Text 36898, 91 rader
Skriven 2010-04-19 02:13:08 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: North Carolina trip
===========================
About ten days ago Gail and I went on a trip to North Carolina.  The
first part was family -- the wedding of a close family friend.  Since we
were down there anyhow, we decided to tack on a visit to Asheville.

The wedding was on the beach in the town of Emerald Isle -- think Outer
Banks, but further south.  We drove down from MD on Thursday 8 April.
Tried to avoid Washington DC beltway traffic by leaving about 9 am, but
it was still stop and go in places, as well as in a few places on I95
south of DC.  When we finally got to Emerald Isle and checked in, we
were too tired to do much in the way of restaurant finding.  Ended up at
a pizza shop in a small shopping center near the motel/hotel.  Ordered a
small pizza.  When it came out, it was huge.  The guy said that the
pizza maker didn't have his glasses on and made a large -- so we ate
half and boxed up the rest to put into the frig in the hotel room.

Friday night was the wedding rehearsal and afterwards they served a
dinner for everyone there.  It was quite nice.  The wedding planner
arranged the table set up under a huge canopy at the hotel for about 100
guests.  Before the meal started, they had an open bar with beer, wine
and a choice of martinis.  The chocolate martini was quite good.


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

I will be posting a picture on photo bucket, but have not got them all
sorted out just yet.  As I said, the pig was split down the belly and
then laid out flat with two symmetrical sides from the front legs and
shoulder down to the real legs.  To serve, he pulled out the rib bones
and set them aside -- not much meat stuck to the ribs, so the pig was
quite done.  I'm not sure if he served the ribs to anyone or not.
Certainly he would have if they asked.  After he had pulled of the ribs
on the one side, he got out his cleaver and proceeded to chop the meat
right there on the grill.  The back skin acted as a serving tray for the
meat.  When someone came up with their plate, he scooped up a portion
from the chopped pile.  As need be, he would pull other parts (shoulder,
loin, etc.) in to the center and chop.

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

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

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

When I got my first portion, I jokingly pointed to the skin on the leg
and asked for crackling.  He pulled out a tray full and gave me a
generous portion.  I asked how he had made it.  He took the skin and fat
off of cooked shoulders in his restaurant and then deep fried that
briefly.  It was crisp, fresh and VERY good.   I let Gail taste a piece
when I got back to our table.  She liked it enough that I went back for
a second plate full.  This stuff was so much better than the bagged
crackling available in the grocery store.  That stuff is often stale and
even sometimes going rancid.

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

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

To be continued tomorrow.

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 00:39:23, 19 Apr 2010
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30

--- Maximus/NT 3.01
 * Origin: Owl's Anchor (1:261/1466)