Student club Carolina Eats combines a love of food with writing

Whipping up crispy pig ears and experimenting with “liver mush,” students in Carolina Eats aren’t afraid of taking risks with their food.

“We’re not like Rachael Ray,” said Carolina Eats founder and senior Alex Dixon.

Dixon began the club, which focuses on food and culinary writing, a year ago with a few friends to unite people sharing a passion for eating.

“We were a rag-tag group of people,” said sophomore Sami Jackson, a writer on Carolina Eats’s blog who has watched the organization develop over the past few semesters.

The club’s meetings started as informal opportunities for friends to gather. One year later, Carolina Eats now includes students of all years and majors who seek a creative outlet to unwind and talk about what everyone loves most — food.

The group approaches food from all angles to capture the whole dining experience, and produces essays, blog posts and videos focused on the artistic aspects of cuisine. Their latest video post, “Cook Like a Matriarch,” shows the group’s edgy tone and avant-garde style.

“It’s about the love of food and the culture that comes with it,” said creative editor and sophomore Abby Reimer. “When you think of foodie-like organizations, it’s a lot of quinoa and organic options. But I think there’s a space for food that’s original and fun.”

The members come from a variety of backgrounds — for some, food and cooking have been an interest since childhood, while for others it’s a new discovery. As part of this exploration, the group recently traveled through South Carolina and Georgia to explore old-fashioned Southern cooking.

Jackson said the trip taught her about the diverse — and sometimes strange — dishes in Southern barbecue restaurants.

“Once you get deeper into rural, traditional food culture, everything is valuable and is reflected in cuisine, like using all parts of an animal,” she said. “Although all these foods seem weird, you have to connect it to culture.”

Searching for this cultural connection unearthed a recipe for yam vodka, inspired experiments with leftover pig ears and introduced the group to the sensation of liver mush. The club is always on the hunt for its next interesting investigation.

Carolina Eats has ties with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities as well. Recently, while catering a gala for LAB! Theatre, members created dishes that related to the show’s theme to serve after the performance. They also work closely with TABLE, a local charity, to help with after-school snack programs, canned food drives and fundraising efforts through bake sales.

The group also hosts various food-themed parties, which are open to students looking to change up their diets, and offer a unique opportunity to enjoy a home-cooked dinner while meeting new people.

Jackson said the group hopes to become an authority on food for the UNC community. They’re also hoping to increase campus awareness with a print publication to encourage UNC students to delve deeper into the world of food and be adventurous with their choices.

“Everyone should try something once,” Jackson said. “It’ll enrich your life — it has mine.”

arts@dailytarheel.com