The Comeback Of A Historical Rice

One of the greatest contributions to American cuisine is the African gift of rice. Many varieties were brought over and some, unfortunately, have been bred out of existence. Now a missing strain has resurfaced, connecting us to our culinary past and the African-American experience.

Kim Severson wrote an interesting piece, on the long lost strain on hill rice. It was an informative read for home chefs and historian alike , in today's New York Times Food section. The rice had been thought to be long gone here in the southern coastal states however was found thriving in Trinidad. How it got there is a course in early American history It is descended from Japonica rice that first came from Southeast Asia to West Africa sometime between the 16th and
 18th centuries. It was brought here with the enslaved to the Carolina colonies. Thomas Jefferson was even a fan of this plump , colorful grain. By World War I, the rice had all but disappeared, thanks to cheaper variations coming out and the Great Migration where millions of African-Americans left the South for the more tolerant North. Hill rice, also known as upland red bearded rice and and Moruga Hill rice was found again in a small section on  the Caribbean island off the Venezuelan coast. B.J. Dennis, a chef specializing in Gullah cuisine.was stunned to find the long lost breed thriving.

Chef Dennis had heard about it through the culinary organization Slow Food USA and the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, the group that brought back another lost strain, Carolina Gold, in the early 2000's. He was in Trinidad, walking past a field of unusually colored rice when it hit him. Here was the rice long thought gone.How it got to the tropical island is another chapter in American history.It starts with the War of 1812 when British soldiers promised both land and freedom to  a small group of West African slaves if they would fight against their masters. They did and were rewarded with sixteen acres of undeveloped land in the southernmost part of Trinidad. They were called Merikans, the Creole rendering of Americans. The missing piece would be further confirmed by Trinidadian ethnobotanist, Francis Morean,a descendant of those freed slaves.Once found , it caught the attention of Glenn Roberts, founder of Anson Mills who grows artesanal rice and corm, including the famed Carolina Gold. He had eighty pounds of it shipped to the states. Chef Edouardo Jordan has tried it.It's a dry rice, better paired with a chutney or an okra stew.The Trinidadians cook it in coconut water until it becomes starchy. It's then covered with a chutney made from benne seeds, shadow benne, a green, garlic and birds-eye peppers. Hill rice will sure to be a hit with foodies and chefs throughout the country.

Hill rice is on the rise. This lost breed will be coming back in a big way. It will definitely be on tables around the US as it was 200 years ago.