10 of the Best North Carolina Recipes - Big Bear's Wife (2024)

FAQs

What is a famous dish in North Carolina? ›

The Debate Between Whole Hog and Pulled Pork

Traditionally, North Carolina's most popular barbecue dish is whole hog barbecue, though many believe pulled pork is more popular. In North Carolina, people frequently debate the difference between authentic hog barbecue and pulled pork.

Fun fact: the sweet potato is the state vegetable of North Carolina. Pick up a sweet potato pie from Sweet and Cozy Bakery just outside Charlotte, then sip on Town Brewing's Sweet Carolina Pie – it's brewed with sweet potatoes, vanilla and nutmeg.

North Carolina is close to the Gulf Stream, where fisherfolk catch mahi-mahi, tuna, swordfish, and other large migratory species. Coastal species like drum, trout, shrimp, and blue crabs feel at home in the state's extensive network of sounds, rivers, and estuarine environments.

North Carolina is known for: Its geographic and topographical diversity — from the highest mountains in Eastern America in the west to the amazing barrier islands of the Outer Banks and Cape Lookout, with the rolling hills of the Piedmont and the flat coastal plain in between.

North Carolina's Top Side Dish

The top five most popular holiday side dishes include mashed potatoes, stuffing/dressing, mac & cheese, yams/ sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole.

The Cherry Bounce is North Carolina's signature drink, and for good reason. According to local folklore, it only took a few generous drinks among friends, just outside Raleigh, to declare that city the State Capital. A Cherry Bounce is a combination of cherry vodka, cranberry juice, and lime juice.

NORTH CAROLINA: A pulled-pork sandwich

Just like Hawaii, one of North Carolina's best sandwiches is pulled pork, but make sure to smother it in a tangy, vinegar-based BBQ sauce.

North Carolina's local and regional food system includes the production of apples, blackberries, blueberries, figs, kiwifruit, muscadine grapes, pecans, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, and strawberries.

Two fishes, the sandhills chub (Semotilus lumbee) and the pinewoods darter (Etheostoma mariae), are endemic to the Carolina Sandhills. Little was known about them prior to 1988.

Who is the most famous person in North Carolina? ›

Where is Michael Jordan From? Michael Jordan was born in New York, but moved to Wilmington, North Carolina with his family at a young age, and went to high school at Emsley A. Laney in Wilmington. Jordan, who also attended the University of North Carolina, is arguably the most famous person from North Carolina.

Red Bird Puffed Peppermints — Lexington

Named for North Carolina's state bird, the cardinal, these soft, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth mints have been made by Piedmont Candy Company since 1933, when founder Edward Ebelein revived the brand from his previous business.

Carolina style refers to an established set of condiments for hot dogs and hamburgers, originating in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions of North Carolina and South Carolina. The classic combination is chili, slaw and onions; locally, mustard sometimes replaces slaw, or is added as a fourth item.

Animal bones found in cooking pits and trash dumps show they ate deer, bear, raccoon, opossum, rabbit, turkey, and turtle. Fish and shellfish—such as clams and oysters—formed an important part of these American Indians' diets. Archaeologists made one unusual find in Onslow County in 1995.

The harvests gathered by colonial farmers included an expansive number of crops: beans, squash, peas, okra, pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes, and peanuts. Maize (corn), and later rice and potatoes were grown in place of wheat and barley which were common European crops that did not take readily to eastern American soil.