RTH CAROLINA
THE STATE. Vol. XX; No. 39. Entered at *econd-ela*5 mailer. June I. I9J3. al Ihe
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ai Kalelch. North Carolina, under the acl of
March 3, 18*9. Published by Sharpe Publishing Co.. Inc.. lawyers Bldg., Raleigh, N. C. Copyright. 19S3. by Ihe Sharpe Publhhlng Co.. Inc.
Food East, West, Piedmont
“Oh, East is East, and West is
West,” said Kipling, "and never the
twain shall meet.” The poet, of course,
was not speaking of eastern and west¬
ern North Carolina, but he may well
have applied the saying to us because
it's true on some big and important
points and in many little and trivial
ways. Take the matter of food, for
instance — East and West arc quite
different. For proof just ask one of
last June's brides from one section who
married a man from the other. She’ll
tell you it's not just a case of trying
to prepare his food "like mother used
to fix it,” but of having to learn a
whole schedule of regional likes and
dislikes, of ways of cooking, of favor¬
ite dishes, food habits — or eating hab¬
its — that have grown up over several
generations.
Most North Carolina families have
been here for a good many genera-
By WILLIAM S. POWELL
U.N.C. Library
lions, and when we suspect that these
eating habits may be traced back to a
difference in national origin we come
up against a theory that may be diffi¬
cult to prove. In some states the prob¬
lem is simple — the Pennsylvania
Dutch, for example, have retained so
many of their German characteristics
that it's plain to sec why they arc as
we find them today. The same is true
of the Swedes in the Midwest and the
West, the Chinese on the Pacific coast,
and other strong racial groups else¬
where. But here in North Carolina we
have not retained many habits which
mark us as descendants of one par¬
ticular group or another.
Note: Ihe accompanying story origi¬
nally appeared in “American Heri¬
tage” and is reprinted by special
permission
But there arc some differences.
Strong evidence of early English ori¬
gin is easily seen on the Outer Banks,
in Dare and Hyde counties, and else¬
where. Descendants of the Moravians
around Salem retain a good many char¬
acteristics of their ancestors. So do
the so-called Scotch-Irish through the
Piedmont and the Pennsylvania Dutch
who settled in Rowan and Cabarrus
counties. The mountain people, long
isolated, have carried forward many
features of their ancestors. The same
is true to a certain extent in many
other of our counties. Who, once fa¬
miliar with it. can fail to spot the un¬
usual speech of a native of Sampson
County? The Irish who settled in
Duplin, part of which later became
Sampson, have left their mark.
And where, except in family
groups, can evidence so personal as
food likes and dislikes be found? Fam-
