Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew
This quick-cooking fish stew, with its raft of eggs and no-stir preparation method, is specific to eastern North Carolina. Church fund-raisers and family gatherings center on the stew, where traditionally men would layer chunks of fish with bones and skin, thinly sliced potatoes, onions and spices in a caldron and stand around the fire watching it cook. About five minutes before it was done, someone would crack an egg for each guest into the tomato-rich broth. Eggs were a cheap filler and a way to stretch the stew to provide enough protein for a crowd, along with fish like striped bass or flounder from North Carolina’s Atlantic shore. Vivian Howard, who left New York to open Chef & the Farmer, a restaurant in Kinston, N.C., offers this version for home cooks. The key is not stirring it at all, and watching the heat so the bottom doesn’t scorch. Serve it with a couple of slices of squishy white bread (Sunbeam is traditional), which act as delicious sponges for the broth. Kim Severson
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