The Heritage Table: How Chicken and Pastry Got to North Carolina

For the Love of Broth, Dough, and the Deep Flavor of Viking Salt

An exploration for medieval enthusiasts and modern cooks alike

Introduction: A Dish With Two Feet in History

If you’ve ever savored a bowl of chicken and pastry, you know its magic lies in its simplicity: tender chicken, rich broth, and soft ribbons of handmade dough. In Eastern North Carolina, this dish is more than tradition—it’s family, memory, and pride. But for those with a passion for medieval cooking, there’s an even deeper delight: chicken and pastry didn’t originate here. It traveled across centuries, cultures, and kitchens.

Today, we set the table for both the medieval and modern cook—tracing the roots of this beloved Southern dish and offering recipes that honor its past and celebrate its present. We'll even share how Viking Salt, one of Oak City Spice Blends’ signature seasonings, brings the old-world flavor full circle.

A Journey Through Time: From Castles to Cabins

In the Middle Ages, meat stews were a staple across Europe. Poultry was often boiled with herbs, thickened with bread or flour, and paired with what the English called paste—thin dough made of flour and water.

Let’s look at a few important historical waypoints:

England, c. 1430 – “Henne in Bokenade”

Source: Harleian MS. 4016

Roast a hen, chop it, and boil it in broth and wine with spices like cloves and mace. Thicken with bread and vinegar. Season with cinnamon and pepper.

No dumplings yet—but here, bread thickens the broth, hinting at what's to come.

England, 1670 – “To Make a Dish of Chicken in Paste”

Source: The Queen-Like Closet by Hannah Woolley

“Take a chicken… stew it… then take your paste made of flour and water, roll it thin and cut it in long pieces; when your chicken is almost stewed, put in your paste…”

This is our first documented chicken with slick pastry—rolled, cut, and stewed in the pot. Sound familiar, Carolina?

Colonial America, 1796 – “Chicken Dumplings”

Source: American Cookery by Amelia Simmons

Boil fowl in water with onion and salt. Make a dough with suet or butter, roll and cut. Drop into the pot and cover.

These are early American strip dumplings—simple, hearty, and deeply Southern by the time the recipe took root in North Carolina kitchens.

How North Carolina Made It Its Own

In the 1700s and 1800s, English, Scottish, and German settlers arrived in the Carolina colonies, bringing with them the food traditions of their homelands. Among them were stews, dumplings, and rolled doughs—adapted to local ingredients and climate.

In Johnston, Wayne, and Sampson Counties, chicken pastry became a staple:

• Made from scratch with lard, flour, and salt

• Rolled thin and cut into ribbons

• Cooked in the same pot as a whole stewed chicken

By the 20th century, chicken and pastry was not just common—it was sacred. Served at funerals, reunions, holidays, and after church on Sundays, it became a dish of Southern hospitality and memory.

The Viking Connection: A Nod to the Old World

Here’s where the old meets the new.

Oak City Spice Blends created Viking Salt to honor the bold, elemental flavors of early Northern European cooking: smoke, fire, earth, and brine. When we added Viking Salt to our family chicken pastry recipe, something remarkable happened—it tasted ancient and familiar all at once.

The blend contains:

• Smoked Sea Salt (evoking the fire pits of Viking longhouses)

• Black Pepper (once so prized it was called “black gold”)

• Onion (a staple from medieval kitchens to modern ones)

• Turmeric (for warmth, color, and depth)

Viking Salt Chicken & Pastry – Recipe

Serves: 6 | Cook Time: 2.5 hoursTraditional Eastern NC technique + Viking edge

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (3–4 lbs), cut in parts

• 1 onion, quartered

• 2 celery stalks

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 Tbsp Viking Salt (plus more to taste)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp salt

• ⅓ cup shortening or butter

• ½ cup cold water

Steps:

1. Simmer chicken with onion, celery, bay, and Viking Salt for 1.5–2 hours. Strain broth. Shred chicken.

2. Mix flour, salt, and shortening. Add water and knead into dough. Roll thin. Cut into 1x3” strips.

3. Drop pastry into boiling broth. Simmer 25 minutes until tender. Add chicken back in. Adjust seasoning.

Bonus: Make It Medieval – Try These Historical Versions

Henne in Bokenade” (c. 1430) – Adapted

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken

• 4 cups broth + 1 cup red or white wine

• 1 slice of bread, crumbled

• Spices: cloves, cinnamon, mace, black pepper, vinegar

Steps:

1. Roast or boil chicken in wine + broth with spices.

2. Thicken with bread crumbs and vinegar.

3. Serve over thick rustic bread or pastry “sippets.”

“Chicken in Paste” (1670) – Adapted

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, stewed in water with onion

• Dough of flour + water, rolled and cut

• Butter, salt, pepper

Steps:

1. Simmer chicken until tender.

2. Drop thin-cut dough into broth. Boil 15–20 min.

3. Add butter and pepper to finish. Serve hot.

A Dish Shared Across Civilizations

From German Knödel to Hungarian nokedli, French poule au pot to Chinese wonton soup, nearly every culture has a version of stewed meat + dough.

What makes North Carolina’s version unique is the name “pastry”, the slick-style dough, and the deep community tradition behind it.

The Heritage Table, Reimagined

To medieval cooks: You’ve likely made the ancestors of this dish—using paste, poultry, and pot.

To modern Southern cooks: You’re part of a legacy that spans centuries.

To both: Let chicken and pastry remind us that food is more than sustenance. It’s heritage, and when you season it with Viking Salt, it becomes a story worth retelling.