Coming to the Triangle, you may find yourself facing some distinctive cuisine that you have never experienced before. These items are so commonplace among natives that they are taken for granted, and we assume that you will know everything about them because they exist in most everyday restaurants and guesthouses in Wake, Durham and Orange counties. To prevent embarrassment and order with confidence – and maybe try some new foods you might enjoy – take the following advice.
The Drinking Life – Tea and Soft Drinks
When people around here order tea, they usual mean iced tea, even in winter, and often sweetened with sugar, and referred to as “sweet tea.” Your better restaurants will ask us whether you want your tea sweet or unsweet (they will say that, even just “un”) – if you do not hear that phrase, better specify to your waiter that you want it without sugar, if that is your preference. Likewise, it is taken for granted that your tea will be cold unless you say you want it hot, and some places may not have the latter option available, as they may use prepackaged iced tea rather than tea bags. As the name implies, ice will be served with the tea, sometimes more than you want. If you are not big on ice, let your server know to go easy on it, as they tend to load up on them otherwise. We recommend that you embrace sweet tea, as it is one of the best things about dining in the South.
Soft drinks refer to any non-alcoholic beverage to which you can add ice, except tea (go figure). Thus, lemonade counts as a soft drink as much as Sprite or Mountain Dew, but milk and coffee never do. Never call something like Pepsi “pop” or “soda pop” unless you want someone to laugh and/or stare at you. Better avoid “beverage” too when asking what to drink to avoid weird looks. You may hear someone say “co-cola,” which is just their curious way of saying Coca-Cola in an abbreviated fashion (yes, most people say Coke as well), as well as “cold drink” in place of soft drink. It gets complicated.
Cueing Up Barbecue
Barbecue in the Triangle means pork barbecue, not grilled meat as it does outside most of the South. Some people shorten it and just call it “cue” (or “Q”), and you may see it listed in menus as “barbeque,” “bar-B-que,” “bar-B-Q” or “BBQ.” However it is spelled or pronounced, any restaurant here that claims to have downhome Southern cooking that cannot do a decent job of making barbecue will go out of business fast once word spreads about this failure.
Triangle diners favor what is called Eastern North Carolina style barbecue, which differs from Western North Carolina style mainly in that the latter uses a tomato-based sauce for seasoning, while Eastern favors a vinegar base. (You may hear Western style referred to as “Lexington” style in honor of the North Carolina town where Western style barbecue joints proliferate.) The vinegar base often vary by the herbs and spices used, but typical ones employed include salt, pepper, red pepper, cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic, nutmeg, molasses and brown sugar. “Pit barbecue” refers to the location where the pork was roasted, not that there are pits in the barbecue, and “pulled pork” means the food literally was pulled off the carcass to make barbecue. The latter term usually in references to barbecue sandwiches, which are served in buns – put pork barbecue in or on any other kind of bread, and you will get the same looks mentioned in the soft drinks section. Also, most Eastern style barbecue is finely chopped instead of shredded, so be prepared.
Among the top places to go for great barbecue in the Triangle are Old Time Barbecue and Cooper’s Barbecue and Catering in Raleigh, Bullock’s Barbecue in Durham, and Allen and Son Pit Cooked Bar-B-Q in Chapel Hill. Also, every June there is the annual Hillsborough Hog Day festival in Hillsborough west of Durham and north of Chapel Hill that features a barbecue cooking contest from chefs across the state. Some versions served are spicier than others, so don’t forget to order sweet tea or a soft drink with them (see how this all connects together?).
Hush Puppies – The Eating Kinds, Not the Wearing Ones
Continuing with barbecue, to many people here, hush puppies perfectly complement the food the way French fries do so with hamburgers. Hush puppies are nothing more than fried cornmeal seasoned with a few spices, often including black pepper and finely ch
opped onions. Fried in hot oil until golden brown, hush puppies typically are served in ball or crescent shapes and eaten with ketchup or butter. You will find them served at some seafood restaurants before getting the main course along with bread. Most people who try them like the way they melt in their mouth and want as many as possible, but as you can imagine, the frying does not make them ideal for those on a diet, especially given their addictive nature (try finding anyone who can eat just one hush puppy at a sitting).
Cornmeal also forms the basis for cooking cornbread, a rather dense concoction served along with rolls at most Southern restaurants. It can be white or yellow, depending on the type and amount of cornmeal used, but the final result always ends up with something that will drop crumbs onto your plate – it falls apart that easily. Depending where you are from, you might call it “Johnny cake,” but if you call it that around here, well … you know the rest.
Grits
When you grind corn at a mill, you end up with cornmeal and another leftover product known as grits that some people in the Triangle eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Imagine oatmeal colored whiter than an albino and you will know what grits look like. As with cornmeal products, grits are chewy and go down easily. Butter and gravy are the typical condiments for grits, but do not be surprised if you find people eating them covered or mixed with eggs, sausage, bacon, sugar, ketchup … and we will stop right there before disturbing you more with these images.
One combination does deserve special mention, however – shrimp and grits. People love the two foods together, and in some places it is about the only way to eat cooked shrimp without having them fried. A recommended stop for this favorite is Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill.
Hot Sauces
When seasoning grits, hush puppies or barbecue, you will find on your table hot sauces along with the normal ketchup and mustard. They are exactly what their name implies, so do not slather them onto your food unless you have something to drink to cool down your mouth after eating them (see “The Drinking Life section again). For those of you from the Lone Star State who wonder if you have come across a homegrown product here that you did not recall, don’t worry – Texas Pete is actually made and distributed from Winston-Salem, N.C.
Bon appetit!
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