World Tour: Food Happenings in North Carolina

[ 0 ] October 21, 2011 | Archele

October has always been chock-full of events. Concerts, college homecomings, football, you name it and events that are food-focused definitely make an appearance or two or more on the agenda. This weekend, specifically, the southern charm of North Carolina will be displayed by two huge events – the 28th Annual Barbecue Festival and the North Carolina State Fair.

Before going into a description of the festival, I’d like to clarify what I mean by “barbecue,” as people from different regions use the term to describe different things. In the context of this post (and the way I was brought up) “barbecue” refers to pulled pork that has been slowly cooked, seasoned, basted and chopped before it is consumed. The 28th Annual Barbecue Festival, which features some of the best barbecue NC have to offer, will take place on Saturday, October 22 in Lexington, NC – where it occurs every year. The good people of Lexington have deemed their town the “Barbecue Capital of the World,” and there are many North Carolinians who will cosign with that claim. As the name of the event suggests, the festival features mindblowing barbecue, along with tons of vendors and the extremely relevant, home-grown sponsors Texas Pete and Pepsi.

Italian Sausage ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

This weekend also marks the final days of the NC State Fair. It is common practice for hundreds of people to flood the fair, and not just for rides, but specifically for the food! With classic fair favorites such as cotton candy, funnel cakes and candied apples and deep-fried creations galore, the fair has something for everyone. My personal fave has always been the sausages, whether Italian or Polish, smothered in peppers, cheese and mustard, they always leave me satisfied and wanting more! This time, I tried a grilled turkey leg as well and found it to be absolutely addictive. It was so flavorsome, and so filling! The odd thing about it was that it tasted more like pork than it did turkey. It was amazing, so amazing that by the time I realized that I should have take a picture of it in all its glory, I had already massacred it. :-/

Deep Fried Treats Stand ©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

October is a month that you can sit back and let those American Airlines points accumulate so that you can book a cheap flight for another time, because all of the fun is probably somewhere locally, sayy at a huge pork-loving festival or at parkgrounds populated with deep-fried treats.