BCCC goes ‘whole hog’ with enrichment classes
Published 10:50 pm Monday, December 4, 2017
- BREAD-UCATION: A recent course in bread-making was offered through Beaufort County Community College’s continuing education program. A new season starts up after the holidays — this one with a few unique opportunities to learn some eastern North Carolina cooking traditions. (Beaufort County Community College)
Beaufort County Community College is upping its continuing education offerings with a new class: whole hog barbecue.
The class comes courtesy of members of the Pinetown Volunteer Fire Department, who are known for their biannual barbecue fundraisers. The course will take place at the Pinetown department on two days in February, and it’s the first continuing ed class of its kind.
“It’s a never-before-offered opportunity,” said BCCC public relations coordinator Attila Nemecz. “If you’ve been (to the fundraisers), you know how delicious a charcoal-cooked pig can be. … They know what they’re doing and have been doing it well for years, and they’ve opened up the opportunity for people to come learn it from them.”
Nemecz said for those who did not grow up in the tradition, learning how to cook a whole hog is “a hard thing to wrap your head around.” But with the assistance of the Pinetown department, who will go over the basics on a Thursday evening, then get down to cooking on a Saturday morning, people will be able to learn onsite from a crew of people well-versed in the process.
“That’s kind of an awesome once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Nemecz said.
The whole hog class is just one of a slew of classes geared toward those seeking to expand their interests and experiences. Classes such as small engine repair — which is back on the schedule for spring — as well as variety of culinary classes, have drawn a loyal following, he said.
Happy BOCO New Year! is another class lined up for Jan. 18. From instructor William Cherry, students will learn to make a traditional eastern North Carolina New Year’s meal: collards with corned backbone, black-eyed peas and rice, cornmeal dumplings, roasted local sweet potatoes and banana pudding. In farm-to-table style, Cherry brings to the table collards he’s grown, along with a backbone he’s cured from Acre Station Meat Farm.
Nemecz said these classes could make a great stocking stuffer for coming holiday.
“The classes come after Christmas, so if people want to do it as a present, it would be ideal for that,” he said.
Other opportunities planned for the spring semester range from T-shirt quilting to yeast bread-baking; DSLR photography to concealed-carry handgun training. The new catalog of continuing education programs can be found at www2.beaufortccc.edu/schedule/2018-spring-ce-schedule.pdf. The print version will also be available this week, Nemecz said. Call 252-940-6375 for more information.