Winston-Salem’s culinary roots date back to 1753 with the Moravians first brought their tasty traditions from Eastern Europe. Among the now iconic favorites are the whisper thin Moravian cookies, the timeless Moravian sugar cake and Moravian chicken pies.
Groups visiting Winston-Salem can discover the area’s flavorful foundations as they travel along the Moravian Culinary Trail, which includes a trio of virtual paths, each dishing out healthy servings of intriguing history and samples of the distinct and delicious Moravian cookie, Chicken Pie and Sugar Cake.
The world’s undisputed Moravian cookie capital, Winston-Salem bakes more than a million pounds of cookie dough every year. This simple, yet sophisticated cookie is a worldwide wonder for its incredibly rich flavors packed into an incredibly thin form. A stop at Winkler Bakery in Old Salem showcases a dome bake wood-burning oven operating just as it would have more than 200 years ago in Brother Christian Winkler’s home, today still produces Moravian treats.
Nearby, Mrs. Hanes’ Moravian Cookies features a cookie showroom where lemon, butterscotch, sugar, chocolate, black walnut and the traditional Moravian ginger cookies are made. Watch as their “artists in aprons” hand-roll, hand cut, bake and hand-pack the more than 10 million cookies produced by Mrs. Hanes each year.
Mrs. Hanes continues to be a family run business as Mr. Travis Hanes often provides the guided tours while Mrs. Hanes and their daughter Mona run the day-to day operations. Throughout the year, Dewey’s bakery locations in Winston-Salem are filled with a bevy of Moravian cookies. Then in November and December, like elves, multiple additional Dewey’s locations open across North Carolina, offering an array of Moravian cookies, sugar cakes and oh yes, cheese straws.
Home to the nation’s second largest Moravian community, Winston-Salem boasts many accomplished cooks who have perfected the Moravian Chicken Pie and Moravian Sugar Cake over the past 250 years.
To learn more about all aspects of the Moravian Culinary Trail, go to VisitWinstonSalem.com/MoravianCulinaryTrail or to book a guided tour of the Moravian Culinary Trail contact Kay Calzolari, group tour and services manager, by phone at 336.728.4237 or email Kay@VisitWinstonSalem.com.
