Mind of a Chef

Rice

This episode is all about rice and its essential role in Southern cuisine. Sean visits Anson Mills, where Glenn Roberts is blazing a trail to reintroduce the world to the Carolina Rice Kitchen. Carolina Gold rice was once the primary crop in South Carolina and sought-after worldwide. With animation and archival images, a timeline highlights how the Civil War, as well as changes in the agricultural economy, caused Carolina Gold to all but disappear. Glenn is the reason for its resurrection and Sean is its biggest champion. In the fields at Anson Mills, Sean and Glen prepare an Appalachian classic, pilaf. In Louisiana, Chef Donald Link makes jambalaya. And in Nashville, Sean makes Hoppin' John fritters. All of these dishes link to a trip to Senegal where Chef Fati Ly makes the pilau from which all of these rice dishes derive.