A North Carolina tradition is heading beyond the breakfast biscuit this month as 11 restaurants from the mountains to the coast take part in Country Ham Restaurant Week, October 15-25.
Each restaurant pairs a chef with a country ham producer to build special dishes around the salt-cured, slow-aged staple of Southern kitchens. The menus go well past the familiar: country ham carbonara, tortellini in country ham broth, croquettas, tartines, and shrimp and grits.
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler called the week “a great opportunity to celebrate that history” while showing how a new generation of chefs is putting the ingredient to creative use.
Participating restaurants and dishes include:
- Ashten’s Restaurant & Bar, Southern Pines: seared foie gras toast with country ham, green tomato chutney and smoked trout roe, made with Goodnight Brothers Country Ham
- Beaufort Grocery Co., Beaufort: several dishes with Broadbent’s Country Hams, including chicken saltimbocca and a Carolina Benedict
- Cast Iron Kitchen, Wilmington: a country ham “prosciutto” and bone marrow board with Sugar Grove Country Hams
- Figulina, Raleigh: country ham carbonara with fresh mafaldine and Lady Edison Pork
- Nanas, Durham: gnocchi fritto with pepper jelly and Westwater Country Ham
- Poole’s Diner, Raleigh: an autumn tartine with pickled kumquat and Tripp Country Hams
- Rada, Charlotte: country ham croquettas with sauce gribiche, also using Tripp Country Hams
- Reid’s Cafe & Catering, Sugar Mountain: tortellini in country ham brodo, made with Goodnight Brothers Country Ham
- The Hackney, Washington: North Carolina shrimp and grits with Penn Country Hams
- Voyce Bistro, Wilmington: sweet corn carbonara with country ham and Lady Edison Pork
- Whiskey Kitchen, Raleigh: a country ham biscuit soaked in bourbon and sorghum molasses, with Penn Country Hams
Sam Suchoff, president of the National Country Ham Association and owner of Lady Edison Pork and The Pig Restaurant in Chapel Hill, said the appeal of the week is watching chefs make a food with a long history feel new, while introducing its flavor to younger diners.
The week coincides with the return of the N.C. State Fair Country Ham Competition after a 27-year absence. Sponsored by the N.C. Farm Bureau, judging begins at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 15, in Dorton Arena. Curing and cooking demonstrations will follow at the fair, including October 15 in Dorton Arena and October 19 in Heritage Circle, in cooperation with Goodnight Brothers Country Ham. A downloadable Country Ham Trail will point fairgoers to vendors serving country ham dishes.
Country Ham Restaurant Week is supported by the National Country Ham Association, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Got to Be NC program, and several country ham producers. The dates match the 2026 N.C. State Fair, which runs October 15-25.
