Regional Specialities

area culinary delights

Apples and apple butter: There's a very long-established apple-growing region here. Tour orchards throughout the area and pick your own apples in the early fall. Pick up a jar of apple butter at the Western North Carolina Farmer's Market or at Moose Café.

Artisan cheese: Farms throughout the region also produce specialty cheeses. The family farmstead Spinning Spider Creamery raises goats and produces award-winning goat cheeses. In fact, their Stackhouse cheese was recently voted best cheese in the South by the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Butterbeans: Refers to any green bean grown past the string stage to where the seeds are enlarged but not dry. The beans are then cooked like a lima bean. These beans are available in early summer at area markets.

Cabbage: Used for chow-chow, a pickled cabbage/pepper relish food. Chow-chow can be found throughout the area at tailgate and farmers markets.

Candy Roaster Squash: This big 20-40 pound very sweet squash from the mountains has an orange flesh perfect for baking. In fact, early 1900's Appalachian Thanksgiving feasts included candy roaster pie instead of pumpkin pie.

Cooking greens: Especially turnips and collards. But also, creasy greens, or upland cress, which are winter or early-spring grown flat rosette-shaped greens you will find in local supermarkets.

Ginseng: Former tobacco farmers are using ginseng as a new source of income. The herb is used as medicinal treatments

Heirloom tomatoes: Just as their name insinuates, heirloom tomato seeds are at least 50 years old and have been passed down to family members or have been sold commercially. These tomatoes come in all shapes and sizes and can be found at Asheville area tailgate markets. Here are a few of the more popular local varieties:

• Cherokee Purple tomatoes are beefsteak in style, with green "shoulders" across the top. They are also notable for having a dense, juicy texture
• Bicolored yellow and red tomatoes are traditional to German immigrants to Appalachia have several names including Mr. Stripey, Old German and Pineapple tomatoes.

Mountain Trout: In streams and rivers and even farms of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this variety of trout can be found. Unlike other species of trout, this fish has pink flesh. In 1948, the first commercial trout farm in the South began outside of Asheville - the Sunburst Trout Farm. Today, restaurants throughout the area use this fish in recipes year-round.

Carolina Mountain Rainbow Trout Caviar: Fresh water caviar is a regional delicacy with a mild taste. Sunburst Trout Company caviar can be found in dishes at Asheville area restaurants. To bring a bit of Asheville home with you, you can order the delicacy online.

Pork: Country hams and sidemeat. Shoppers can find great specialties at local markets such as uncured bacon and local prosciutto.

Ramps: Otherwise known as a wild leek, this scallion-like bulb tastes like a combination of onions and strong garlic. In Western North Carolina, ramps are most commonly fried with potatoes or scrambled with eggs.

Southern peas (also known as cowpeas): Used to make a very traditional soup either from dried beans or dried peas.