[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend", join us from the Farmer And The Dail in Snow Hill, as we sample local flavors.
we'll taste Coharie sorghum syrup.
Visit Stackhouse in Mars Hill, and try authentic latin cuisine in Charlotte.
Coming up next.
- [Announcer] Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by VisitNC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.
From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.
You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.
- Welcome to North Carolina Weekend everyone, I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we're sampling local flavors from Farmer and the Dail, a really popular bakery in Snow Hill.
Here everything is made from scratch, like their homemade apple jacks, pastries, cookies, and their famous biscuit bombs.
Now let's head to the mountains to visit Stackhouse restaurant in Mars Hill.
[soft guitar music] - Small town, around 2000 people.
College was built in 1856, and it's kind of been the center of town here in Mars Hill for as long as most people around here remember.
- And you make that exit and you wind up here and you just look at Main Street and that Main Street looks just exactly the way it looked when we moved into town 47 years ago.
It's wonderful.
- Everybody on Main Street, you can walk down the street, people are smiling, people are waving to you.
- Everybody comes to Western North Carolina for the leaves, for the hiking, for the rafting, for the skiing, for the motorcycle riding.
These are all the things that people love about Western North Carolina and all of those things are located in Madison county.
- [Deborah] In 2004, Nathan graduated from Mars Hill with English and Philosophy degrees.
He left a few years to complete his postgraduate work, but he missed the mountains.
So he eventually returned.
- Nathan, he's kind of a quiet, silent type, but also kind of a mad scientist.
- Well, if you're a philosopher, you'd better find something to do to make money.
- [Deborah] Find something to do, Nathan did.
In 2015, the Stack House Restaurant opened its doors on Main Street.
- I really enjoyed living in a small town, and food is something that brings people together.
If you want to have a conversation about something that really matters, it's always better to do it over food and drink.
- [Deborah] The Stackhouse was named after a popular area on the French Broad River.
It's also appropriate for a business that makes hamburgers stacked really high.
- One of our burgers that really sells well, it's a unique burger because it is a combination between a burger and a barbecue sandwich.
It'll start off with a nice toasted bun, buttered on both sides from them.
After that, we'll have a layer of our homemade slaw, homemade pickles, a third pound burger patty, cheddar cheese, hand-battered onion ring on top of that to gently hold some pulled pork that we smoke in-house with cherry wood.
And then it's covered, all in all, with a sauce that we lovingly called "beerbacue".
We make it out of a Porter or a Stout, two great things rolled into one.
We've named it after the local mountain that we have in town, Bailey Mountain.
This is the big Bailey sandwich.
- And it's kind of a pig out place.
You gotta come here.
I mean, you can come here, you can take a box home with you if you can deal with that kind of shame.
But, uh... [chuckles] - Neighborhood gathering place probably would be the simplest way to put it.
Awesome food, that's the major draw for a lot of people, and things like this are a major draw for others.
- Beer selection's excellent.
Very local beer selection, a lot of IPAs.
We're big IPA, we're hop heads out here.
- [Deborah] With good conversation, excellent food and beverages, the Stackhouse also offers what these mountains are famous for, beautiful music.
♪ Southern fried Texas pride ♪ ♪ That Kentucky mode in your eyes ♪ ♪ Take a New York minute and realize ♪ ♪ I could be exactly what you need ♪ - Okay, we do have live entertainment.
We try to have something all the time.
- Entertainment's great.
We've got open mic on Tuesdays.
We've got a lot of locals come out, pick and the sing songs they wrote, or some of their old country favorites.
- I've got a great gig.
I live a mile away in a little log cabin.
I teach philosophy and then I cook for everybody's moms and hang out with the mechanics and serve them beer at night.
- Mountains, music, good beer.
It's awesome.
- We're hoping to give people something else to come to Western North Carolina for, really awesome burgers.
[guitar music] - Stackhouse American Eatery and Pub is at 37 South MainStreet in Mars Hill.
And they're open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday from noon to 9:00 PM.
For more information, give them a call at [828] 680-1213 or visit them online at StackhouseRestaurant.com.
Boy, I cannot wait to dive into this Belgian waffle with candied bacon on top.
You know, another local flavor that's really popular is sorghum syrup.
Ooh, it tastes a lot like molasses, from what I hear.
And this particular batch was made by the Coharie Tribe in Eastern North Carolina.
Let's join Seraphim Smith at the Coharie Cultural Center in Sampson County.
- I'm Seraphim Smith and I'm a culinary artist living and creating in Eastern North Carolina.
Today I'm taking you to Sampson County, specifically to the Coharie Indian Tribal Center.
Coharie means driftwood in the Tuscarora language.
Historical accounts attribute the origin of the Coharies to the Neusiok tribe.
The Coharies migrated to their present location on the little Coharie River to escape European colonization, intertribal conflict, and disease.
There are about 3000 members in the Coharie tribe today.
At the Coharie Cultural Center, you can find artifacts, native art, their sorghum syrup, which is kind of like molasses.
But it's made from sorghum cane instead of sugar cane.
The tribe has been making a traditional sorghum syrup for centuries and the chief and elders offered to teach me the secret of its sweetness.
- You would cut those stalks.
You would take all the leaves off of it, but then you would take, you know, the stalk, it would be bigger at the bottom than it would be at the top.
Well, it goes between these two wheels, right here you see.
That would be working from the PTO off of a tractor.
We'll show you that one more track we got in there, but it's turning, you know, fairly slow, but then the juice runs out here.
- [Man] Nice.
- And the stalk goes out the other side- - Yeah the stalk comes out the other side.
[group chatter] - [Man] Now back in the day, you would have this same set up here, but you would have a mule with a daddy mule.
- [Man] And the mule way I come ran around.
- There's 12 burners.
They all go at one time.
This is completely full of 75 gallons of fluid.
Cook for about five and a half hours, mm hm.
- When the caramelization process is complete, they have sorghum and proceeds from the sorghum, go to support their community garden.
Back inside the Coharie Cultural Center, I learned more about the tribe's heritage.
This canoe is very old.
They think it's about 500 years old, at least.
They found it while they were cleaning the little Coharie River in the last few years.
You'll notice it has a black inside and what this is, is a charring from where they had taken fire and used it to eat at the wood.
They would then take another tool and they would chip away at the charring.
And that was how they were able to hollow out this canoe.
This canoe is very special to the Coharies.
It appeared when something had gotten dislodged in the water and all of a sudden this canoe shot straight up out of the river, almost like a validation, a spiritual validation to show the Coharies that they were doing the right thing by taking care of their ancestral waterway.
[water running] There are many artifacts to see as well as an incredible collection of oil portraits created by North Carolina artist, Stephen Greer.
It's important to the Coharies to care for every family member through the different programs that this center provides.
[group chatter] One of the most remarkable and beautiful things about this community is their generosity.
Their garden's bounty is available to all, whether you are Coharie or not.
The tribe never wants anyone to go hungry.
Incredibly, their harvest of okra, turnips, and other Southern favorites are able to nurture nearly half of Sampson county.
I love to paint the vegetables of Eastern North Carolina.
And I also love visiting with such wonderful people, like the Coharies.
[group chatter] Back home, I couldn't wait to try the sorghum syrup on some hot biscuits.
The syrup can be bought directly from the Coharie Tribal Center, or by going to their website.
The earthy sweetness of the Coharie tribe, and their sorghum, is something that going to savor for a long time.
- The Kahari Tribal Center is at 7531 U.S Highway 421 in Clinton.
To order their amazing sorghum syrup, give the center a call at [910] 564-6909.
I'm here with the owners of Farmer and the Dail, Stacy and Zac Bales.
Hey guys.
- Hello.
- So the last time we were with you was about four years ago, and now you've got a new place.
Tell me all about it.
- [Stacy] We went from tiny to big, right?
- [Zac] Yeah, it's a much bigger, it's about four times larger than the space we were in previously.
We decided to build it about two weeks before COVID started.
So it made for a very interesting couple of years.
- Yeah, the shutdown started and we were in a position where we had already signed the papers.
So it wasn't really an option to close at that point.
So we powered through in our little location, we adapted by doing window service and deliveries, and that made this building possible.
So it's a lot bigger.
We can seat a lot more people.
There's a lot more sugar and flour and butter everywhere, and we're just loving it.
The community is loving it.
And it's a great place for people to come and have some Southern cooking and just enjoy each other and that's what it's all about, right?
- That's right, you got it.
So tell me what's new on the menu.
- Well, we went from having hours just in the morning, Tuesday through Saturday, to serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
So you'll get the usual biscuit bombs, apple jacks, ripples, but we also serve egg plates now.
We serve pancakes, we serve waffles.
Then we move right into lunch where have a full like grill of burgers, chicken tenders, salads, sandwiches.
And then at dinner we have the same menu.
And then we also have specials.
So that little bit of Southern cooking with hamburger steak and gravy, or shrimp and grits, or this month we're having Turkey and dressing and prime ribs.
So you kind of get a little of everything and then of course you get to end it with dessert every time, right?
- [Deborah] Yes or you can start it with dessert, have your meal and then end with dessert.
- [Stacy] Yes.
- [Zac] Absolutely, or just keep dessert all the way through.
- [Stacy] I tell people all the time they can come sit down at 6:00 AM and they don't have to leave till 8:00 PM and we'll feed them that whole 14 hours.
- [Deborah] Not even a problem.
Well, tell me about this farming community.
It's obvious that we're in the country around many different farms.
Tell me you about how you source your ingredients.
- [Stacy] We're a Farmer and the Dail, right?
- [Deborah] Yeah, absolutely.
- We actually are fortunate to be able to source all of our dairy right down the road at Simply Natural Creamery.
We run up to Wayne County and we're getting Nahunta for all of our sausage needs.
We're able to run up to Wilson County to get all of our collards that we make, and we sell quarts and quarts of collards all through the whole year.
And then we're able to get our sweet potatoes right up the road from Gay Family Farms.
So we try to source as locally as possible.
We sell duck eggs, we have chicken eggs, and- - And it's not even food, like our tables are Green County made.
They're from reclaimed wood found in Green County.
The shiplap that you see on the wall, that's rainbow, that's all locally sourced in Green County.
So we try to keep it in the county as much as possible because we know how much it means to us when people support a Green County business.
So we try to do the same, whether it's Green County or surrounding counties, like local supporting local, right?
- [Deborah] Absolutely, so tell me what's most popular on the menu right now?
- Well, it's always gonna be biscuit bombs and fried pies.
Those by far take the cake every time, but you know, slices of cake remain something that's incredibly popular.
We sell hundreds of those slices every week, but if you're gonna come in here for like lunch or dinner, you're grabbing a fried chicken sandwich or a barbecue Sandwich.
- A fat deep burger, you really can't go wrong.
- [Zac] Absolutely.
- And I think that's really been the core of it is people can see the passion and the love that we have.
And when they come in here, they feel that, they feel like they're at grandma's house and they're eating food that people put care into.
And I think that's the main thing that we do.
And we want people to know is that we really appreciate every time someone buys a biscuit bomb.
- We started off with about five employees, four years ago and now we have over 40.
So, we continue to grow and as long as we can find the talent to join with us and be partners in creating awesome food, we'll continue to grow.
- We'll be baking your day sweeter across Eastern North Carolina.
- I love that, baking our day sweeter.
Well, thank you for making that so sweet for all of us.
I can't wait to try some of these menu items.
Thanks so much for spending time with us.
- Yes, we appreciate you coming.
- Thank you so much for coming by.
- Farmer And the Dail is at 1329 US Highway 258 in Snow Hill.
And they're open Tuesday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM and on Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
For more information, give them a call at [252] 747-1392 or visit them online at FarmerAndTheDail.com.
Mozzarella cheese is a key ingredient in so many popular dishes like pizza, pasta, even this caprese panini, and did you know that mozzarella comes from the milk of water buffalo.
While there's a couple in Salisbury that raises water buffalo just to make mozzarella.
And we sent Rick Sullivan to go check them out.
- [Rick] These sweet little water buffalo calves are less than a week old, but they already play a major role in the way things work at Fading D Farm near Salisbury.
The idea to raise and care for water buffaloes came to David and Faythe DiLoreto as they were nearing retirement.
Faythe was trained in early childhood education and had raised three children with David.
- I was a family physician for many years here in Rowan County.
And there came a time when we were looking to do something different.
We happened to make a family trip to Italy, and not searching for anything there, but just kind of fell in love with the buffalo mozzarella while we were there and so we got home we said, "Now, let's get some more."
And we realized nobody was making it here in the United States.
- [Rick] Since that time, the DiLoretos have located a handful of buffalo mozzarella producers in the United States, but none within 500 miles of Rowan County.
The DiLoretos have a 64 acre tract on the outskirts of Salisbury, where they are now raising, milking, and doting on a small herd of female water buffalo, along with their stud named Z.
- Z, you don't have to push everybody away.
I can pet the others.
- [Rick] Mozzarella is not an easy cheese to make, but buffalo Mozzarella is even more to difficult.
- It was a lot harder than we thought it was gonna be.
We make it with a culture rather than with acid, which is a much more difficult process, but it makes much more flavorful cheese, and it's a traditional way to make a mozzarella.
So it's difficult, for one.
The other is the animals, they're big animals.
They don't produce much milk.
So you're milking a cow the size of a Holstein and getting the milk amount you'd get from a goat.
- [Rick] But folks who've tasted it swear by it.
- Water buffalo milk is naturally sweet.
So on top of being nine to 12% butter fat, it's very sweet.
So if you drink it, it's almost like drinking a melted milkshake, it's that nice.
- [Rick] And that brings us to the gelato freezer.
Grownups might come for the mozzarella, but kids come to the Fading D for the calves.
[group chatter] And the Italian ice cream.
- [Woman] That good?
- She's so expressive.
- [Rick] Mozzarella is a fresh cheese meaning it's not aged, it also means it needs to be consumed soon after it's made.
- As a fresh cheese, the fresher you eat it, the better it is.
Now, you know, it could be eaten several weeks after it's made, but that first day after it's made it's at its peak.
- The best place to get it is right where it's made.
But don't be sad if you want some and you can't get it at your local grocery.
The trip to Fading D Farm on Saturday pickup day is well worth the effort.
It is possible to find Fading D's water buffalo products in stores near the farm.
That information is current at their web address, which we'll give you at the end of this story, but nothing beats the in-person visit.
Tours are available by appointment, and the DiLoretos are always excited for their buffaloes to get all the socialization possible.
Do know that if there are very young unweaned calves, when you visit, you might be put upon to bottle feed them.
- Fading D Farm is at 295 Fading D Farm Road in Salisbury.
Swing by to pick up your cheese or gelato at their farm store on Saturdays.
For more information, give them a call at [980] 330-8189, or visit them online at FadingDFarm.com.
Food is culture, and it can tell a story.
In Charlotte, there's an open aired vendor that celebrates flavors passed down from generation to generation.
And the owners say that the menu is so authentic, they call it, "Mother-made Latin Food".
Let's join Rebecca Ward at La Caseta.
[upbeat music] - We opened during the pandemic.
So everything's a blur.
I'm trying to say, I think it was sometime in June that we opened up.
So it's been interesting, but it's been also great.
Just seeing how the space allows for the social distancing is, so it was good timing to open a place like that.
- [Deborah] Among the many vendors at Camp North End in Charlotte is La Caceta.
An open air food stall that serves Mother-made Latin American street food using recipes passed down from generation to generation.
- So La Caseta is part of our restaurant groups.
The parent company is Raydal Hospitality.
So from there, you know, we have 17 Sabor locations that we manage and we have Three Amigos, which is the original restaurant that we opened in 2010.
With, La Caseta, we wanted it to take it back to our own roots.
The recipes are inspired from different countries and from our employees.
- [Deborah] Inspired by the diverse immigrant families of Raydal Hospitality, La Caseta's menu does more than list items that customers have long requested.
It tells stories.
[bright music] - You know, we have employees from Mexico and they're the ones who really perfected the Carne Asada and for the Alpa store that we have.
One of our employees he's from Venezuela.
He was part of the team to put the recipes together.
So he inspired the [speaking in a foreign language] that we have.
My husband is from Dominican Republic, but he's always liked Argentinan empanadas, so, it was kind of something that he just enjoyed eating.
This one is baked as opposed to fried.
The pupusa was inspired by my mom.
My shirt, if you see the logo, it's a picture of my mom and she's been running her own store in Queens, New York for 23 years.
So we've used some of her recipes in our foods as well.
That's, you know, the main thing we brought into La Caseta, that this whole thing of Mother-made, just thinking of what makes you feel like home.
What is something your mom cooks that you enjoy and you like sharing with friends, and you kind of brag about like, no, my mom makes the best pupusa, like you have to try it Thinking of back home or back Latin American countries on street food, people just opened up like their house on the weekend and that's where you get your fix for some of the foods we have.
And like I said, that literally, that's what it means, stall.
- [Deborah] Aside from creating multiple culinary destinations in Charlotte, co-owners Miriam and Dalton are bringing social work to the hospitality industry.
Miriam is also a licensed clinical social worker and is constantly working on innovative ways to support employees.
At La Caseta, the work environment that uplifts employees motivates and inspires them, which is reflected in the love and time they put into their food.
- Food is always important for us, biting into something and feeling, oh my gosh, this is just how my mom makes it.
Or this is what I had when I visited this country.
That's very important for us to kind of bring that experience to, to other people in Charlotte.
And you know, hopefully people that are immigrants in the community feel comfortable coming here too, and have that same experience.
So it allows people to come together.
- [Deborah] Food stalls definitely have the upper hand right now and La Caseta's open air design naturally lends itself to current public health safety measures.
You can enter the pedestrian entrance at Keswick avenue and order at the counter or place your order online.
Their simple menu makes it easy to decide.
La Caseta is located at Camp North End in Charlotte, at 1801 North Graham Street.
And they're open every day for lunch and dinner beginning at 11:00 AM.
To place an order, give them a call at [980] 226-5188 or check them out online at LaCasetaClt.com.
Well that's it for tonight's show.
We've had a great time out here at Farmer and the Dail.
If you're ever in Snow Hill, be sure to stop by and give Zac and Stacy a visit.
And if you've missed anything in today's show, just remember, you can always watch us again, online at PBSnc.org.
Have a great North Carolina weekend everyone, goodnight.
[calm music] ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by VisitNC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.
From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smokey mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches.
You're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.
[piano outro]