You might say that Carolina Sausage Dip kicks like a mule

One of the likely contenders this year in the contest to select “The Coolest Thing Made in North Carolina” has a bit of a hot kick to it. Open a container of Big Delicious Brand Carolina Sausage Dip and savor the aroma. 

Slather some on a tortilla chip, and there you have it. A snacking good treat, worthy of any football game-watching get-together…in any weather.

 

Big Delicious Brand is the name of the small business created in 2016 by Jim Millican Jr. of Raleigh. He’s become a local celebrity, having won the 2021 QVC “Big Find Contest.” He appeared on the QVC (Quality Value Convenience) network’s television show with host David Venable. 

Venable, who was born and raised in Charlotte, pitched the Carolina Sausage Dip product for having an ample quantity of eastern North Carolina pork sausage as well as cream cheese, tomatoes, chili peppers, onions and special seasonings.

 

Millican, a graduate of North Carolina State University, learned the fine art of “kitchening” from his father, while growing up in Greensboro. 

He said his father, Jim Sr., who owned a construction company, was nicknamed “Mule.” And Mule cooked with passion. “Use the best ingredients,” he lectured. “Keep it simple. Except, that is, with the flavor. He was all about blitzing the taste buds with big, delicious flavor.” 

Jim Jr. said he strives to “make hearty good food in small batches – so you don’t have to.”

 

He graduated from North Carolina State University in 1983 and became a banker. He also worked for a time in medical sales, before finding a niche in the food industry. 

Complimentary Big Delicious Brand products include Original Hot ’Cue Dip and Pineapple & Country Ham Spread. All are available in the frozen food section  within specialty food markets from Atlanta, Ga., to Richmond, Va. 

Millican suggests that consumers allow Big Delicious Brand products to thaw gradually in the refrigerator, but it’s also perfectly all right to pop them into a microwave oven to defrost. 

The barbecue dip highlights pit-cooked pork barbecue from the central region of North Carolina, he said, with a “fantastic vinegar-based barbecue sauce” that has a little heat to it “but won’t scald your taste buds. And we throw in some sweet shoepeg corn to round it out and keep you craving more.”

The pineapple and country ham spread “puts a new spin on an old Southern thing, the best-flavored country ham from western North Carolina. We've added the unexpected to the familiar. Besides, country ham is the new bacon.” 

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Millican pivoted the Big Delicious Brand and started shipping the frozen dips directly to consumers nationwide. 

Millican said: “I’m inspired by the heritage of the down-to-earth, hardworking, and genuine people who make the South such a wonderful place to live. I live here and love our culture, the people, and the land. From the get-go, my charge has been to create food with a distinct Southern tone and flair.” 

Big Delicious Brand Carolina Sausage Dip was named the blue ribbon award winner in the deli/dairy category of the 2021 product competition sanctioned by the The North Carolina Specialty Foods Association, based in Raleigh.

 

Lauren Kruchten of Raleigh magazine summed it up: “Winner-winner dippin’ dinner?” 

Among the readers to comment was Sam Myers, who wrote: “Big Delicious’ Carolina Sausage Dip truly is a brand-new basic food group. It’s perfect for topping twice-baked potatoes or corn meal fritters.” 

The deadline for nominations in the contest to find “the coolest thing made in North Carolina” is Aug. 19. Go to coolestthingmadeinnc.com.