The Rice Paper

The Carolina Gold Rice Foundation is pleased to announce that the Biltmore Estate Wine Company will be providing wines for the event receptions!

The Charleston Museum Reception on Thursday, 18 August from 6-7:30 will feature a Biltmore Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and the Biltmore Estate Chardonnay Sur Lies.

The reception at the Gibbes Museum of Art on Friday, 19 August from 5:15-6:30 will serve Biltmore Estate Wine Company’s Biltmore Estate Pinot Grigio and Biltmore Estate Merlot.

Biltmore Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Suggestions:
Serve With: Beef stew, meatloaf and smoked Gouda
Serving Temp: 58-62°F

Cellar practices:
The juice is fermented in contact with the skins allowing for proper color and flavor development. After fermentation, the wine is pressed and transferred to French or American barrels. After 6-8 months of barrel aging, the wine is blended and bottled.

Description:
Color: Dark red cherry
Nose: Raspberries, cherries and plum
Taste: Soft tannins, medium bodied, round, fruity with vanilla

Biltmore Estate Merlot
Suggestions:
Serve With: Spicy chicken, tuna steak, crawfish and Reblochon cheese
Serving Temp: 58-62°F

Cellar practices:
The juice is fermented with skin contact allowing for proper color and flavor development. After fermentation, the wine is pressed and transferred to stainless steel tanks, French or American barrels. After 6-10 months of barrel aging, the wine is blended and bottled.

Description:
Color: Cherry red
Nose: Combination of fruit, spice, blackberries and vanilla
Taste: Very pleasant, fruity at first with soft tannins, slight woodiness and easy to drink

Biltmore Estate Chardonnay Sur Lies
Suggestions:
Serve With: Seafood, chicken, pasta, and light dishes
Serving Temp: 48 - 50°F

Cellar practices:
Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and wood barrels at a low temperature until fermentation is complete. After fermentation, the wine is stirred to allow for proper contact with the lees. About 10% of this blend has been aged in wood barrels. The wine is than blended and bottled.

Description:
Color: Yellow/green
Nose: Tropical fruit, pineapple, peach, persimmon, and mint
Taste: Fresh and fruity, buttery, smooth wine with a medium body

Biltmore Estate Pinot Grigio
Suggestions:
Serve With: Salmon, seafood, and pasta
Serving Temp: 48 - 50°F

Cellar practices:
Juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks at a low temperature until complete. This wine is then blended and bottled.

Description:
Color: Light yellow straw
Nose: Pears and mint
Taste: Lingering citrus aftertaste, well balanced fruit, good overall mouth feel, crisp and clean

Due to personal circumstances, Karen Hess will be unable to attend the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium to participate in a panel and speak on the “Carolina Rice Kitchen.” Not wanting to lose her valuable input to this event, the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation arranged for John Martin Taylor (Hoppin’ John) to travel to New York for a recorded interview with Mrs. Hess.

In lieu of personal appearances, a video recording of John Martin Taylor interviewing Mrs. Hess will be shown during the Symposium. The interview is just over thirty minutes long and has elicited a good bit of interest from the national culinary community. We appreciate all of the work that both Karen Hess and John Martin Taylor have done in this field and value the opportunity to record their discussion for posterity.

The Carolina Gold Rice Bread Exposition at the Culinary Institute of Charleston will kick off with tastings of Rice Bread made from traditional recipes and discussion of the history and process of baking Rice Bread. Taking part are:

Chef Bernd Gronert of the Culinary Institute of Charleston is a native of Germany, where he was educated. A certified Chef and a certified Master Pastry Chef with additional certifications in the art of sugar work, he started a private school (together with his twin brother) in marzipan, chocolate and sugar design, leading towards the master degree program in pastry arts in Germany. After two years, he accepted a position with Johnson & Wales in the United States and taught pastry arts for ten years at various J&W campuses. Chef Gronert has competed successfully in multiple food shows around the country and has been teaching pastry arts at Trident Technical College (now known as the Culinary Institute of Charleston) for the past 8 years. Aside from teaching, Gronert owns and operates both Rococo Bakery (locations in West Ashley, Summerville, Kiawah, and Florence, SC) and a micro farm where he produces fruits and berries to use in his baking and to sell at the Farmers Markets. As Chef puts it, “Being as single father of a now 14-year-old rounds out my every busy day.”

Chef Kay Rentschler holds a degree in English literature and graduated from Madeleine Kamman’s Professional Chef’s Course in Newton, MA. After working in Boston and New York restaurants and as a test cook for The Ladies Home Journal, Kay moved in 1988 to Berlin, where she worked as a pastry chef for Gaston Lenôtre. In 1994 she returned to the United States to open and operate The Storm Cafe in Middlebury, VT, a small, European-style restaurant. In 1997 she returned to Boston, joining the staff of Cook's Illustrated in 1999, first as test kitchen director and later as food editor. At Cook’s Kay wrote numerous articles and developed recipes for both the magazine and cookbooks. She co-scripted two seasons of the PBS show, America’s Test Kitchen, appearing on-camera in the first season and serving as Culinary Director and executive chef in the second. Since leaving Cook’s Illustrated in 2001, Kay has been a frequent contributor to the New York Times Dining Section. Her articles have also appeared in Gourmet Magazine. Currently she lives on Folly Beach outside Charleston.

Dr. Theodore Rosengarten is a noted scholar of southern history and an award winning author living in McClellenville, SC. Along with consulting for museums, municipalities, public schools, colleges and universities on projects relating to African-American history, environmental studies, and the Holocaust, Rosengarten has taught at the University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has written numerous books and articles, including All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter, and A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life, edited with Dale Rosengarten. In 2003, he wrote the article “Remembrance of Things Past: Rice Breads of the Lowcountry” with Rafael Rosengarten, his son, for Kiawah Island Legends Magazine. Rosengarted received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest honor, in 2002.

Dr. David S. Shields is the McClintock Professor of Southern Letters at the University of South Carolina where he holds dual appointments to the departments of English and History. Active in many scholarly organizations, Shields has published numerous books and articles plus keeps a busy lecture schedule. Dr. Shields is also an aficionado of food—good food. His interest in food has gradually shifted from recreation to a focus on its role in the culture and society of early America, documented in his research and writing. While serving as Executive Director of the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston, he organized Charleston’s first serious conference on food in March 2003. The conference, which mixed scholars with practitioners, was called “Carolina Lowcountry and Caribbean Cuisines.”

Taking part in the Brunch are:
Chef Aaron Seigel, Blossom Café
Chef Robert Dickson, Robert's of Charleston
Chef Ryan Herman, fish restaurant
Chef Keith Clark, Bookstore Café
Chef Lenny LaForgia, The Mustard Seed
Chef John Scoff, Charleston Cooks!
Chef Richard King, Old Village Post House
Chef Ciaran Duffy, Tristan
Chef Chris Thomas, CAKE
Chef Kevin Jordan, Kennedy’s Market and Bakery
Just Fresh Bakery and Café (Palmetto Food Groups)

William Rubel and Glenn Roberts have been busy documenting and creating a recipe for a traditional beverage to be served at the traditional plantation lunch on Friday during the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium. Both an authentic, low-alcohol Ginger Beer—based on recipes in The Carolina Housewife—and a Huguenot recipe for a cold rice drink are under consideration. The latter is a non-alcoholic punch that is related to the Central American/Mexican “Horchata”.

Thursday, August 18, 2005
Rice Bread Exposition at Trident Tech Main Campus

12:00 noon-3:00 pm
Tasting and Discussion of Traditional Rice Breads
Chefs’ Carolina Gold Rice Bread Brunch
Tour of the new Trident Tech Culinary Facility

5:00-6:00 pm
Opening Session, Charleston Museum
Dr. B. Merle Shepard , Acting Chairman of the Board, Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, Welcome
Martha Zierden , “Accoutrement of the Carolina Rice Culture & Introduction to ‘Foodways of the Lowcountry’ Exhibit”
Mannie Berk , “Introduction to Madeira ”

6:00-7:30 pm
Reception , Charleston Museum
Chef’s Tasting of Carolina Rice Kitchen Cuisine
Samples of Madeira & Fine Wine, Specifics TBA
Biltmore Estate Wines will be featured
Casual Viewing of Museum Exhibit “Foodways of the Lowcountry”

Friday, August 19, 2005
Charleston Museum Auditorium

Session 1 9:00-10:30 am
Dr. David S. Shields , “Witnessing the Creation of Carolina Rice Culture, circa 1776”
Dr. Thomas Hargrove , “ The Odyssey of Carolina Gold Rice from Indonesia to Africa and Carolina and on to the Confederados Amazon”
Dr. Richard Schulze , “ Introduction of Carolina Gold Rice 1685, Reintroduction of Carolina Gold Rice at Turnbridge Plantation, Bluffton, South Carolina, 1985”

Session 2 11:00-12:00 noon
Dr. Judith Carney , “ Slave Culture and Heritage—West Africa to Carolina Rice Plantations”
Dr. Richard Porcher , “ Market Preparation of Carolina Gold Rice: Harvesting, Threshing & Milling”

Lunch 12:00 noon-1:30 pm
Carolina Rice Kitchen Hearth Cookery by William Rubel & Brigade

Session 3 1:30-3:00 pm
Dr. Gurdev Khush and Dr. Anna M cClung, “Genetics and Improvement of Carolina Gold Rice”
Campbell Coxe , “Contemporary Rice Production in South Carolina”
John Martin Taylor and Karen Hess, “The Carolina Rice Kitchen-Past & Present”

Session 4 , Keynote Lecture 3:30-4:30 pm
Dr. Bernard L. Herman , “The Architecture of the Carolina Rice Plantation”

Reception , Gibbes Museum of Art 5:15-6:30 pm
Light Reception and Exhibition of Rice & Rice Plantations in Paintings and Graphic Arts
Biltmore Estate Wines will be featured

Saturday, August 20, 2005
Middleton Place Plantation

Session 5 9:00-10:30 am, Pavilion
Charles H. P. Duell , “Welcome & Introduction to the Plantation Landscape of Middleton Place”
Dr. Daniel C. Littlefield , “Carolina Rice & African Know-how”
Dr. Peter Adler , Dr. Merle Shepard, and Bill Wills, “ The Great Duo of Colonial South Carolina : Carolina Gold Rice and Malaria”

Session 6 11:00-11:45 am
Orientation for Tours of Middleton Place
Tracey Todd , “Colonial Interpretive Presentations—Plantation Rice Production”
Clint Noren , “Restoration of Carolina Gold Rice at Middleton Place”
Lunch , Middleton Place, Pavilion 12 noon-1:15 pm
Lowcountry BBQ of rare breeds of rice-fed poultry and pork

Session 7 1:15-3:00 pm
Tours & Interpretation of Middleton Place Rice Fields, Rice Mill, & House Museum
Stableyards Crafts Demonstration
Carriage Rides on Middleton Grounds

Session 8 3:30-4:30 pm
Lake House at Middleton Inn
Dr. Joe Kelley , “ Plant Succession in South Carolina Tidal Former Rice Fields: Ecological and Human Use Indications”
Glenn Roberts , “ Sustainable Restoration of Historic Ricelands—an 18th Century Solution for 21st Century Carolina Gold Rice”
Dr. Merle Shepard , Conference Closing

*The program committee has slightly shifted some session times to allow participants to have each evening free in order to take advantage of the wonderful dining opportunities offered in Charleston.

As featured in our last newsletter, an exciting group of dynamic and well-known rice authorities will be on hand and making presentations at the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium in August 2005. Care has been taken to supply a range of academic, culinary, and agricultural comment on the subject. The invited scholars include persons from the fields of genetics, history, ecology, art history, cultural history, medicine, literature, and botany. Several persons currently involved in the cultivation of rice will comment on the pragmatics and economics of rice culture. While attention is paid to the role of rice in its southern area of cultivation, the African heritage of such cultivation, and the subsequent trade and dissemination of Carolina Rice varieties along the Atlantic shipping routes to the Gulf coast, islands, and South America will receive attention. In addition to those speakers featured in the last installment of The Rice Paper, the following experts will also take part in the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium:

Manny Berk will give an “Introduction to Madeira ” prior to a sampling of a rare Madeira at the Symposium Opening Reception at the Charleston Museum . Berk, who f ounded The Rare Wine Co. of Sonoma, CA in 1989, is one of America 's most respected wine merchants. He is known for sourcing impeccably cellared examples of the world's greatest and most sought-after wines.

Martha Zierden will speak briefly on the “Accoutrement of the Carolina Rice Culture” and offer an introduction to the ‘Foodways of the Lowcountry,’ an exhibit on display at the Charleston Museum that she curated with Elizabeth Reitz of the University of Georgia . Zierden is the Curator of Archaeology for the Charleston Museum and has written extensively on her research throughout the Lowcountry.

Dr. Daniel C. Littlefield will present “Carolina Rice & African Know-how.” Dr. Littlefield is a Carolina Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and wrote the well-respected Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina and Revolutionary Citizens: African Americans, 1776–1804 . He is also the editor of a new edition of The South Carolina Rice Plantation as Revealed in the Papers of Robert F. W. Allston .

William Rubel, who will prepare lunch for the Friday session of the Symposium from an open hearth, is a cook and author specializing in traditional cooking methods and a collector of antique and modern culinary utensils. His widely respected 2003 book, The Magic of Fire , was nominated for a James Beard Award and received the Gourmand World Cookbook Award of France.

Dr. Joe Kelley will speak about “ Plant Succession in South Carolina Tidal Former Rice Fields: Ecological and Human Use Indications.” Kelley is a Professor of Biology at the Citadel in Charleston. His research interests center on the analysis of vegetation patterns and modeling of succession in tidal impoundments. Some of the methods and tools he employs include GPS, the analysis of aerial photography using image analysis software, GIS, and various types of modeling. His long range goal is to provide a scientific foundation for succession related tidal impoundment management policy.

Charles H. P. Duell, Tracey Todd, and Clint Noren, of Middleton Place will team up to introduce Symposium participants to the landscape of Middleton Place Plantation, including the demonstration crop of Carolina Gold Rice and their efforts to interpret colonial plantation rice production for the visiting public. Duell is president of the Middleton Place Foundation; a 50l(c)(3) educational trust that owns the Gardens, House Museum and Plantation Stableyards at Middleton Place , a National Historic Landmark. Duell serves as a Trustee for the American Classical Homes Preservation Trust and is a Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Todd is the Vice President of Museums at Middleton Place and has played an important role in developing a broader understanding of the family lives and the work environment of the enslaved Africans on the plantation—as well as finding ways to share that information with the public.

Noren is the Stableyard Interpretation Coordinator at Middleton Place and has been “hands-on” with their demonstration crop of Carolina Gold Rice, gaining some practical experience in traditional planting techniques.

Campbell Coxe will discuss “Contemporary Rice Production in South Carolina.” Coxe is owner of Carolina Plantation Rice and is a self-described “farmer.” He began growing Della variety, an aromatic rice, on his plantation near Darlington , SC on the Pee Dee River in 1997, reintroducing the idea of commercially producing rice on a colonial plantation. He mills his own rice and is currently exploring options to utilize all of the by-products of the milling process. Carolina Plantation Rice is the only colonial plantation to still offer rice commercially in the Carolinas .

Glenn Roberts will discuss “ Sustainable Restoration of Historic Ricelands—an 18th Century Solution for 21st Century Carolina Gold Rice.” Roberts is a food concept historian specializing in matching period architecture in adaptive reuse preservation projects to upscale menus inspired by historic cuisine and ingredients, including the use of regional organic small farm heirloom ingredients in menu development. He founded ANSON MILLS in 1998 where he is everything from international accounts representative, miller, and seedsman to farmer in order to ensure high quality and authenticity for clients desiring sustainably grown, authentically produced, certified organic heirloom wheat, corn and rice products. Roberts has lectured on historic southern foodways at a number of institutions and worked as a media consultant on that subject for a variety of news and entertainment organizations.

Dr. Richard Schulze will offer his personal journey in “ Introduction of Carolina Gold Rice 1685, Reintroduction of Carolina Gold Rice at Turnbridge Plantation, Bluffton, South Carolina, 1985.” Schulze, an eye surgeon at Schulze Eye & Surgery Center in Savannah , has been growing Carolina Gold Rice at his Turnbridge Plantation since 1986 and has become an avid historian of the Lowcountry region and Carolina Gold Rice production.

On February 17, friends and members of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation (CGRF) gathered in the auditorium of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston for the CGRFs first public information event. About 75 people from the local community attended the Roundtable, which was sponsored by the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College.

Dr. David Shields from the University of South Carolina moderated a discussion that featured local rice historians, growers, and enthusiasts. The panel included the CGRF Board of Directors, several participants of the upcoming Carolina Gold Rice Symposium, and special guest Robert Weatherton of the Texas Rice Improvement Association.

The staff and students of the Culinary and Hospitality Division at Trident Technical College created innovative refreshments of rice cakes, rice pudding, and sushi featuring Carolina Gold Rice.
Mary Ellen Battistelli is a current student in culinary arts and is vice-president of the Hospitality and Culinary Student Organization. She won the 2005 state Governor’s Award for Outstanding Hospitality Student for Trident Technical College and is a leader in Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor organization for two-year colleges. Her interest and leadership within the program is evidenced by her volunteering for the roundtable along with many other community efforts. In the recent Night in the Valley dinner event by the culinary students, Mary Ellen was one of the student chef leaders for food preparation. The rice cakes were one of her responsibilities for that dinner and she prepared the rice cakes for the Roundtable sampling. For both events, she used Carolina Gold Rice donated by Anson Mills.

Lois Oden is a 2004 graduate of Trident Technical College . She earned both the Culinary Arts Technology Degree and the Hospitality and Tourism Management degree. She was the 2004 Governor’s Award winner for Trident Technical College and is very active in many of the community outreach programs through the Culinary and Hospitality Division. Each semester Lois works with the Charleston History course to provide culinary samplings of traditional Lowcountry foods and is often a featured speaker to demonstrate culinary skills for school groups. Lois prepared the traditional rice pudding for the Roundtable tasting.

The sushi was prepared by students in garde manger classes who discovered that Carolina Gold Rice does not work as well in sushi as the traditional sushi rice.

Thank you to Chef Bill Stacks of Trident Tech for contributing this recipe for Carolina Gold Rice Cakes! (See Recipe Section)

The program committee for the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium scheduled for this August (18-20) in Charleston has announced a change to the program. While the official opening session of the Symposium will still take place on Thursday afternoon at the Charleston Museum , followed by a reception featuring some of Charleston ’s finest chefs, an additional Rice Bread Exposition will be held Thursday from noon until 3pm at the main campus of Trident Technical College in North Charleston . The Exposition will replace the previously announced Rice Bread Competition and will allow all symposium attendees to visit Charleston ’s newest culinary facility and experience a variety of rice breads.

The Rice Bread Exposition will take place in the new culinary facility of the Hospitality and Culinary Division of Trident Tech and feature a tour of the new facility as well as a brunch of special rice dishes prepared by an illustrious group of invited local chefs. In addition, in each of the four kitchens at the facility, attendees will be able to taste a sample of rice bread and hear an explanation of its origin. A group of four renowned culinarians from our area have been invited to make rice bread from selected recipes in The Carolina Rice Kitchen and The Carolina Housewife.

The directors and members of the CGRF are pleased to have been able to assemble a collaborative team of experts who are sharing the task of planning and coordinating next August’s meeting. We appreciate the time, talent, and enthusiasm they have contributed to this project!

Symposium Planning Committee
B. Merle Shepard, Ph.D., Director of Clemson University, Coastal Research and Education Center, Program Chair
Jane M. Aldrich, Carolina Lowcountry & Atlantic World Program, College of Charleston
Campbell Coxe, President, Carolina Plantation Rice
Charles H.P. Duell, President, Middleton Place Foundation
Nathalie Dupree, chef, author & television personality
Sydney Frazier, VP Horticulture, Middleton Place Foundation
Max L. Hill, III, The I’On Company
Robert Lukey, Dean of Arts & Sciences, Johnson & Wales University, Charleston
Clint Noren, Stableyards Interpretive Coordinator, Middleton Place Foundation
Annie Panno, Events Manager, Gibbes Museum of Art
Frankie Miller, Ph.D., Dean of Hospitality, Tourism, and Culinary Arts, Trident Technical College, Charleston
Malcolm Rhodes, M.D.
Glenn Roberts, President, Anson Mills
Richard R. Schulze, M.D., Schulze Eye Center, Savannah
Richard Schulze, Jr., M.D., Schulze Eye Center, Savannah
David S. Shields, Ph.D., McClintock Professor of Southern Letters, Departments of English and History, University of South Carolina
Marion Sullivan, food editor of Charleston Magazine
John Martin Taylor, food historian and author
Tracey Todd, VP Preservation and Interpretation, Middleton Place Foundation
Martha Zierden, Director of Archaeology, Charleston Museum

We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of those individuals who have offered their assistance as needed, particularly:

Sue Braund, Middleton Place Foundation
Dr. John Brumgardt, Director, Charleston Museum
Ginny DuBose, Clemson University, Coastal Research and Education Center and CGRF webmaster
Elizabeth Fleming, Gibbes Museum of Art
Hal Hanvey, Farm Manager, Clemson University, Coastal Research and Education Center

The Division of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Trident Technical College (TTC) in Charleston, SC is hosting the rice bread cooking competition for the August symposium. In August of 2005, the College will open its new Culinary and Hospitality Training Center to accommodate up to 1200 students, expanding educational opportunities for our region and state in this growing industry.

This new facility for the two-year, associates degree level students will be an impressive addition to culinary interests and industry training. Modern technology, embedded in the training, will be used with one-on-one chef instructor to student attention—the traditional core educational mode for success in this field. Computer labs designated for culinary and hospitality will teach all versions of the most recent software for the industry market.

Students will cook in uniquely designed classroom-kitchen labs while participating in real time filming/broadcasting of their activities. Among the multiple teaching labs will be a broadcast amphitheater for guest chefs. All kitchens include computer stations for data storage of recipes and results.

The current two-year college program at TTC includes an interesting mix of students: those who have just completed high school and are eager to enter the culinary field, students who are searching for a new career field and those pursuing interests after retiring. TTC’s flexible scheduling and availability of classes allow students to take one course at a time or enroll in a full academic schedule. Credit lab classes are limited to 16 students and require that every student accomplish “hands-on” involvement with all culinary learning. In addition to the academic program, the Continuing Education Division offers courses in topics such as “Wine Around the World” and “Handmade Valentine Candies.”

The Culinary Arts curriculum is one of over 150 different program choices at Trident Technical College, a college of three campuses, over 11,700 students and 37,000+ registrations annually in continuing education.

---

by Frankie Miller, Ph.D., is Dean of the Division of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Trident Tech.

Please join us on February 17th, 2005 as the officers of the CGRF and members of the Symposium Planning Committee offer a public Roundtable on Carolina Gold Rice at the College of Charleston. The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program, an inter-disciplinary program at the College, will sponsor the event. The agenda will be a roundtable discussion of the past, present, and future of Carolina Gold Rice and will be free and open to the public.

We look forward to discussing the cultural, economic, and agricultural aspects of this significant heirloom grain with both students and scholars of numerous departments at the College as well as the general public. Our CGRF mission is to broaden the understanding of the grain’s place in shaping our past as well as the awareness of the re-introduction and current production of Carolina Gold Rice in the Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry.

This event will be held at 7pm in the auditorium of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at 125 Bull Street (between Ashley and Gadsden Streets).

The directors and members of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation and the members of the Planning Committee for the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium, scheduled for 18-20 August 2005 in Charleston, SC, are pleased to partner with the following organizations to sponsor that event:

The Agricultural Society of South Carolina
Anson Mills, Charleston & Columbia, SC
The Carolina Lowcountry & Atlantic World Program, College of Charleston
Carolina Plantation Rice, Darlington, SC
The Charleston Museum, Charleston
The Clemson University Coastal Research & Education Center, Charleston
The Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Trident Technical College, Charleston
The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston
Historic Ricefields Association
Johnson & Wales University, Charleston
Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston
The Schulze Eye and Surgery Center, Savannah, GA
The Watson-Brown Foundation, Thomson, GA

An exciting group of dynamic and well-known rice authorities will be on hand and making presentations at the Carolina Gold Rice Symposium in August 2005. Care has been taken to supply a range of academic, culinary, and agricultural comment on the subject. The invited scholars include persons from the fields of genetics, history, ecology, art history, cultural history, medicine, literature, and botany. Several persons currently involved in the cultivation of rice will comment on the pragmatics and economics of rice culture. While attention is paid to the role of rice in its southern area of cultivation, the African heritage of such cultivation, and the subsequent trade and dissemination of Carolina Rice varieties along the Atlantic shipping routes to the Gulf coast, islands, and South America will receive attention. Over the next several newsletters we will highlight many of the prominent speakers who will participate in the Symposium, beginning with:

Dr. Thomas Hargrove will lecture on “The Odyssey of Carolina Gold Rice from Indonesia to Africa and Carolina and on to the Confederados Amazon.” Raised on a cotton farm in West Texas, Hargrove characterizes the focus of his profession life as the Green Revolution—the development and spread of new seeds and agricultural technology to increase food production in developing nations. Along the way he and has lived all over the rice-growing world as a communication specialist with organizations like the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (called CIAT for its Spanish acronym). In 1988, Hargrove received the ACE Professional Award, the highest award for a single agricultural journalist by Agricultural Communicators in Education. He has authored numerous feature articles, scripts, research papers, and three books, including A Dragon Lives Forever, Long March to Freedom, and War and Rice in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

Dr. Gurdev Khush and Dr. Anna McClung will speak on “Genetics and Improvement of Carolina Gold Rice.” Khush, retired after a successful career with the International Rice Research Institute, is one of the world's authorities on crop breeding and a major force behind the development of productive rice varieties and the Green Revolution in plant breeding. Among the honors received by Dr. Khush are the Japan Prize (1987), World Food Prize (1996) and the World Prize for Agriculture (2000). Currently, he lives in California where he continues his work on developing more productive food resources.

McClung is a Research Leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture—Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Rice Research Unit located in Beaumont, Texas at a Texas A&M Research and Extension Center. The USDA-ARS Unit includes scientists in genetics, cereal chemistry, and molecular genetics. She has been responsible for the development of 12 rice cultivars for conventional and specialty markets since joining the Rice Research Unit 13 years ago. More recently the rice

Dr. Judith Carney will speak on “Slave Culture and Heritage—West Africa to Carolina Rice Plantations.” Carney is a Professor of Geography at the University of California in Los Angeles with research interests in the agriculture and ecology of West Africa. She is the author of Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas (Harvard University Press, 2001) for which she received the Melville J. Herskovits Book Award from the African Studies Association in 2002 and the inaugural James M. Blaut Book Award from the Association of American Geographers in 2003.

Dr. Bernard Herman, Director of the Center for Material Culture Studies a the University of Delaware, will lecture on “The Architecture of the Carolina Rice Plantation.” Herman, the Edward F. & Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Art History, teaches courses on traditional architecture, folk and outsider arts, theories of material and visual culture, and historic preservation. He is also a co-founder and senior research fellow in the Center for Historic Architecture and Design at the University of Delaware and a member of the faculty of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. Author of several books, his current book project is Town House, a study of architecture and material life in the early American city written with the support of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and to be published by Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press.

Dr. Peter H. Adler, Dr. B. Merle Shepard, and Bill Wills will collaborate on, “The Great Duo of Colonial South Carolina: Carolina Gold Rice and Malaria.” Adler, who holds a teaching and research appointment in the Department of Entomology Soils and Plant Sciences at Clemson University, researches the behavior, ecology, cytogenetics, and systematics of agriculturally and medically important arthropods. His research of black flies, published as The Black Flies of North America, has improved our ability to manage pest populations of these blood-sucking insects and has been applied in control programs from South Carolina to Europe. Adler recently received the Godley-Snell Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research at Clemson University and has published nearly 150 scientific papers, collaborated on research projects with more than 50 colleagues in 15 countries, and conducted field and laboratory research in 11 countries.

Wills has served as an instructor of Environmental Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, in the Department of Entomology (Soil and Plant Science) at Clemson University, and in the Department of Epidemiology (School of Public Health) at the University of South Carolina. He has written numerous scientific articles and directed public health research projects around the world.

Along with serving as the chairman of the board for the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, Shepard is a professor of Entomology for Clemson University and serves as Director of the Clemson University Coastal Research and Education Center in Charleston. His areas of expertise include integrated pest management and biological control of insects.

Karen Hess and John Martin Taylor will team up to present “The Carolina Rice Kitchen—Past & Present.” Hess, a well-known culinary historian, stirred up the American culinary elite in the 1970s with The Taste of America (co-authored with her husband John, a food critic) by skewering some celebrity chefs and calling for a return to fresh foods cooked well. Once hailed by Newsweek as “the best American cook in Paris,” she has edited several historical cookbooks and is the author of The Carolina Rice Kitchen: The African Connection.

Taylor, known as Hoppin’ John to Lowcountry residents, is well known for his southern culinary expertise. He has authored four cookbooks, including Hoppin’ Johns Lowcountry Cooking, and continues to advocate for traditional, local southern foods prepared in traditional manner. His practical cooking skills, knowledge of culinary history, and personal enthusiasm for his subject have made Taylor a favorite among food chroniclers. He has appeared on a Lowcountry episode of Bobby Flay’s Food Nation, been featured for his she-crab soup on the Food Network’s Food Finds, and filmed with Al Roker at Middleburg Plantation for a Food Network special on African American foodways.

Dr. Richard Porcher will present “Market Preparation of Carolina Gold Rice: Harvesting, Threshing, and Milling.” Porcher, a well-known Lowcountry native, is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the Citadel where he served as Director of the Herbarium. He is an authority on the flora of South Carolina, author of Wildflowers of The Carolina Lowcountry and Lower PeeDee, and a co-author of Lowcountry: The Natural Landscape.

Dr. David S. Shields will present “Witnessing the Creation of Carolina Rice Culture, circa 1776.” Shields is the McClintock Professor of Southern Letters at the University of South Carolina where he holds dual appointment to the departments of English and History. He is editor of Early American Literature and author or editor of a number of works, including Civil Tongues and Polite Letters in British America. Active in many scholarly organizations, Shields has published numerous articles and keeps a busy lecture schedule. His topics often center on the study of Early American Literature, the History of the Book, Southern Studies, the Intellectual History of the Early Modern Atlantic World, or Cultural History and Material Culture Studies. Shields is also an aficionado of food—good food. While serving as Executive Director of the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston he organized Charleston’s first serious conference on food mixing scholars with practitioners, “Carolina Lowcountry and Caribbean Cuisines” (March 2003).

Watch for additional information on prominent speakers who will take part in the Symposium in the spring issue of The Rice Paper.

The Charleston Museum presents an original exhibition entitled the Bountiful Coast: Foodways of the South Carolina Lowcountry. The exhibit opens November 12, 2004 and runs through September 12, 2005. Bountiful Coast explores the foodways and dining customs of the 18th and 19th century Lowcountry and encompasses many facets of the Museum’s collection, including archaeology, decorative arts, natural history, and textiles. Dietary habits to be examined include the procurement of food (hunting, fishing, husbandry, gardening, and marketing), food preparation (cooking and storing), and serving (utensils and appointments, fashion and social customs). The foodways of all social classes are discussed to portray a broad interpretation of the Lowcountry environment during this period.

“The cuisine that developed in the Lowcountry was a blend of European, African, and Native American traditions with foods found in North America” states Museum Archaeologist and Bountiful Coast curator Martha Zierden. “Much of our knowledge on Charleston diet and foodways derives from zooarchaeological research – the study of animal bone recovered from archaeological sites.” Two decades of collaborative research with Elizabeth Reitz, University of Georgia, have revealed new facets of animal husbandry practices and wild resource utilization, by people from varied backgrounds.

For the wealthy, meals were a major form of entertaining. Expensive and elaborate furniture and appointments, as well as carefully prescribed customs, were part of the dining habits of the Lowcountry. Exhibit highlights include place settings and furniture from Lowcountry dining rooms, as well as menus and images from these events. The exhibit also shows utensils and equipment from the kitchens that provided the foods displayed at these formal meals. Artifacts and data from the recent excavations at Charleston’s Beef Market (beneath City Hall) are shown for the first time.

Bountiful Coast is sponsored by Whole Foods Market, South Carolina Seafood Alliance, and the Bank of South Carolina.

The Charleston Museum, founded in 1773, is America’s first museum. For more information on the Charleston Museum or its two National Historic Landmark house museums, the Heyward-Washington House (1772) and Joseph Manigault House (1803), visit them on the web at www.CharlestonMuseum.org

A consortium of academic and private groups under the direction of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation (CGRF) will sponsor a symposium in Charleston, SC, on Rice. This public meeting will explore the biology, history, culinary applications, nutrition, dissemination, agriculture, and cultural influence of Carolina Gold Rice, the staple crop of the Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry, and Carolina White Rice, the southern crop that would become the favored rice of South America. A particular interest of the Symposium will be to explore the recent revival of Carolina Gold agriculture in light of the growing public hunger for foods and foodways that express traditional southern identity.

The Carolina Gold Rice Symposium, August 18-20, 2005, will gather food enthusiasts, chefs, scholars, and makers of traditional and regional foods for panel discussions, keynote lectures, tours of Carolina Gold Rice fields, and a rice bread competition. It will feature elegant events highlighting dishes prepared with Carolina Gold Rice by prominent local chefs and caterers, viewing of local art and material culture exhibits featuring the world of the Carolina Rice Planters, and a Lowcountry BBQ of rare breeds of rice-fed poultry and pork at Middleton Place Plantation.

Some of the speakers and presentations that are currently scheduled for the Symposium:

Dr. Peter Adler, Dr. Merle Shepard, and Bill Wills, “The Great Duo of Colonial South Carolina: Carolina Gold Rice and Malaria”
Dr. Judith Carney, “Slave Culture and Heritage—West Africa to Carolina Rice Plantations”
Campbell Coxe, “Contemporary Rice Production in South Carolina”
Charles H. P. Duell, “Welcome & Introduction to the Plantation Landscape of Middleton Place”
Dr. Thomas Hargrove, “The Odyssey of Carolina Gold Rice from Indonesia to Africa and Carolina and on to the Confederados Amazon”
Dr. Bernard L. Herman, “The Architecture of the Carolina Rice Plantation”
Dr. Joe Kelly, “Plant Succession in South Carolina Tidal Former Rice Fields: Ecological and Human Use Indications”
Dr. Gurdev Khush & Dr. Anna McClung, “Genetics and Improvement of Carolina Gold Rice”
Dr. Daniel C. Littlefield, “Carolina Rice & African Know-how”
Clint Noren, “Restoration of Carolina Gold Rice at Middleton Place”
Dr. Richard Porcher, “Market Preparation of Carolina Gold Rice: Harvesting, Threshing & Milling”
Glenn Roberts, “Sustainable Restoration of Historic Ricelands—an 18th Century Solution for 21st Century Carolina Gold Rice”
Dr. Richard Schulze, “Introduction of Carolina Gold Rice 1685, Reintroduction of Carolina Gold Rice at Turnbridge Plantation, Bluffton, South Carolina, 1985”
Dr. David S. Shields, “Witnessing the Creation of Carolina Rice Culture, circa 1776”
John Martin Taylor & Karen Hess, “The Carolina Rice Kitchen-Past & Present”
Tracey Todd, “Colonial Interpretive Presentations—Plantation Rice Production”

Registration materials for this event will be available soon!

We are pleased that the following organizations have pledged their support in co-sponsorship of this event:
Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston
The Clemson University Coastal Research & Education Center, Charleston
The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston
The Charleston Museum, Charleston
Johnson & Wales University, Charleston
Carolina Lowcountry & Atlantic World Program, College of Charleston
The Agricultural Society of South Carolina