Podcast Summary: "Local Chef JJ Johnson on 'The Simple Art of Rice'"

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart, WNYC
Date: November 23, 2023
Guest: Chef JJ Johnson
Topic: Exploring rice’s cultural, culinary, and historical significance through Chef Johnson’s new cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice.

Overview

This episode features acclaimed chef and restaurateur JJ Johnson, whose cookbook The Simple Art of Rice celebrates rice as both daily food and cultural touchstone. Chef JJ shares personal stories, practical cooking wisdom, and deeper historical context—revealing rice as a global connector that ties families and societies together. The episode weaves in listener calls, highlighting rice’s varied meanings from India to Iran to the American South, and offers actionable kitchen tips for cooks of all levels.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal & Cultural Roots of Rice

• Chef JJ’s Family Traditions
  • Raised with his grandmother’s Puerto Rican rice dishes like asopao (soupy rice) and arroz con gandules, Chef JJ describes family debates about which rice dish would grace the table each week (02:37).
  • Notable quote:

    "She would make a big pot on the stove... and they would drink it out of a coffee cup... it connected us all, it kept us all going."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 02:37)

• From Professional Disconnection to Rediscovery
  • Early in his culinary career, Chef JJ mostly cooked European dishes, feeling rice was unworthy of fine dining—until a trip to Ghana rekindled pride in his family’s cuisine (04:03).
  • Notable quote:

    "I started to look down on my own culture. And then when I went to Ghana, I was like, hold on, this food is delicious. Oh, it's my Bibi Iris kitchen."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 04:03)

2. The Global and Historical Journey of Rice

• Origins and Migrations
  • Two “yellow brick roads” of rice: Grown and shipped from West Africa before seeds made their way to China, shifting the world’s rice associations (05:11).
  • Encourages listeners to remember rice’s prominence in West Africa, the Caribbean, and South America.
  • Notable quote:

    "When we think about rice, the first place that comes to mind is Asia. But... your mind should be going to West Africa, the Caribbean, South America."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 05:11)

• West African Jollof Rice & Its Debates
  • Chef JJ cooks Ghanaian jollof but highlights Liberian jollof in his book, noting its similarities to jambalaya and its “all-in-one-pot” style (08:35-10:03).
  • Notable quote:

    "I don't really try to stay out the Nigerian, Ghanaian jollof wars... In Simple Art of Rice, I wanted to highlight... Liberian jollof rice."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 08:56)

3. Heirloom Varieties: “Grandma Grains”

• Defining & Sourcing
  • “Grandma grains” are heirloom/heritage rice varieties: Carolina Gold (USA), Basmati (India), Pilgrim’s Rice (Italy), etc. Chef JJ compares thoughtful rice selection to coffee connoisseurship (10:28-12:18).
  • Emphasizes shopping local and supporting smaller farms, noting surprising rice producers in NJ and upstate NY.
  • Notable quote:

    "Carolina Gold rice is the grandma grain of America. That is America's rice... Basmati rice is the mother grain of India."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 11:16)

4. Historical & Social Significance: Enslaved Labor and American Agriculture

• Listeners share stories
  • Caller Ann (16:01) recounts oral history of enslaved women bringing rice seeds hidden in braids to the American South, underlining their role in establishing U.S. rice culture.
  • Chef JJ affirms “Black culture is hymns and whispers” and relates how red rice (connected to West Africa) was renamed by Thomas Jefferson for acceptance (17:20).
  • Notable quote:

    "Where the people went, the rice followed. We know they didn't go there because they wanted to, but the rice grains came with them."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 17:20)

• Shift in Rice Farming
  • After emancipation, Black farmers were denied land, stopping the original art of rice growing and leading to more industrialized, less sustainable practices (13:43-14:30).

5. Rice in Everyday Life and Multicultural Households

• Callers highlight...
  • Indian devotional and temple rice dishes (Poliogrey, 06:42)
  • Iranian father who insisted on eating all dishes—Italian, French—over basmati, not pasta (15:05)

6. Rice Cooking Wisdom and Kitchen Tips

• The Finger Trick
  • Chef JJ’s method: Level rice in pot, touch top with third finger, add water to the first knuckle. Cook undisturbed then salt/fluff after cooking (20:13-21:39).
  • Notable quote:

    "I don't want anybody to follow a two-to-one ratio anymore... Pour the liquid to the first knuckle."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 20:17)

• Flavor Absorption & Flexibility
  • Rice absorbs whatever flavors you cook it with—cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, lamb fat, pistachio, dates (21:50–22:03).
  • Encourages experimentation once confident with rice basics:

    "Once you get comfortable cooking rice, then you realize you could just do whatever you want."
    (Chef JJ Johnson, 23:26)

7. Health & Sustainability: Arsenic and Environment

• Arsenic in Rice
  • Chef JJ clarifies that arsenic naturally occurs in soil worldwide; the real concern is excessive exposure. He urges listeners to source from trusted farmers, wash rice well, and pressure Big Agriculture for better practices (18:34-20:02).

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On family arguments over rice dishes:

  “It was like a debate between the week. I could hear my great great aunts arguing about it... Everybody was trying to put in their two cents.” (JJ Johnson, 02:37)

• On rice as comfort:

  "It made us feel very comforting at the table, even for myself as a little kid." (JJ Johnson, 03:45)

• On the lost art of rice farming after emancipation:

  "Enslaved people were the ones growing rice... When enslaved people were free, they just wanted the land, and nobody wanted to give them the land. And they stopped growing rice." (JJ Johnson, 13:44)

• On cultural knowledge and oral tradition:

  "Black culture is hymns and whispers, right? So you just heard it, you just heard it, right?" (JJ Johnson, 17:20)

• On rice’s versatility:

  "Rice is my Swiss Army knife. I can cook many dishes." (JJ Johnson, 14:32)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:37] JJ Johnson on “asopao” and rice-centered family traditions
• [04:03] Discovering culinary heritage through travel in Ghana
• [05:11] The dual origins and migrations of rice
• [08:35] The jollof rice debate and Liberian jollof
• [10:28] Defining and sourcing “grandma grains” (heirloom rices)
• [13:43] Lost art of rice farming post-slavery
• [15:05] Iranian immigrant family: All meals served with rice
• [16:01] Call-in on enslaved women bringing rice seeds to America
• [18:34] Arsenic in rice: Fact vs. myth and sourcing
• [20:13] The finger trick for perfect rice
• [21:50] Cinnamon spiced lamb rice and flavor-absorbing rice varieties

Conclusion

Chef JJ Johnson’s conversation with Alison Stewart paints rice as much more than a pantry staple. It is an expression of ancestry, migration, community, and creativity—continually reinvented and reinterpreted. The episode offers fresh culinary inspiration, deep historical insights, and tangible cooking guidance, while honoring rice’s unique role at the heart of countless family tables.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking the episode’s essence, cultural context, and practical know-how, with clear attributions and timestamps for further exploration.