Rice

Appears in

Published 1985

About

Now hopping-john was F. Jasmine’s very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose when she was in her coffin, to make certain there was no mistake; for if a breath of life was left in her, she would sit up and eat, but if she smelled the hopping-john, and did not stir, then they could just nail down the coffin and be certain she was truly dead.

Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding

Once, when one ordered the finest rice obtainable, Carolina Gold, the pride of Charleston and Savannah, was the only answer. It was the preferred rice of England and the Continent; it was demanded by Oriental princes. Today, ironically, the grain sold as Carolina rice is likely to be grown in Louisiana and Arkansas. Both political and natural history helped end the east coast domination of the crop; by the early twentieth century rice belonged to the Mississippi valley.