Carolina Gold rice preserved for history

Carolina Gold Rice was accepted into the Slow Food Ark of Taste, a collection of foods with superior taste whose existence is at risk.

Allison Askins

The Carolina Kitchen

aaskins@thestate.com
(803) 771-8614

More good news for South Carolina-grown products.

Carolina Gold rice has been named to the Slow Foods Ark of Taste, joining a lengthy list of premiere food items from around the world that are being preserved by the Slow Foods movement for their culinary heritage and taste.

Slow Foods is a nonprofit gastronomic organization that is committed to the production of healthy, good-tasting food that doesn’t harm the environment. The effort began in the late 1980s as a counter-response to the fast-food culture, which Slow Food members believe is robbing today’s culture of quality food and the joy of gathering at the table for food and fellowship.

The Slow Food Ark of Taste, an extension of this movement, is a collection of foods whose existence is at risk and that represent superior taste. The purpose of the ark is to spotlight and preserve these foods.

The Carolina Gold variety of rice is a perfect example of an ark food because of a rich heritage that dates to the late 1600s and a taste that is valued by culinary experts around the globe. You can purchase the rice at stores such as Rosewood Market & Deli and The Gourmet Shop.

The rice was submitted to Slow Foods for consideration last August by local pastured hog farmer Emile DeFelice. In an unusual move, the rice was accepted into the ark after one vote, which was unanimous, DeFelice said.

“The chefs and Ark of Taste board members were knocked out by the flavor appeal and texture of our rice,” he said.

DeFelice, a former candidate for commissioner of agriculture who ran on a campaign to put more South Carolina-grown foods on our plates, describes the flavor of Carolina Gold as “slightly nutty” with a “floral dimension.”

“Carolina Gold rice is a chord, whereas regular industrial rice is a single note,” DeFelice said.

The rice will be among the foods highlighted at Slow Food’s meeting in San Francisco in September. At the same event, Carolina rice bread will be served, an oral history of Carolina rice farmers will be shared and some of the country’s top chefs will use the rice in cooking demonstrations.

Carolina Gold is the rice that brought South Carolina fame and fortune with the colonial rice culture.

Growers concerned about the grain’s history and flavor have dedicated years of research to preserving the rice and growing it in South Carolina. Those efforts have led to the establishment of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, where research and preservation work is ongoing.

For more about Carolina Gold and where it is grown in South Carolina and elsewhere, visit slow foodusa.org/ark/gold_rice.html.

AND ABOUT THAT SALT

A reader wrote to take me to task for not explaining milligrams of salt in everyday terms in my story last week about cooking without salt.

I stand corrected. Brook Harmon, the nutritionist with the USC’s Healthy Cooking program who worked with me on the story, is helping me out again.

One teaspoon of salt has about 2,300-2,400 milligrams of sodium, or the upper end of our recommended daily allowance. The 1,500 milligrams recommended for people trying to reduce the amount of sodium in their diet is a little less than ¾ of a teaspoon of salt, Harmon said.

I’m sure we would all agree, that’s a lot less salt than most of us consume on a daily basis.

Harmon reminds me that “salt from the saltshaker ... is not the primary reason most people have a high-sodium diet.”

It’s the packaged goods and processed foods that we eat that are the biggest culprit.

And because most of those foods reveal the amount of sodium they contain in milligrams, most nutritionists speak about sodium intake in these terms.

Also, I need to clarify that not all salt-free products are high in potassium. Rather, it’s the salt substitutes that often create this problem for people who must also watch the amount of potassium they take in.

So, watch those processed foods and let herbs do your flavoring.