Gourmet | Moreton Neal | Locavore’s Pantry: Enjoying The Pleasures Of Locally Produced Foods And Sauces

Locavore’s Pantry: Enjoying The Pleasures Of Locally Produced Foods And Sauces

By Moreton Neal

Since I write about food, “locavore,” is a word I appreciate and use often. It’s a whole lot simpler than saying, “someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius…”
By definition, we would assume the locavore’s diet consists almost exclusively of fresh produce and meats. After all, locally grown food is fresher than trucked food, warehoused and/or preserved — and isn’t freshness the point, both for flavor and health?
I aspire to be a locavore, yet even in the apex of the growing season, there are certain things that can’t be plucked from a stalk or purchased from a nearby farmers’ market booth.
My understanding of the term broadened recently when a friend bought several packages of something I’d never heard of before: Chapel Hill Toffee. “Best candy ever,” she insisted as she loaded up a box full to take to friends in Charleston.
Curious about other local products with a long shelf life, I talked to one of the Triangle’s most respected foodies, Joyce Fowler, the former chocolate buyer for A Southern Season. Fowler introduced me to a dozen bottled and packaged goodies, raising my consciousness and my enthusiasm for preserved foodstuffs made by Triangle culinary artisans.
We have seen them around without noticing where they came from. Cackalacky Sauce, Zing Sauce, Foster’s Market Seven Pepper Jelly, Mama Dip’s barbecue sauce and cornbread mix, La Farm’s granola, and Jim’s Famous barbecue sauces are just a few of the items Fowler pointed out. These products are available at gourmet stores and groceries in the Triangle and online. Farmer’s Daughter jams and preserves are my latest addiction, available now only at Carrboro Farmers’ Market and 3CUPS, but I’m hoping owner April McGreger will follow the example of Foster’s Market and Mama Dip and ramp up production in the near future.
Here are three of our favorites:

Escazu Chocolate Bars

Escazu Artisan Chocolates is a small shop selling truffles and other handmade bon-bons on the foodiest street in Raleigh, Glenwood Avenue. The company was founded in 2003 in Beaufort, NC, by Hal Parson and Robert Henkens, passionate chocolatiers who use cocoa beans grown in Venezuela and on farms near the town of Escazu, Costa Rica.
After its successful move to the Triangle, Escazu’s artisans began to think outside the shop and increased staff to produce chocolate hardy enough to sell online and through other outlets. Flavors include chocolate mixed with chili and pumpkin, with sea salt, with coffee beans and several other intriguing combinations. For the most discriminating connoisseurs, Escazu also makes four different bean-to-bar or “single origin chocolate bars,” pure chocolate made with emphasis on the unique flavor produced by the earth where the cacao beans are grown — the equivalent of terroir in wine parlance.
These remarkable chocolate bars can be found in the Triangle at the Escazu shop at 610 Glenwood Ave., at Whole Foods Market, Earth Fare, A Southern Season, LocoPops and through the Web site www.escazuchocolates.com.

Pluto’s Caribbean Seasonings
When Pluto Richards, lead singer of the band Plutopia, arrived in the Triangle area in 1990, he missed the flavors of his native Jamaica. At a loss for store-bought spice mixtures, he began mixing his own, aiming to recreate the island seasonings he craved.
Richards’ experiments were so successful he shared the results with a friend, Robert Marath. After one bite of jerk chicken made with one of the mixtures, Marath gushed, “This is Caribbean bliss!”
Marath and Richards eventually formed a partnership to manufacture Pluto’s Jamaican Seasonings, including the signature jerk spice mixture dubbed, naturally, “Caribbean Bliss.”
Now you can find all four of the Bliss blends, in addition to the Paradise Potion marinades and other jerk sauces, in gourmet stores or through their Web site www.plutosinc.com. The site includes recipes for using the condiments — the ever popular jerk chicken, turkey and several veggie dishes, including Pluto’s potatoes and Blissful beans. Try them and you will understand why the subtitle on each label reads, “Jamaica in a Bottle.”

Kerala Curry Sauces and Chutneys
It was love at first bite. After I tasted Kerala Curry Tomato Chutney at a grocery display, I filled up my cart with this extraordinary condiment and, on faith, the company’s other curry sauces. I hadn’t a clue where Kerala Curry was based, but after unloading my bounty at home, I discovered these products were made just down the road in Pittsboro, NC, by a couple originally from southern India, Ann and Rollo Varkey.
I found I’m not the only person smitten with this stellar tomato chutney. It won the Sofi Award for “outstanding condiment” at New York’s Fancy Food Show last year .The Sofi is the specialty food industry’s version of an Oscar, its highest honor.
I imagined (and later tried) the chutney on meatloaf, grilled chicken, with cream cheese and crackers, with fried catfish, on a hamburger and even with French fries. This may be the world’s most versatile condiment, I thought as I threw the old ketchup bottle in the trash.
But the chutney’s natural affinity is for Indian food. That evening I improvised a quick curry to go with it, resulting in a delicious dinner that bears repeating … as long as the tomato chutney holds out.

Easy Kerala Curry Dinner
Lamb Curry
1-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound lamb shank or shoulder, cut into one-inch cubes
3 carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch slices
1 medium yellow onion, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic, sliced
½ jar Kerala Curry “Kera” Curry Sauce
½-1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauté pan, cook lamb and onions together in oil until soft and browned. Add carrots and garlic, cooking for a few minutes longer. Add the Kera Sauce and ½ cup or more water (liquid should almost cover the meat and veggies). Simmer for a half hour or more until the lamb is tender. Add water, if needed, as liquid evaporates. Add salt and pepper.
Serve on basmati rice (I added a cinnamon stick to the rice before cooking).

Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large potato, preferably Yukon Gold
½ head cauliflower
1 teaspoon garam masala
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the oil into roasting pan. Add one potato, peeled and cut into small chunks, and one half of a head of cauliflower, broken into florets. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garam masala to taste and mix, lightly coating the veggies with oil.
Roast in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or until soft.
Serve the lamb, rice and vegetables with raita (the traditional yogurt sauce — I use plain yogurt mixed with finely chopped cucumber, chopped fresh mint, salt and a pinch of ground cumin) and, of course, Kerala Curry’s Tomato Chutney!

Nibbles
This month, enjoy the culinary splendors of the fourth Euphoria Festival, “a higher state of food, wine and music,” in Greenville, NC. Among the well-known guest chefs scheduled to appear Sept. 18-20 are Scott Crawford from Herons in Raleigh, Frank Stitt from Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, AL, Guy and Franck Savoy from Guy Savoy, Paris, and Tim Graham from Tru in Chicago. For more information, go to www.euphoriagreenville.com.
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Vinnie’s Steak House & Tavern in Raleigh will hold a wine dinner featuring Silver Oak Cellars on Thursday, Sept. 3. The five-course dinner will feature creations from Vinnie’s executive chef, Tom Armstrong, paired with Silver Oak’s flagship Cabernets and a Pinot Noir and Merlot from its sister winery Twomey. Reservations are available at www.vinniessteakhouse.com or by calling 919-847-7319.
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On Wednesday, Sept. 23, The Old Granary Restaurant at Fearrington Village will initiate a series of special “Evening Out Dinners” featuring three-course menus created by Chef Stephen Amos for $30 per guest. For an additional $15, each guest’s dinner may be paired with wines selected by Fearrington Wine Director Maximilian Kast. For reservations, link to www.fearrington.com.
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Restaurant Eden, featuring “regionalized American cuisine,” according to Chef/Owner Adam Smith, just opened in the old Starlu location at 3211 Shannon Road in Durham. Smith’s experience includes stints at restaurants throughout the Triangle, including George’s Garage and Raleigh’s North Ridge Country Club.
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The Triangle’s third Ruth’s Chris Steak House will open this month at Durham’s Southpoint, 7007 Fayetteville Road. For reservations, call 919-361-0123 or link to www.serioussteaks.com.
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Tandoor Indian Restaurant in Chapel Hill has had a colorful face-lift and has become a uniquely festive venue for Northern Indian food. Each Wednesday the restaurant holds a special “Bollywood night” featuring Bollywood music videos. Tandoor is located at 1301 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill. Call 919-967-6622 for reservations.
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Every Friday evening, Shula’s 347 Grill at Chapel Hill’s Sheraton Hotel invites you to “Friday Music on the Terrace,” with live jazz, $5 martinis and wine, and a selection of the restaurant’s best appetizer specials.
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Formerly Cindy’s House Café, Chatham Street Café & Catering, located at 140 E. Chatham St. in Cary, now serves full-service lunch, brunch and dinner. The café’s menu still offers some of the favorites from Cindy’s, along with new ideas created by new owner Gayla Bonke’s “new eclectic American” repertoire. For a full menu, visit www.chathamstreetcafe.com.
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Downtown Chapel Hill’s latest eatery, R&R Grill just opened for lunch and dinner at 137 E. Franklin St. Owned and operated by father-son team Rob and Ross Moll, R&R features traditional American cuisine with menu items such as slow-cooked St. Louis ribs, home-ground burgers and gourmet flatbread pizza. A late night menu is available until after midnight. For more information or to preview the menu online, visit www.rnrgrill.com. For reservations, call 919-240-4411.
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A new vegetarian restaurant has opened in University Square in Chapel Hill. Butternut Squash’s owners lured Chef Andrew Gentry from Asheville to create a diverse menu of vegan and vegetarian specialties in the former Bon’s dining room, 133-E W. Franklin St. Call 919-929-8199 or go to www.butternutsquashrestaurant.com for menu and hours.
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Durham author Ann Prospero’s long-awaited Chefs of the Triangle: Their Lives, Recipes and Restaurants will be out in September. Prospero has written profiles of both established and up-and-coming chefs from our area and edited recipes from each chef for home cooking. She will be reading at McIntyre’s Fine Books at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27. Joining Prospero will be Fearrington House Restaurant Executive Chef Colin Bedford, who will share both his cooking experiences and his food. In Raleigh, Quail Ridge Books will host Prospero and guest chefs at “An Evening to Delight Foodies” at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 24.
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You can honor restaurateur and cookbook author Mildred Council at "Mama Dip's 80th Birthday Celebration Fundraiser," September 20 at Fearrington Village. The event will raise funds for "Share the Love" at Triangle Community Foundation.
Information and reswervations are availble at www.trianglecf.org/sharethelove
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Watch for The Chapel Hill Food Lover’s Guide by yours truly, Moreton Neal, available at local bookstores by mid-September.