Food

Strawberry shortcake means different things to different people. A tender, split biscuit layered with sugar-macerated berries and fluffy whipped cream is recognized as the traditional version. But they come in many varieties.

Our food writer Liz Biro takes a loving, personal look at the cast-iron frying pan, a mainstay of any Southern kitchen.

Cooks on the N.C. coast traditionally add cornmeal dumplings to collard greens but the tasty dollops can also be used to stretch seafood soups, stews and chowders, even when pinching pennies isn’t necessary.

Tradition has it that eating black-eyed peas on Jan. 1 guarantees a prosperous new year but proper preparation is key with the dish known as “hoppin’ john.”

Christmas is about five weeks away, but our food writer, Liz Biro, can already smell the yeast rolls, called “Loitin’ Rolls” along the Core Sound and the Outer Banks, baking in the oven.

Candied yams is a favorite Southern dish but this noble, historically significant root deserves a more fitting crown than the familiar marshmallow goo.

Introduced to colonists by native Americans, cornbread, a simple staple that varies in preparation from region to region, continues to endure as it evolves.

Shrimp cocktail has been a familiar appetizer since the early 1900s, and while the preparation may be simple, seasoning and presentation can make it unique.

Recipes for this traditional, Southern coastal stew are sure to cause an argument. Is it chicken or pork, opossum or squirrel? Should it be thick or soupy?

The cookbook “A Little Piece of Heaven Since 1857” offers an engaging account of Morehead City’s history and culinary past.