This Feeds Me Hungry Musings of a Gastronomic Gypsy – NC-based freelance writer Victoria Bouloubasis

Brains, kidneys, intestines: They’re all on the table.

The dark, long road to Shakori, its curves slick with mud, could have been tense. Instead, Yomira’s carefree chat about her work (the years she sang backup for both Ricky Martin and Luis Miguel) and life (her decades spent living in both Mexico and France) gave all severe weather warnings the back seat.

Local Spanish newspaper La Conexión published a photo I took on the front page of their Feb. 27 issue. The accompanying article discusses the attack on DACA-approved youth who, at the time, were being denied their drivers licenses. I took the photo at a rally outside of the NCDOT in January organized by Mayra Torres [...]

It slipped my mind to post this on the site. How could I have forgotten about my day with a former boy-bander turned food personality? Thanks to Chirba Chirba, the Triangle’s official dumpling raid on wheels, I spent some time hanging out with the Chirba crew and Joey while he filmed for his new show, [...]

One hundred and three farmworkers were interviewed last year for a report released in September by OxFam America and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). The report, “A state of fear: Human rights abuses in North Carolina’s tobacco industry,” brings an adamant argument to the table that human rights abuses exist in NC’s top industry. The [...]

A bread bakery and coffee shop quietly opened last month at 503 W. Rosemary St. in Chapel Hill. Like a sourdough starter that requires time to bubble and flourish, Bread and Butter is rising with the demand for fresh, artisan, locally baked bread in town. Had a great time chatting with George Chen about his new [...]

Pomp, swank, glitz and gourmet. Here’s my First Bite take on Babylon, Raleigh’s new Moroccan restaurant, for the Independent Weekly. Be sure to flip through the gorgeous slideshow by D.L. Anderson. I had this to say about the olives: “The cured, green-and-black Mediterranean super fruits crinkle into a salty pucker on my lips, leaving me [...]

“You can taste the love.” This week’s Now Serving is all about the monthly Hillsborough Arts Council Pie Competition. Sign up by Wednesday for this Friday’s contest; the theme is ice box pie. Or just linger around Cup A Joe till the judging is over and snag a homemade slice for $3. All proceeds benefit the [...]

If you can handle goaty, throw on an apron, click the link below and whip up this hardcore recipe. Don’t be a sissy.

This week’s Now Serving column details events and agricultural workshops that give you a chance to participate in (literal) ground breaking as our local food movement evolves. Ever wanted to learn how to start a community garden, keep bees and chickens, plant potatoes or picnic with a baby goat? Read the column and dig in.

A couple of published news pieces today. Have you checked out the Sunday brunch at Motorco Music Hall? Free live music, bacon Bloody Marys and KoKyu BBQ sliders. I’ve dubbed it Sunday Slurp and Slide. Check out my Indy Big Bite post about it here. In this week’s Now Serving, The Mecca adds late-night hours, [...]

” I ended up spending the most time with the goats, and I’ve enjoyed just about every minute of it. I took them day in, day out for a week and also got to milk them. Walking with the goats in the valley afforded me a little peace, or something. I thought the time with the goats was very peaceful.”

Constantly smiling with eyes wide open, Rosana has a keen understanding of her surroundings in a way that makes her seem completely at ease wherever her wanderlust takes her.

This is the first in a series I’ve dubbed “Why we WWOOF”, profiling volunteers I met while farming at Casa do Burro. WWOOFers can be a strange breed. I presume I only have a handful of close friends who would summon their inner Kerouac to skip town for a while; even less who would plunge head first into outdoor labor, working in exchange for a mostly vegetarian meal plan and stiff, rural, caravan accommodations. Personally, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I’d rather explore my senses heaped over a sizzling pan, my fingertips spontaneously picking up spices at the whim of my big, fat, Greek nose. You can’t do that with baking. And ramekins are for baking.

Oh, was I wrong.