Flavor, NC

In this episode we head out on the waters of Brunswick County with fisherman Wayne Thompson on the Miss Taylee to learn the secrets to shrimping. Then host Lisa Prince meets up with Chef Leslie Gause of the Inlet View Bar and Grill in Shallotte to whip up amazing shrimp recipes.

North Carolina’s State Fair has been celebrating the best of our agricultural heritage for well over a hundred and fifty years. Not only that, our State Fair is the largest in the entire country. In this episode we celebrate all things ag related at the State Fair – including award winning state fair recipes with host Lisa Prince.

We’re off to the wheat fields of Moore County and Carter Farms to see just what goes in to growing great wheat – the most important building block of our most fundamental of foods. Then host Lisa Prince rolls up her sleeves and gets a lesson bread baking 101 - and French pronunciation - from renowned master baker Lionel Vatinet of LaFarm Bakery in Cary.

What happens when the bottom falls out of the business at a turf farm? You grow Asparagus instead! We’re off to Currituck County to learn just how asparagus grows – we guarantee it’s the most unusual field crop we’ve shown you yet. Then it’s into the kitchen at the Dragonfly Inn in Corolla where Chef Evan Hayes of Island Thyme Catering unlocks the secrets to amazing asparagus recipes.

You might not think of truffles as a North Carolina product …but these days you would be wrong. That’s right, that most French of the funguses is gaining ground here in the Tar Heel state! We’re heading to Stokes County on a truffle hunt and then into the kitchen at Josephine’s Bistro in Greensboro for some mouthwatering recipes featuring this exotic ingredient.

What do you get when you take two musicians with a passion for gardening and a desire for new careers? You get J&B Herb Farms in Person County that’s what. We’re hitting the herb farm learn about the exotic and the everyday in the world of herbs, then host Lisa Prince meets up with Chef Joseph Fasy of Tony’s Oyster Bar in Cary to learn how to use herbs creatively in some mouthwatering dishes.

We’re heading for the hills in search of a fish that swam with the dinosaurs when host Lisa Prince drops in for a visit at Atlantic Caviar and Sturgeon in Caldwell County’s Happy Valley. Then it’s on to Boone and a visit with Chef Sam Ratchford at Vidalia for a lesson making redneck sushi – among other things!

Lots of NC farmers are turning from tobacco to tomatoes, corn, beans and a whole world of fruits and vegetables. In this episode host Lisa Prince heads to Franklin County to visit Vollmer Farms and sample their pick your own blackberry operation. Then it’s into the kitchen with Chef Trey Cleveland of Top of the Hill Restaurant in Chapel Hill for a lesson in inventive blackberry recipes.

They say the military marches on its stomach, and if so, then the forces stationed in NC are marching strong! We’re off to Wayne County to see how our two biggest industries – agriculture and the military are working together to help tar heel farmers. Then it’s into the mess hall to get a taste of what our Marines favorite dishes. Trust us, this ain’t your daddy’s mess hall anymore!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Flavor, NC… The sharp fragrance of a fresh cut North Carolina Christmas tree, the warm glow of beeswax candles, the nighttime twinkle of boats decked out in holiday finery. Blend these with the sweet scent of treats warm from the oven, the joy of the festive table rich with goodness, and you have the ingredients for holiday magic in Flavor, NC. “The holidays in Flavor, NC” is set to the moving and inspirational original music and arrangements from North Carolina’s own Bill Leslie whose “Scotland: Grace of the Wild” CD was recently named World Radio Album of the year. So join us as we celebrate “The Holidays in Flavor, NC”.

You can’t get more southern than country sausage, especially when it’s sausage made from a secret family recipe. We’re off to Greensboro to see how one North Carolina family is keeping their sausage making heritage growing strong. Then host Lisa Prince learns some of the Neese family’s favorite recipes. Sausage: …it’s not just for breakfast anymore!