me since I had only ever heard the word “barbecue” used as a verb up until then. I couldn’t imagine what it was they were trying to get… a grill? The coals? It made no sense to me until I was handed my first sandwich.

Covered in a Central Carolina sauce that had just the right heat levels and tons of Dixie slaw, this was love at first bite. Perhaps it was this sandwich that helped me ultimately decide to go to Duke. Either way, upon any return back south, barbecue is what I head for.

The best barbecue in Durham is of course Bullock’s Bar-B-Que. Their amazing “family style” presentation - which is all I have ever ordered there - is a feast that usually leaves me unable to walk away from the table. The selection is wide, and it is all-you-can-eat. The dishes include:

• Barbecue - of course. Shredded pork shoulder cooked all day, and served with a fantastic Central Carolina style sauce that is one of the better ones I have ever had.
  
• Fried Chicken - Their recipe is simple, but they cook it perfectly. About the juiciest I have ever had. (Besides my own buttermilk fried chicken of course…)
  
• Brunswick stew - Bullock’s was the first place I ever had this dish that is still contested between Virginia and North Carolina as to it’s origins. I don’t care where it is from originally, I am only concerned with where I can get more of it now. It is a favorite of mine.
  
• Dixie slaw - this is the sweet cole slaw variety, which is a perfect side note to any spicy barbecue
  
• Green Beans - Done in the southern style, which means cooked forever. Not my favorite, but you gotta have some vegetable matter when eating this much meat.
  
• French Fries - If you must have a starch, might as well fry it first! (This goes for the hush puppies on the table too…)
  

No, Brunswick stew isn’t much to look at, but the flavor more than makes up for it.

But alas, this sojourn was made over a Sunday and Monday, and guess which two days Bullock’s is closed? So I was unable to partake of this feast this time down, but my hosts - Mike and Carrie - were able to scare me up some from another local purveyor: The Q Shack. No, it was no family style in the crowded booths of Bullock’s, but surrounded by good friends and chowing down on way too much pork is a good time no matter where you do it.

I think I need to make that my motto…

For a total change of pace, on the next night, Mike and Carrie invited me out to Starlu restaurant to sit at the Chef’s Table and watch Chef Sam Poley at work. Sam has a background story similar to mine in that he went into the work-a-day world (though in different fields) but found that cooking was his true calling. And it is a good thing he recognized this, as he is wonderfully creative with food, an amazing host to his guests, and runs his kitchen with both professional efficiency and theatrical flair.

Chef Sam Poley – our host for the evening. (Photo taken from the Starlu website)

I had been to Starlu before, back before I became a chef, and Sam took a good part of his time to show me around his restaurant and tell me all about what it was like to start a place from scratch, and what I would be expecting as I came into this business. Upon my return on this latest trip, he immediately recognized me, and was happy to know I had entered the business. (He was also a bit jealous to learn that the restaurant I work at enjoys about two full turns of the dining room every Friday and Saturday night… )

We sidled up to the bar that is the chef’s table, and were informed as to the menu for the evening. It sounded heavenly, and Mike asked Sam for the wine recommendations. After all, if the chef made the food, surely he would know best which wines to pair with it, right? It is that kind of trust in a chef’s abilities that makes dining at the chef’s table ideal. To let yourself go and put your palate in the care of one who knows more than you is the ultimate form of dining for me - and as I chef I appreciate the customers who are able to do this as well.

The first course was a deep and smoky corn chowder with spicy chorizo and truffle oil. The flavors played wonderfully together, and the creamy base of the soup was a great way to start things off. The garnish was deep-fried tomato skin - a trick that was lovely to look at, full of tomato flavor, and one I will surely steal for myself someday. Paired with a wonderfully crisp Sancerre that had an amazingly dry finish, I was almost afraid the meal couldn’t get any better.

The next course proved me wrong, and never was I so glad to have underestimated a chef! Toasted ciabatta was topped with a half wheel of goat camembert cheese. Topped with green onion puree, oven-dried tomatoes, marinated anchovies and roasted garlic oil, this was another amazingly rich dish, but I was still hungry for more.

A new bottle of wine accompanied the next course to the table, a mild-mannered Petit Verdot that at first under-whelmed me, but I soon saw how well it paired with the dish in front of us. Butternut squash and current sauce surrounded a carrot puree wrapped with ham and was topped with a decadent slice of fish that alas, I cannot remember which type. I think the wine may have been getting to me at this point, but seeing as how I am a chef, not a professional restaurant reviewer, I wasn’t taking notes while I ate… It was a rich white-fleshed fish that was grilled to perfection, and the its salty firmness acted as a wonderful contrast to the smooth creaminess of the carrots resulting in a perfect match.

OK, so maybe this is a bit too rare…

Just when we were starting to think we may be done though, out came the moo-shi wraps accompanied by soy-glazed ahi tuna. There is only one way to serve tuna this good, and that is super-rare. And that is just what we got. The Vietnamese hot sauce on the plate provided a spice burst that could not be ignored, and provided as good an excuse as any to wash down the remaining wine.

Dessert was a chocolate mousse with a Mexican chocolate brownie that was admittedly difficult to fit down on top of all the other great food. However, I have long believed that dessert actually goes into a different stomach in our bodies, so there is always room for something sweet to finish off a great meal.

It dawned on me later that night how I had experienced two amazing meals on this trip - one served out of styrofoam to-go boxes and eaten with plastic forks, while the other was carefully created and painstakingly plated by a fabulous chef given total creative license. I have always considered the qualifying factor that determines a “great cuisine” to be one where you can find great food at both the high end and the low end of their spectrums. (Italian is a perfect example of this, and is of course recognized as a great world cuisine.)

Perhaps it is time to start thinking of “Southern” in same light?…

Matt

(Cross posted on EatFoo.)

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