Low-Country Rice Production, Then and Now
June 7, 2017 6:12 PM   Subscribe

Rice is an important ingredient in Southern cooking and part of its identity. All over the Southern lowlands, rice and its production has been vital since the 1700s. The main article discusses the resurgence of old types of rice, how important it used to be, how it was made, and who's making it now. Most of this article is discussing South Carolina rice fields. I've added some information on the rice plantations of North Carolina low country, around Wilmington NC rice in low-country NC
posted by MovableBookLady (13 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
I grew up in Wilmington and have visited many of the old rice plantations in the area, such as Orton over in Brunswick County. Rice was a given in our kitchen and it wasn't until I moved to the mountains that I discovered that rice was way secondary to potatoes. It seemed odd.
posted by MovableBookLady at 6:16 PM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


Half of season 2 of "Mind of a Chef" was Sean Brock talking about rice and southern cooking. I had no idea and found it endlessly interesting. Thanks for posting!
posted by nevercalm at 6:20 PM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


I wish there was some way to tell whether or not US rice in the store was grown on arsenic-laced former cotton plantations.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:01 PM on June 7, 2017


Most of the rice I buy is from CA, being that I live here, so I guess I don't have to worry about Arsenic. Wow. That link is very scary. But the dose makes the poison, and in small amounts arsenic isn't that toxic, so I wouldn't worry too much.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:19 PM on June 7, 2017


"Sarah Rutledge’s “The Carolina Housewife” (1847), published at the height of antebellum rice culture, contains recipes for every meal, including rice crumpets, rice sponge cake, rice waffles, rice flummery, rice blancmange. "

Wow, that is an impressive collection of breakfast rice recipes. Have a look.

"1.13. RICE COOKEES.

One pint of soft boiled rice. Add as much rice [Page 15] flour as will make a batter stiff enough to be made into cakes. Fry them in nice lard. Salt them to taste."

Neat post, thanks!
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:24 PM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]


Fry them in nice lard.

What recipes did they use the funky lard in?
posted by Bruce H. at 10:14 PM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


I recently watched "Samurai 7" again. The driving force behind the plot is rice and rice production. One of the 7 samurai has a unique talent. He can name the village that produced the rice in his soup or onigiri.
posted by Brocktoon at 10:21 PM on June 7, 2017


arsenic-laced former cotton plantations

That study only compared Arkansas against California, though, and it's important to note that arsenic is in all rice due to its water-intensive growing method. California is better but not scot-free.

I did some research on this a while back. California basmati is good. But the best, and as this study notes, rice from India and Pakistan had particularly low (but not nonexistent) arsenic values. I would strictly avoid any from Bangladesh, which has very high natural arsenic levels.

Best practices also include soaking rice overnight (as you would beans) and discarding the water. Also, forget the recent method of putting rice in water and cooking it until the water all evaporates. Intead, cook the rice in twice as much water (4 to 1 intead of 2 to 1) and drain your rice when it's cooked.

I'd love to see some kind of study of arsenic levels in the heirloom rices of the Southeast though.
posted by msalt at 11:18 PM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


This Consumer Reports article offers a lot more information on arsenic in rice, including this:
All types of rice (except sushi and quick cooking) with a label indicating that it’s from Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas or just from the U.S. had the highest levels of inorganic arsenic in our tests. For instance, white rices from California have 38 percent less inorganic arsenic than white rices from other parts of the country.

Brown rice has 80 percent more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type. Arsenic accumulates in the grain’s outer layers, which are removed to make white rice. Brown has more nutrients, though, so you shouldn’t switch entirely to white. Brown basmati from California, India, or Pakistan is the best choice; it has about a third less inorganic arsenic than other brown rices.
They did an earlier article That went into more detail, such as:
...we recently tested more than 200 samples of a host of rice products. They included iconic labels and store brands, organic products and conventional ones; some were aimed at the booming gluten-free market.

The results of our tests were even more troubling in some ways than our findings for juice. In virtually every product tested, we found measurable amounts of total arsenic in its two forms. We found significant levels of inorganic arsenic, which is a carcinogen, in almost every product category, along with organic arsenic, which is less toxic but still of concern. Moreover, the foods we checked are popular staples, eaten by adults and children alike.
There is no standard in the US for allowable levels of arsenic in food.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:45 AM on June 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


forget the recent method of putting rice in water and cooking it until the water all evaporates

Out of curiosity, is this considered a recent method in Southern cooking?

I cook Chinese and Thai at home and the absorption method isn't at all considered recent or trendy, as it's always been the standard method of cooking rice as far as I know (and rice cookers invented in Japan have always been designed to use this method).
posted by andrewesque at 7:52 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


I know nothing about Southern cooking. Grew up in Oregon and that was presented as the current (from 1970s) method here.
posted by msalt at 10:38 AM on June 8, 2017


Read an interesting article in a NC local magazine several years ago.(State Magazine?) From what I remember there are water locks, from as far back as colonial times, still visible in areas that used the tides to let water into the rice fields around Wilmington. The trick was to be far enough down river to avoid salt water but still have the pull of the tide. One of the favored rice varieties was a yellow kind called Carolina Gold.
posted by PJMoore at 1:10 PM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Rats. I was so pleased at having finally gotten to the point where I can make consistently good rice without a rice cooker and without having the saucepan boil over on the stove. Now I'm going to have to figure out how to do it all over again with rinsing and more water and bigger saucepan that won't fit nicely on the burners I use for rice.

Time to try to find a decent fine-mesh strainer that doesn't cost a fortune.
posted by asperity at 11:44 AM on June 12, 2017


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