Making a mess of molasses

The aroma was pungent as you wandered down the hill. It only grew stronger the closer you got.

It could be only one thing.

The 22nd annual Molasses Festival was in full swing at Sims Country BBQ in Dudley Shoals Saturday.

Large crowds milled about the festival grounds, checking out the food vendors and crafters who were selling their wares.

The star of the show was the area where the molasses was actually being produced, and spectators gathered to watch the process first-hand. One just had to follow the nose to find it.

R.J. Porter, from Rocky Point on the coast of North Carolina, was hard at work stirring the bubbling mixture and skimming foam from the top.

That, he said, is the secret to making good tasting molasses.

"Don't let it scorch and keep it stirred," he said as dumped more foam in the bucket beside him. "You have to keep it skimmed."

Porter has been making the sweet treat at the Molasses Festival for 15 years, and makes the trip from the coast just for the event.

"I just come once a year to help out," he said, never taking his eyes away from the vat. "There's really nothing to it, you just have to watch it."

From the time the molasses is at the boiling stage it takes about five hours before it can be spread on toast, biscuits or flapjacks (pancakes). There is prep work involved before it becomes liquid.

"You have to pick the cane, cut the tops off and remove the skins," he said. "We do all that (on the coast.) Then we come here and put it through the machine and squeeze all the juice out."

The process is similar to making jelly, explained one spectator to another.

"You know when you make jelly you have to skim the top?" she asked her friend. "It's the same thing."

There was more to the Molasses Festival than just the thick, sticky, syrupy treat.

Kids were seen sporting red and green hair, courtesy of the hairpainting booth. There was also face-painting, pony rides and other games for the kids. Most of the adults seemed to spend their time standing in line at the vendor who offered funnel cakes. Meals offered by local funeral homes also seemed to draw a crowd.

Some folks brought lawn chairs and settled in to be entertained by the variety of musical groups, and the Molasses Festival just would not have been complete without several performances by the award-winning Sims Country Cloggers.

Charis Marshall was enjoying the festival with his children, Amanda and Andrew.

"I've been coming out here for years," he said. "I grew up in this area. I've gotten to know Keith Sims. He and my dad used to do things together."

The craft section of the festival offered items ranging from T-shirts to fall flower arrangements, jewelry, pillows and more.

Clarence Gilbert, who worked for the Caldwell County School System for 30 years and retired in 1990, had his first booth at the festival. He offered hand-carved toys, birdhouses, hummingbird feeders and even school desks. Gilbert usually takes his wares to Boone and other surrounding areas.

"I think we're doing pretty good," he said of the day's efforts. "You usually don't do very well when they have music and such."

Children ran and played, dogs sniffed everything they could reach on the end of their leashes, and many just enjoyed watching the people.

Barbara Jones and her sister Lois Hunt were at the festival for the first time with their mother, Jo Sells. The ladies used to make molasses themselves at one time.

Was Porter right about the secret to a successful batch?

"He's right," Jones said. "If you scorch it, it ruins the taste."

Printer Friendly Version

E-mail this story to friend