Durham Dining Dissent

DI/DO drops a big, sloppy smooch on Durham. The Gurgling Cod has said "yes, but," once or twice. In particular, Watts Grocery in my one visit, was profoundly unimpressive, and raised some unsettling questions. Also, while Moskin gets excited about the transition from tobacco (bad) to strawberries (good),  she is silent on the issue of NC's other major socially malignant agricultural product:

The food at Neal’s Deli is resolutely everyday and American — like breakfast biscuits stuffed with egg and sausage — but the eggs are steamed tender with a touch of pepper and parsley, and the wide, crisp biscuits are mixed from high-fat local buttermilk and organic flour from a nearby mill that’s been held by the same family for nine generations. The sausage patty is from Cane Creek Farm in Alamance County, where Eliza MacLean, an owner of the farm and a former veterinarian, advises farmers across the state on the transition from tobacco to pork. Every bit of that care comes through in the flavor of the finished product, a stunning bargain at $3.25.

There is no shortage of hogs in NC, but very few of them are raised under groovy conditions, so it's hard to feel good about this feel good story without a little bit more reporting. If this is the model for tobacco-to-pork transitions, then huzzah, but if Tar Heel is the model, not so much. 

There is exciting stuff going on in Durham, to be sure -- the limited love for Piedmont, and exclusion of Locopops are unfortunate, for example -- but the article manages to seem both patronizing and symptomatic of the incipient Panisseization of food journalism.

Comments

[Cookie]

Compelled to emphatically agree that yes, the happy pigs served at Neal's Deli are delish.

That said, Watts is adequate dining- healthy enough, local enough, and tasty enough, but that's all, and there's a difference between "playful" and "twee", for f's sake.

[Jay Porter]

The skepticism is understandable -- I wish more eaters had more of it -- but Cane Creek Farm is an amazing sustainable farm. Eliza is very well regarded in the sustainable farming community, and she's a breed steward for the rare Ossabaw Island pig as well.

Here's a little more reporting from my blog that you might find helpful, from visits to Cane Creek in 2006 and 2007:

http://thelinkery.com/blog/carolina-trip-report-part-1/

http://thelinkery.com/blog/learning-about-pigs-in-north-carolina/

I too really like/admire Piedmont and had an absolutely fantastic time dining at Rue Cler...wish I could get to the Triangle much more often.

[Jay Porter]

I kind of misread your post, sorry. I now see you were wondering about other pork served in the area. I know Eliza (and at least a while ago, Chuck Talbott) did a lot to support non-factory hog farming methods for new independent hog farmers, many of whom were switching over their land from tobacco. There is a lot of humanely raised pork in that area, more than I've seen in other places.

However, there's also a lot of the factory stuff in the restaurants and stores there, because there's lots of the factory stuff anywhere. Whether you're in Durham, Sonoma, LA, Des Moines, Mexico City, NYC, Paris, wherever, Cargill-style pork is on the menu at most places. The only way to know if it isn't is to ask.

[intheyearofthepig]

It's great to champion the redevelopment of downtown Durham and the local food movement (even though I kind of like the smell of drying tobacco), but the article is lazy.

I love Neal's Deli and I am privileged to live but a half mile away, but it's in Carrboro, not Durham. Lazy.

Plus, Piedmont makes a badass pastrami sandwich.

I'm glad it at least addresses the amount of extra work required of the farmers--work that does not necessarily translate to greater profits--but unfortunately overshadows that with the statement that now the farmers are "rock stars." So I guess they got that going for them.

Also lazy to pretty much ignore the importance of racial politics and class in the history Durham and it's current renaissance. But at least there are still some good places for a barbecue plate where folks who aren't into the "scene" to load up on Smithfield pork. Huzzah indeed.

[intheyearofthepig]

sounded too whiney there.

One step at a time I suppose.

Jay is right too, Cane Creek, Eliza MacLean, and Talbot are working hard and doing great work. I feel fortunate whenever I get to enjoy the fruit and meat of their labors. My CSA kicks ass and the farmer's markets are really wonderful here.

Huzzah.

[cinetrix]

So did Full Frame pick up the tab for Moskin's field trip, I wonder? The intrepid Timeser conducted the Q&A after the Durham doc fest's opening night film "Kings of Pastry."

[The Gurgling Cod]

Uncle Punch paid, I am sure, as explicitly junket-driven journalism is a no-no at America's paper of record. But if she hopped in and out for FFFF, that does explain the slapdash feel of the piece.