We’re zonkers for North Carolina’s Sonker Trail

Putters Patio and Grill, Dobson

I thought I knew everything about Southern cooking, especially those unique dishes found nowhere else. Imagine my surprise to find sonkers in Surry County of North Carolina, a dessert dating back to the 1800s that’s similar to a cobbler. 

But then, it's not. 

The story has it that sonkers originated after a harvest, with North Carolina residents mixing fruit that had lost its ripeness with sweet ingredients such as sugar or molasses, then mixing it with flour to make a sort-of pie.

No two sonkers are alike. Some feature a crunchy top, while others look akin to a pot pie. Some resemble fruit swimming in a sweet soup topped by ice cream with dough pieces mixed in while others more like a custard.

Miss Angel's Heavenly Pies

Those differences are why there is a Surry Sonker Trail throughout the county. There are seven stops on the trail, all offering different versions of the North Carolina dessert, and we tried to sample sonkers at each one. For instance, Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies in Mount Airy creates hers with seasonal fruit in small rectangular containers, then drizzles this doughy goodness with a moonshine-kissed glaze. If you want to kick this up a notch, add her special moonshine ice cream on top.

The featured stops along the Sonker Trail are: 

• Rockford General Store in the village of Rockford; 
• The Living Room Coffeehouse in Pilot Mountain; 
• Putters Patio & Grill at Shelton's Vineyards in Dobson; 
• Roxxi & Lulu’s Bakery in Elkin; 
• Southern On Main in Elkin; 
• Old North State Winery in Mount Airy (which is haunted; read about the ghost at Haunted Deep South Blog) and 
• Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies in Mount Airy.

 Want a Sonker Trail map? Call (800) 948-0949 or go online here.

Here are a few we sampled:

Southern On Main, Elkin

Down Home Restaurant, Mount Airy

Old North State Winery, Mount Airy

The Living Room Coffeehouse in Pilot Mountain

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by travel writer and author Chere Coen who loves a strange and unique Southern place, tradition or food. She's planning on going back to Surry County and hitting up the sonkers she missed.

 

It's nuts! Squirrel Cook Off this Saturday in Bentonville

I’m a city girl, having grown up in New Orleans. When I moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in the fifth grade we lived on the outskirts of the city in a quaint suburb called Middletown. My best friend, Valerie Brown, introduced me to many things — and I won’t admit most of them here — but one was her father hunting squirrel. I’ll never forget visiting her home one afternoon with a delicious aroma emanating from the kitchen and what looked like a plate piled high with fried chicken on the kitchen table. My mouth watered at the sight and smell — until I found out what it was.

 

Squirrel.

Now that I’m a food and travel writer I regret never sampling her father’s fried squirrel, but I was a shy pre-teen entering the culinary world. I have since sampled some pretty unusual things traveling the world but squirrel has never been one of them.

Don’t you be shy this weekend. The World Champion Squirrel Cook Off takes place in Bentonville, Ark., and includes more than tree rodents being fried up and served (I couldn’t help myself because yes, technically, that’s what they are.) There will be all kinds of dishes prepared with squirrel, including gumbo, tamales, pizza, sushi, empanadas, tacos and burgers. Take about creativity!

The fun happens from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, at the new 8th Street Market south of the square. It’s free and, according to event organizers, offers other food items, live music and Habit Outdoors apparel selling samples starting at 8 a.m. 

Here’s the 4-1-1: Joe Wilson founded the event in 2012, a strong supporter of natural, sustainable food such as squirrel, as well as hunting traditions. According to organizers, “although it’s built for fun and squirrel humor runs rampant, the event has a few simple rules.” They require two- and three-person teams to prepare their squirrel and a side dish — everything cooked on-site— for the judges, with all entries containing 80 percent squirrel. Presentation, taste, tenderness and texture are important aspects of judging.

As organizers say, “That’s it in a nutshell.”

Chere Coen is a travel and food writer who loves unusual places to visit and all kinds of great things to eat — even squirrel.