Edible North Carolina is a love song to the State. From the mountains to the off shore islands, from working farms to cities, from Native Americans to the earliest settlers to the newest immigrants, editor Marcie Cohen Ferris provides “A Journey across a State of Flavor”. Told in the words of regional chefs, the book provides a look at North Carolina’s history and the people and foods that shaped it. Each section has an essay by a local chef followed by a recipe. This is not a cookbook. With Baxter Miller’s beautiful photographs as illustrations, this is the story of how North Carolina’s foods reflect its history. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, University of North Carolina Press, Marcie Cohen Ferris and K.C. Hysmith for this ARC.

This is a lovely collection of essays and history about North Carolina food, its history and the issues surrounding all of this. I really appreciated the focus on issues like social justice, the environment, slavery, poverty and so on related to the food, and the essays were by a diverse group of people who are helping to champion the best about NC food. It's really a deep dive and goes into things like how the Covid shut-downs affected restaurants, how big ag affects what's grown, and other crucial issues of our day. I wish there were more recipes but I highly recommend it for those who want to meet some of the amazing people involved in the North Carolina food scene.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.