Mundi Grano (The World’s Grain)

A tip the pot lid to Oryza Sativa – Asian rice, first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin between 8,200 and 13,500 years ago.

Quite simply, rice is the world's food. Sixty percent of the world's population obtains its major nutrition from rice. While more corn is produced than rice, annually, most corn is processed into other inedible products, like ethanol, or animal fodder. Most rice is consumed by humans, whole. One source says that 725 million metric tons of rice is consumed annually. At 7,000 grains of rice per pound … that's a bunch of rice.

Rice is a cultural staple in nearly every ethnicity, culture, or distinguishable group on Earth. But, that's a subject for the next post. Here are a few exceptions. In the Americas, rice was introduced by European and Asian immigrants and explorers. There is no history of any relative of rice among the pre-Columbian civilizations. Aztec, Toltec, Maya, and Inca cultures were maize or corn based. Their main crops were maize (corn), beans (think pinto, etc.) and squash. Only in one ancient indigenous culture in Minnesota was a grass-like similar grain cultivated: Mannomi, an ancestor of wild rice. And wild rice is not rice. Also, the Inuit, commonly referred to as Eskimos, have no agriculture at all, subsisting on sea-based proteins, seal, walrus, whale, fish, and, perhaps, an occasional Polar Bear, before contact with European and Asian cultures brought them plant-based additions to their diet.

Now, let's see how much more information you can absorb about rice. There are two primary strains, Japonica and Indica. Japonica is grown in the high-altitude or temperate regions of China, Japan, and Korea. Much of the Japonica consumed in the U.S. is grown in California. It includes CalRose, the most popular variety, Arborio (think Risotto), Koshihikari (think Sushi), and Bomba (think Paella). Notable for its texture, it sticks together in moist clumps, or in the case of risotto or paella, offers up extra starch to make its own creamy sauce. (Source: The Wok, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.)

Indica, cultivated in the tropical and subtropical lowlands like India, Southeast Asia, and the American South, includes Basmati, Jasmine, American Long Grain (Carolina Gold), and Black Rice. Indica varieties tend to cook up in individual grains, with a loose fluffier texture. (Source: Op Cit)

Here's a fun fact for you. In the cuisine of countries where Japonica varieties are favored, the rice tends to be consumed with chopsticks. In the cuisines that favor Indica, like India, Southeast Asia, the U.S., and the middle east, the rice is typically eaten with forks, spoons, or fingers.

Varieties and types are not interchangeable. They cook differently, require different amounts of liquid and time to cook, yielding vastly different products with different and distinct textures and flavors. Any attempt to produce risotto with Basmati rice will result in a culinary epic fail.

Before you ask. Just how to Minute Rice™ and Converted Rice™ fit into this matrix? Minute Rice is fully cooked and dried after the bran and outer layers are milled off. It needs only to be re-hydrated and heated. The end-result has none of the vast variety of subtle flavors of the different rices and almost no nutritional value. Converted Rice (e.g. Uncle Ben's) is a more acceptable name for par-boiled rice. That's rice partly cooked before the milling of the outer layers and bran. It cooks quicker and keeps some of the nutrition. Both should be considered as quick answers to a need for rice, but not as flavorful additions to traditional cultural cuisines.

Flashback! Long ago, (BK – Before Kids) Linda and I were eating at Cloud City, the Mexican restaurant in Leadville, Colorado. They must have run out of rice for Spanish Rice because a young Mexican boy dashed out the front door, returning five minutes later with a large box of Minute Rice. That says much for the reason I spent years developing a good recipe for Spanish Rice.

Next week, I'll discuss various similar, but vastly different, recipes for rice that come are similar, but from vastly different, cultures.

Now, you can believe all that I've written … or you can take it with a grain of salt … uh, rice.