Red Rice
Cooking rice for an annual special occasion, Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Ruth Thorpe was born in Harlem in 1932 the daughter of a Savanna, Georgia born mother. Thorpe had a vivid memories of her mother’s Savannah red rice, okra, and tomatoes on Christmas day. Roy Miller was born in Harlem in 1924. He said, my Caribbean born aunts made a red rice dish on Christmas too. My research shows that indeed red rice dishes in the Americas is an adaptation of a similar dish made all over West Africa called Jollof rice.
