Sunburst Trout in the News
Trout Hash from Chef Fleer of Canyon Kitchen and Garden in Gun Magazine
WLOS News 13s Dirty Jobs Segment aired February 23rd 2012
Flavor, NC! Sunburst Trout Farms Episode October 15th, 2011
UNC-TV Entrepreneurs in Haywood County Segment aired February 28th, 2011
Watch the full episode. See more NC Now.
Chef Mark Rosenstein promoting Slow-Food and Sunburst Trout
March 4th, 2011
Slow-Food Cooking with Asheville's Chef Mark Rosenstein: MyFoxATLANTA.com
Sally Eason’s eyes moisten as she tells the story, and it’s hard to discern what bothers her most—the event itself or that anyone could be so calculatingly cruel “It destroyed everything,” she says, recalling flames that lit up the sky like an untimely sunrise.
Many people in western North Carolina would be surprised to know that they live within miles of an internationally acclaimed trout farm. Yet many of those same people have, more than likely, enjoyed products from this farm at local restaurants. Sunburst Trout, nestled at the foot of Shining Rock Wilderness, is a small, family-run company that has earned positive attention around the nation and the world. Their success is built on a philosophy of high quality products and vigilant environmental stewardship that makes them, despite their international reputation, a business firmly grounded in local responsibility.
Perseverance, ingenuity pay off for trout farmers
By Becky Johnson
... Today, Eason is one of the top trout producers on the East Coast. She has been on the Food Network, spoken at chef’s conferences in New York City, been featured in numerous food magazines and is a considered a connoisseur in one of the hottest new specialty food markets — trout caviar. Her trout has gained national accolades in eco-circles due to her use of feed that has no antibiotics, no hormones and no meat by-products.
Sally Eason | Sunburst Trout Company - Canton, NC
Written by Allen Katz of Slow Food NYC
Nestled in the lush hills of The Blue Ridge Mountains, where you're more likely to think of good old-fashioned barbecue than fresh seafood, the Sunburst Trout Company is at the forefront of sustainable caviar production.
Jacque Pepin Visit, Season 2 Episode 6
September 2004
World renowned chef, Jacque Pepin visited Sunburst Trout Co. and filmed an episode of the PBS show Chefs A Field. Pepin featured Sunburst Trout in preparing poached trout with a shallot, mushroom, white wine reduction. Pepin then paired a potato cake topped with Sunbursts Red Trout Caviar.
" Chefs are really starting to pay attention to where food comes from, how pure it is, and whether it is harvested in a sustainable manner."
Season 2 Episode 6
Chefs are really starting to pay attention to where food comes from, how pure it is, and whether it is harvested in a sustainable manner.
Fishy fire cannot keep Sunburst from shining
March, 2007
Last August, fire destroyed Sunburst Trout Co.’s fish-processing plant. When the smoke cleared, owner Sally Eason found about 75% of the Canton company’s trout caviar, nearly 700 pounds, had been stolen.
Lobster Trap and Sunburst Trout Farm Raise Nearly $1,000 for Eliada
June 2007
ASHEVILLE – June 2007 – Lobster Trap chef Tres Hundertmark recently presented a check in the amount of $930 to Eliada Homes for Children. Monies were raised through the first annual Eliada Trout Rodeo, sponsored by Sunburst Trout Farm and The Lobster Trap restaurant.
Fishing For Gold
US Airways Attaché -February 2004
FROM A MOUND of fish guts, Sally Eason has plucked a sack of gold. Every afternoon, workers at her Sunburst Trout Company carefully push bright-orange eggs from the skeins that hold them in the bellies of female trout. The roe is rinsed and rinsed again, mixed with salt and a pinch of sugar, then packed in jars and given the glamorous label: caviar.
Low-Cost Luxury
Good Housekeeping -Janurary 2004
Even discriminating chefs are now choosing American caviar: Da Rosario's sevruga-like steel-gray paddlefish roe, Sunburst Trout Company's rich-tasting bright orange Carolina Rainbow Trout caviar, and Browne Trading Company's tiny mild Golden Whitefish roe. At specialty food stores.
Caviar Dreams
Bon Appétit -December 2003
Caviar used to be only for the wealthy or for those with an uncle in Russia. Now some affordable domestic versions are winning over connoisseurs and are perfect for holiday entertaining.
The REAL Cold Mountain
In theaters December 25, 2003
Based on Charles Frazier's best-selling Civil War novel of the same name, Cold Mountain tells the story of Inman (Jude Law), a wounded confederate soldier who is on a perilous journey home to his mountain community, hoping to reunite with his pre-war sweetheart, Ada (Nicole Kidman).
Sunburst Trout, located in the shadow of Cold Mountain, uses water directly from the famed mountain. Like the Inman family for years before us, we are proud to call Cold Mountain home.
Specialty Food Magazine -November/December 2003
To give the paddlefish the requisite cachet his three-star-restaurant diners expect, Moonen supplemented it with two other outstanding varieties and billed it as a caviar sampler. "I found an amazing product that, when tasted with my eyes closed, had the same flavor profile as a great osetra." Moonen remembers. "It was rainbow trout roe from Sunburst Farms, and it just blew me away." For the third component of the sampler, Moonen chose white sturgeon caviar, and the dish became a hit with his sophisticated clientele. " I now use American caviar exclusively and will continue to do so. The quality is excellent, and it's sustainable," Moonen says.
Renowned Chef to Visit Local Trout Farm for New PBS Series
CANTON - Jacques Pepin, one of the world's best-known chefs will be in Western North Carolina Thursday. Pepin will drop by Sunburst Trout Farm in Canton to film a segment of his new PBS show "Chefs Afield."
afishianado
Subscriber Profiles - From Farm to Table
afishianado -Winter 2003 This regular column is devoted to you, our subscribers. Seafood Choices recently sat down with two individuals who connect environmental issues from land to sea, and from farm to table. Sally Eason is the owner of the Sunburst Trout Company in Canton, North Carolina.
The Rosengarten Report -David Rosengarten
WNYC -December, 2002
Food guru David Rosengarten joins Rick Moonen, chef of the "sea-chic" restaurant RM, for a caviar taste test. Read the Rosengarten Report to learn more about the best tasting caviar.
Roe Rage -Richard Nalley
Forbes - November, 2002
Back in the 1920s, the Petrossian brothers, refugees from the Russian Revolution, had two problems in trying to introduce Caspian Sea caviar to skeptical Parisians. One was how to induce potential customers to sample a spoonful; the other was how to clean the oriental carpets after they had spit it out.
CAVIAR Born In The U.S.A. -Bret Begun
Newsweek -August 26, 2002
If the Beluga sturgeon ends up on endangered-species lists, the United States may soon ban imports of Beluga caviar--the creature's coveted, costly eggs. To compensate, American-grown varieties have proliferated.
Do Good While Eating Well -James Rodewald
Gourmet -Spring 2002
Caviar is synonymous with luxury, but it may soon be associated with extinction rather than excess. The most prized caviar comes from Caspian Sea sturgeon, but the species is under pressure from pollution, habitat loss, and over fishing. Your caviar dreams don't have to be an environmental nightmare, however.
That’s why (US) caviar is my dish - Barbara Durr
Financial Times - July 6 - July 7, 2002
Few things are so evocative of luxury and privilege as caviar. Like Dom Perignon or truffles, caviar has long been the prerogative of wealthy and refined palates. But the delight of feeling the slightly briny eggs of Caspian Sea sturgeon burst on the tongue is becoming a guilty pleasure.
Good Eggs - Laura Stanley Wine Spectator - Dec. 31, 2001 - Jan. 15, 2002
In between the two dark caviars on the sampler plate (the sturgeon is jet black, the paddlefish dark gray) is vivid orange roe of rainbow trout, from the Sunburst Trout Company of Canton, N.C. At just $16.50 for a 2-ounce jar, this is the best value of the three, with a bright, briny flavor that is balanced enough to enjoy alone- although its better on a toast point, since it's still no beluga.
