USA Rice Federation supported a seminar and workshop last month for chefs, managers and trainee chefs from across the Edinburgh region of Scotland.

The workshop was held at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, which has been established for 25 years. Around 25 catering managers, chefs and trainee chefs attended the seminar, which was conducted by Steve Brown, resident chef tutor.

Brown served his apprenticeship at the Savoy Hotel in London and went on to work and establish restaurants in France and Germany, before returning to his native Scotland to pass his skills on to the next generation.

Brown demonstrated six recipes using American Long Grain and Wild Rice. These included Pumpkin Soup, Southern Cakes ‘n’ Coleslaw and Wild Rice Blinis.

Tim Bates, the USA Rice Federation spokesman in the UK, was on hand to answer questions regarding the origin and benefits of U.S. rice and talked about the availability of U.S rice in the UK.

The chefs were apparently interested in the versatility of U.S. long grain rice and how it could be used in a variety of recipes including risottos, and desserts.