“Moonshine, deviled eggs, and girl power.”
Chef Katie shows Kelly how she creates one of her signature dishes behind the bar at Nightbell. Still from PBS’ “Original Fare.”
Kelly Cox, host of the PBS series “Original Fare” visited Western North Carolina for a glimpse of the makers and creators that make the area unique. Episode two focuses on “Women Makers” and features Troy Ball, founder of Troy & Sons Moonshine distillery at Asheville Distilling Co., Chef Katie Button and Nightbell, and the Sunburst Trout Company, whose CEO is Sally Eason.
The first part of the episode includes a visit to Troy & Sons, and viewers learn the history of the smooth North Carolina whiskey and see the inner workings of a commercial moonshine operation. Kelly takes part in the mash process at Troy & Sons, using only single-sourced corn.
“It’s like making grits,” laughs Troy.
Guests at both Cúrate and Nightbell can try the moonshine in cocktails or served neat.
The episode continues with Kelly accompanying Chef Katie Button to Sunburst Trout farms in Canton, where local trout is harvested daily for her restaurants.
“This is our local fish,” Katie says, “We’re in the mountains, so this is it.”
Katie dons a hairnet and the duo explores the processing facility and learns from Stephanie, Sunburst’s office manager. She highlights the freshness and quality of the product, which is especially important when it is being served raw at Cúrate.
They then travel to Nightbell in downtown Asheville to get a sneak peek at the creation of one of Katie’s signature dishes, the deviled egg. It’s made with a corn sabayon, corn, hard-boiled egg, house-cured Sunburst gravlax and topped with Sunburst’s hickory-smoked roe – a delightful reimagining of the classic deviled egg.
The “deviled egg” at Nightbell. Photo by Evan Sung.
They also discuss Chef Katie’s role as executive chef for two downtown restaurants and her journey to that position.
Watch the episode for an incredible glimpse into the inner workings of Asheville’s local food scene, with a focus on women who have found success in male-dominated fields.
