Not chicken and dumplings. NC chicken pastry uses flat noodle-like pastry strips — a distinctly North Carolinian dish that shows up at every family gathering and church dinner.
Chicken pastry is the cold-weather dish of Black North Carolina families. It shows up at homecomings, funerals, and winter family reunions. It is not a restaurant food — you find it in church fellowship halls and grandmothers' kitchens.
Bone-in chicken simmered for the broth releases collagen peptides associated with joint health and gut lining integrity. The dish's fat content is moderate when made with a whole chicken and the fat skimmed from the broth.
Whole chicken simmered in water with onion, celery, and bay leaf until fall-off-the-bone tender — 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove chicken, skim fat from broth. Roll out pastry dough thin (like pasta), cut into 1-inch-wide strips, drop into simmering broth. Simmer 20 minutes.
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