Celebrating a Carolina Heirloom

A South Carolina rice variety called Carolina Gold stars in Hoppin’ John Risotto, a side dish for …

A South Carolina rice variety called Carolina Gold stars in Hoppin’ John Risotto, a side dish for Pan-Roasted Mahi-Mahi with Sweet Shrimp at Mimosa Grill in Charlotte, N.C. Historically, Carolina Gold was the centerpiece of a South Carolina rice industry that thrived until the upheavals of the Civil War. Today, local growers are reviving it as an heirloom crop.

“It’s a nutty, aromatic rice with enough starch to get creamy when you cook it slowly,” says Mimosa Grill’s executive chef Tom Condron. “And like a good risotto, it retains a nice bite.”

For the Hoppin’ John Risotto, Condron sweats a mirepoix of vegetables in butter, coats the rice well, and gradually ladles in white wine and chicken stock until the rice is tender but slightly firm. As a finishing touch, he folds in fresh black-eyed peas.

“It’s a side dish that people talk about all evening,” says Condron. “The same proteins are available everywhere, so it’s the accompaniments that make the difference.”