Falling in love with Burke County one bite at a time
Like the chicken and the egg, I’m not sure which comes first: the fellowship or the food. Either way, it’s been a pretty incredible month for both, living and working in Burke County.
We’ve made an intentional effort to invite new friends into our home monthly for a meal and cocktails. It’s a way for us to connect and do what I love best — feed people. And we’ve done a good job so far, at least until the norovirus derailed the last one.
We gave Greenway Pizza a try. And I finally ate a Highlands Butchery burger thanks to my boss providing a celebratory lunch for my one-year work anniversary. Highlights included really great conversations. Best yet, I’ve fallen more deeply in love with this place.
It began as we scaled the courthouse to the former courtroom. A colleague commented that her relative helped install the stone steps on which we tread. Then, taking my seat in the old courthouse, I gazed upon the worn floors wondering what stories those floors and walls and seats could tell. Obviously, we were not the only ones to find ourselves seated in this place, but perhaps our visit was a great deal lighter than those who had walked those wooden planks more than 100 years before.
We were on the tail end of a work-sponsored tour of Morganton, showcasing its history, murals and people. What awaited us was a feast prepared by a local resident. A day out of the office capped with food — they were speaking my love language.
It was in this moment, one of anticipation and reflection, that a bubbling realization took hold. Morganton, and greater Burke County, is somewhat of a unicorn, if you will.
Fast forward a few weeks when 6 of my dearest high school friends visited us in Morganton for the first time. We all grew up in an equally magical place called Tucker, Georgia.
These are women who have seen me through every season of life and then some: my first marriage, the birth of all three of my children, my divorce, my second marriage, the death of my father and all of the things in between and what came after. More importantly, they have collectively loved and supported me with grace and understanding.
I was eager to share everything with them, so I made all of the meals and desserts with ingredients from Food Matters, acted as both the bartender (with spirits purchased at the new ABC) and the tour guide, and placed notecards and chocolates on their pillows. I’m not touting my hostess abilities. There was just a deep desire to have them fall in love with the place I now call home, so I tried to make their visit as special as possible.
Passionate about buying from small businesses, they shopped at stores from Alexander Brooke to Craft’d where they spent a significant amount of money (you’re welcome). Following a walk through Oak Hill Park, I took them to the Fonta Flora in Nebo. Still, it’s important to this story.
Fonta Flora was more crowded than I’d ever seen it. Granted, it was an incredibly sunny, spring day, but the amount of people there made my heart sink. I had a Dr. Evil plan of enticing my dearest friends to move to Morganton, and this chaos would simply not do.
Because it was crowded, seating was at a premium. So, when an outside bench opened, we asked a couple if we could gather around the table and occupy the seats nearest them. They obliged, and the conversation quickly shifted to their two chocolate labs. Their names? Tucker and Georgia. I mean, come on. What were the chances? Serendipitous perhaps, but I felt the heavens were conspiring to ensure my mission was successful.
Flashback to the day at the courthouse. I sat around the table sharing a homemade Hmong meal with colleagues who hailed from Morganton to South America. Each dish was lovingly prepared with curated meats, fresh herbs and vegetables, and bamboo cultivated from a personal garden and smokehouse.
Christiane Burkins shared a homemade Hmong meal with colleagues who hailed from Morganton to South America.
Eating what turned out to be a glorious meal, I reflected on all that I had seen and learned that day. Many of our neighbors, yours and mine, had risked their lives, and the lives of their children, to come to America and build a life here in our county. Some crossed the MeKong River in the dead of night, with the ever-present threat of communist soldiers secretly waiting along the banks. Others had escaped an oligarchical civil war just to have the opportunity to build a better life for their families. Some have sowed deep roots living amongst people who formerly enslaved them. Still others found a home away from home where they learn and grow in a deaf and hard of hearing community.
In a rather obscure town, nestled amongst the North Carolina foothills, there is this community made of both locals and individuals from vast places. And they’ve settled here, in Burke County! It’s astonishing to me that these people have carved out a life for themselves, one where they share both their stories and their cuisine freely. As my dearest friends remarked, who would think?
These stories, foodways, and people inspire me. I feel profoundly privileged to be a part of this community. And as for my friends, well, that’s a work in progress, so I’ll patiently wait until they decide to embrace the unicorn.
Christiane Burkins is a local foodie and part-time food writer. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of food and culture through history and human connection. To read more, visit her blog at www.eating-myway-thru.com, or email her at clburkins.emwt@gmail.com.
