Are you sure it wasn’t the Carolina brand that sells a “Carolina Gold” that is NOT the real thing?

I’ve had the real Carolina Gold (my parents get it— I’ll have to ask them where/how), and it’s definitely the best rice I’ve ever had (and I eat a lot of rice / all kinds).

His link includes a discussion of Anson Mills which is the best source of the real thing.

(Yes, Carolina-brand "Carolina Gold" is not the same thing and not great).

As a UK resident, reading Anson Mills description of their rice products and how they taste, and what you can do with them is really quite bewildering - 'They can also be prepared in the creamy grits style and all the way to congee, if pressed, or as crisp skillet cakes, both savory and sweet.'

I cook with a range of rices depending on what i'm doing - Arbori, Carnaroli, Basmati and Bomba, but rarely with what I consider an american long grain.

I'll try and track down some of this Carolina Gold and see what I can do with it. Any suggestions for a recipe that shows it off (not knowing what a skillet cake is, for example)?

Anson Mills has their own recipe page [1]. I also buy their polenta and stone cut oatmeal, for which I follow this recipe [2] (though I find my preferred done ness is after ~12 minutes not 20 -- especially when "fresh" from cold storage in the freezer as they recommend).

[1] https://ansonmills.com/recipes

[2] https://ansonmills.com/recipes/422?recipes_by=grain

Marsh Hen Mill (until recently known as Geechie Boy) is an excellent source from Edisto Island, with even better grits. https://marshhenmill.com/

As a southerner, this sounds pretty good:

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/carolina-gold-pilau-shri...

I've made this recipe a few times but never had the proper rice. It's very tasty with jasmine rice, if a little gummy and too watery. Might just be my culinary skill with cook-in-place rice recipes.

https://honest-food.net/lowcountry-shrimp-perloo-recipe/

If you don’t already, consider washing your rice first. I’ve found that to help with gumminess.

Thanks for the tip, I will next time.

Carolina Gold is more of a medium grain. The Anson Mills recipes are quite good and worth a try.

Ah, my bad for not looking thanks

The best rice I have had had been Koshihikari[1]. I have never had Carolina Gold, branded or otherwise. How would you compare the two if possible?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshihikari

Is that like calrose rice (eg Nishiki and similar brands?).. ?

Same. I think Carolina Gold is massively overrated, and definitely overpriced. There are thousands of articles hyping the stuff, which makes me curious seeing as Anson Mills seems like a small outfit.

I agree. I was in South Carolina last week and had Carolina gold rice twice- once in a seafood purloo and again in a broiled seafood combo. Had the menus not made a point of noting it was real Carolina gold I don’t think I would have paid any attention to the rice at all. Since they did I made sure to pay attention and I noticed no flavor difference at all. It might have had a different texture, I can’t be sure. End result is this rice means nothing to me.

I had good fresh rice in far northeastern China, and man, it ruined other rice for me, somewhat.

Heilongjiang, Jilin, etc. It's just... better.

Ah now my mouth is unconsciously salivating. Not worth a 28 day quarantine though.