rice-msg – 10/27/19

Medieval rice and rice dishes. Recipes.

NOTE: See also these files: grains-msg, frumenty-msg, beans-msg, bread-msg, broths-msg, breakfast-msg, flour-msg, beer-msg, nuts-msg, pasta-msg, soup-msg, cookng-grains-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 09:42:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Judging cooking - too much mint!

  << perfumed jasmine rice >>
  
  PERFUMED JASMINE RICE?.....hmmmmmm> I want the recipe, please? <beg, grovel,
  beg, kiss butt, hug, grovel, beg,beg>

It's a marketing slogan....  its as simple as pie.

Or, what do you serve for a starch to guests, when the potatoes have grown
sprouts without asking you first?  You improvise.

If I recall correctly, I sauted some chopped onion in white wine at the
bottom of a saucepan, with some black pepper.  I brewed about a pint of
jasmine tea (straight flowers, no black tea added) until it was quite
strong.  I mixed it with water to the correct amount for the rice, and
cooked.  When there was not much water left in the pot, I added a small
handful of frozen peas.  And finished.  It was very delicate, and had a
light flavor and a pale yellow color.  Which probably wouldn't have shown
except for the contrast with the green peas.  I might consider strengthening
the color with a few saffron threads in the future, and if I'd had
scallions, I would have used those instead.

This sort of thing grew out of a game my wife and I would play when the
lines were long in the grocery.  We'd stare into other people's grocery
carts, and try to make dinner out of what they had bought (plus the content
of our larder).  It can be a lot of fun.

Oh, a generic rice cookery tip.  My wife taught me this one: when the rice
is just about out of water, the grains can still be moist.  But if you drive
the water out with heat, you can easily scorch the bottom layer of rice.
She turns the pan off, takes it off the heat, and places a layer of paper
towel over the top, and replaces the lid.  Wait a few minutes. As the steam
rises, it gets trapped in the paper towel, and the remaining grains dry out
naturally.  It makes for a very fluffy rice.

	Tibor (2.5 cups water to 1 cup brown, 2 cups water to 1 cup white)


Date: Wed, 03 Sep 1997 14:01:53 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - OK - here's a kind of anal question...

rebecca tants wrote:
> It talks about rice all over the place, so I'll be using it.  I've
> read the discussions on the rialto archive about brown vs white rice.
> But I haven't seen anything about short grain vs long grain or the
> different varieties available these days.  Which is most appropriate?
> (Or have I lost what was left of my sanity and am now going WAY overboard?)
> 
> Ruadh

This topic is only as overboard as you want it to be...certainly if you
want to get as close as you can to the food the author of the book is
talking about, it should be an issue, if only a tangential one.

I think short-grain rice is the way to go. Long-grain rice was an import
from Asia, while short-grain rice was grown in places like Spain,
Greece, and Italy, and was presumably more readily available. Also, it
seems to me, at a quick glance, to be often ground to meal, in which
case it wouldn't matter. I could be wrong, though.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 22:43:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: SC - Rice varieties

<< if someone is going to look close enough to
   nit-pick over long or short grain rice  >>

If I may....long-grain, medium-grain and short-grain rice all have different
characteristics when cooked. Long grain usually cooks into seperate grains.
Medium grain tends to hold together a bit more and short grain (or sticky
rice) is just that. IMO, it is very important from a cooks perspective to
distinguish between the various types of rice when choosing a rice for a
recipe. Choosing the right type of rice for a particular dish can very much
determine the quaility of a particular recipe.

Lord Ras ( lover of rice, all types and all varieties, each in their proper
place. :-))


Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 15:17:15 +0200 (METDST)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at ki.se>
Subject: Re: Wild rice (was: SC - Newcomers Redaction)

On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Phyllis Spurr wrote:
> I didn't know this.  Boy every day I learn something new on this list.

Actually you might just have confused two different things in your 
terminology (I just saw your other post with the redaction). Wild and 
brown rice is not the same thing.

Brown rice: the health food stuff. Basically a "unhusked" regular rice. 
	The price is about the same as regular rice, perhaps a bit higher.
	Brownish in color, and has, in my opinion, much more character than
	most regular white rice.

Wild rice: a grain that grows in some lakes in the Great Lakes region.
	It is longish grains, black with some of the white interior showing
	through. Price is _high_ due to the fact that it is harvested 
	from a wild crop. The package should say something about indians
	on it ;-)

> > Personally I would have considerd using "aviori" style rice, but I have 
> > no idea if this kind was widely available in Europe in our period, if at 
> > all. Anyone?
> 
> What is "aviori" style rice.  My knowledge is sadly lacking on rice, 
> personally, I dislike rice.  Comes from "having" to eat it!

Basically a cross between brown and white rice (it's about processing, not
species difference, but the effect is like a hybrid). More acceptable to
the "white rice" crowd, but still has much more of the nutrients left 
(white rice is not a good idea, nutritionally speaking). 

As I stated earlier I would love to hear someone (with better knowledge 
than I have) tell us about what kinds of rice were available where and when. 
Probably thesis level stuff, though, unless it has already been done.

/UlfR
- --
Par Leijonhufvud                  par.leijonhufvud at labtek.ki.se


Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 11:15:37 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Polished Rice

Rice was imported into the Caribbean on Columbus' second voyage.

There are native varieties (both long and short grain) scattered across
both the New and Old Worlds.  Reay Tannehill in Food in History suggests
that rice appears across a broad belt in the regions which formed
Gondwanaland.  I haven't tried to chase the paleobiology on that one,
it's worse than beans.

Bear


Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 21:41:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Polished Rice

Rice was a staple crop during the Middle ages. You are correct about it being
succesfully grown in America rather later. I would add the the introduction
of a crop into America has little bearing on it's widespread use in the Old
World during the M.A. Some crops now currently popular were little known
before the 1950's in America, such as Eggplant and lentils which were widely
grown and used in the M.A. Rice flour is nearly universal in period cookery
books. Rice itself was experimentally grown is such places as France as early
as the mid-1300's. All in all<IMO, it would be safe to say that rice was
easily obtained and almost universally used by the gentry and noblemen. So
far as to it's use among the peasants, I have no information and since
SCAdians are considered noblemen , it's unavailability to peasants if such
were the case is a moot point when it comes to feast planning. :-)

Ras


Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:39:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: SC - Newcomers Redaction

Old note:
  Looking back at it, I'm not so sure that I got the initial quantity of
  water correct from memory...

True.  It's 2:1 water to rice, more if the rice is brown rice.  (This varies
depending upon desired result, of course. Sticky rice desired?  More water.
Crunchier?  Less water.  But 1:1, as you listed, was not quite right.)

	Tibor


Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 02:09:27 -0400
From: marilyn traber <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Apples

> Where do you get rice flour? I've looked for it for a while but haven't
> found any yet. You'd think this close to Philly they'd have decent
> stores, but I haven't found many. Any form of frozen, prepared or
> convenience food you could imagine, yes, but I can only find even bread
> flour on occasion and only at some stores! I did find rye flour once,
> but that's it.
>
> Julleran

rice flour- minute rice, grind into powder in a blender.
margali


Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 09:07:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Rice Flour-source

<< Where do you get rice flour? >>

Any market that carries Goya products should have rice flour (and wheat
starch also). Around here ( N.E. Pa) both Giant and Wegman's carry it. Also
any good health food store should have or have ready access to it.

Ras


Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 08:54:24 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Apples

>Where do you get rice flour?
>
>Julleran

I can get it through Albertson's (was SkaggAlbertson's) here in
Oklahoma, so it is carried by some chain groceries.  I can't get it at
Homeland (Safeway replacement).  A local health food store carries some.
  Bakery supply stores should have it since it is used as a wheat flour
supplement in baking fine cakes.

Bon Chance
Bear


Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 18:06:03 -0400
From: John and Barbara Enloe <jbenloe at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Apples

> Where do you get rice flour?

> Julleran

Might I suggest you try an Oriental food store?  That's where I got my last
bag.  Happy hunting.
Ania


Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 00:01:58 EST
From: kathe1 at juno.com (Kathleen M Everitt)
Subject: SC - Rice Flour

I found rice flour today! You'll never guess where. K-Mart!!

Julleran, who was looking for jeans at the time


Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 11:35:16 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Documentation? Liberties?

<snip>

A further point. If you decide to limit yourself to recipes you know are
period, you then have a stronger incentive to go looking. At the feast we
just did, my lady wife cooked a rice dish which was good, was period, and
was less like something a modern person would invent than saffron rice is.
- ---
Ryse of Fische Daye 1/2 per table
Curye on Inglysch p. 127 (Forme of Cury no. 129)

Blaunche almaundes & grynde hem, & drawe hem vp wyt watur. Weshce †i ryse
clene, & do †erto sugur roche and salt: let hyt be stondyng. Frye almaundes
browne, & floriche hyt †erwyt, or wyt sugur.

4 c almond milk from:   2 c rice        3 oz slivered almonds for frying
        7 oz almonds    2 T sugar       1 T sugar sprinkled on top
        enough water to make 4 c milk   1 t salt        1 t oil

Make almond milk. Add rice to almond milk, also sugar and salt, bring to a
boil and simmer covered 20 minutes; let stand 25 minutes. Lightly grease
frying pan with oil and put in almonds, cook while stirring for 5 minutes
at low to moderate heat. Sprinkle almonds and extra sugar on rice and serve.

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 12:26:50 +1100 (EST)
From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
Subject: RE: SC - Documentation? Liberties?

> It seems to me that there is a recipe for chicken and rice which uses
> saffron for coloring.  I'll see if I can locate it.
>
> Bear

Almond milk, rice flour, capon meat.
Almonds, or Pistachios+cloves
Saffron

MS B Two Anglo Norman Culinary collections (14C?)

Charles


Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 20:48:40 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Documentation? Liberties?

In Taillevent (14th century French), there is a recipe for saffron
rice:

Decorated rice for a meat day

Pick over the rice, wash it very well in hot water, dry it near the
fire, and cook it in simmering cow's milk.  Crush some saffron (for
reddening it), steep it in your milk, and add stock from the pot.

(This is from a translation by James Prescott, published by the
Alfarhaugr Publishing Society)

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 08:02:22 -0800
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Risotto?

> Hello, all. I am wondering if anyone has come across a period recipe for
> Risotto or a Risotto-like dish. It occured to me this would be great event
> food, espescially since it's cheap, and leftovers can be made into Rice
> Cakes for frying in the morning (yum!). Risotto with fresh herbs smells so
> fragrant cooking as the stock is ladled in slowly and stirred, stirred,
> stirred, that it draws crowds to the kitchen area. I try to keep the food
> relatively period when I go to camping events and am just cooking for family
> and friends. I really enjoy making Risotto. It's a sensual experience!
>
> There does not seem to be anything resembling Risotto in my English/French
> collection, but that does not surprise me very much. Does anyone have a
> Southern European source with something like this in it? I suppose the
> ingredients would be part of the clue: Rice, olive oil or butter, stock,
> herbs or spices, a little cheese added at the end. Or perhaps this is
> another no  brainer that wouldn't have been written down?
>
> Aoife

Hi all from Anne-Marie

our local guild (specifically Eden, who does not appear on this list) did a
fair amount of digging for risotto-like units. Like you, we had a feast
that a risotto dish would have fit perfectly. What Eden found was that
there was indeed a dish that resembled risotto in its preparation and
texture, but contained so much cheese it was more a rendition of macaroni
and cheese in taste. Yum!!!! Most creamy and flavorful and wonderful stuff.
 We will be fine tuning it at the reconstruction meeting Wednesday and I
will ask if I can post the results.

We found no examples like the modern risotto flavored with herbs, or
mushrooms or anything like that. Just the oh-so-cheesy one. Yum!
- --AM


Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 22:19:51 +0000
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Risotto?

And it came to pass on 24 Feb 98, that L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt
wrote:

> Hello, all. I am wondering if anyone has come across a period recipe
> for Risotto or a Risotto-like dish.
[snip]
> Does anyone have a Southern European source with something like this
> in it? I suppose the ingredients would be part of the clue: Rice,
> olive oil or butter, stock, herbs or spices, a little cheese added
> at the end. Or perhaps this is another no  brainer that wouldn't
> have been written down?
>
> Aoife

The two Spanish recipes I have do not really resemble your
description of risotto, but I will post them anyway, as they may be
of interest.

Source: Libro de Guisados, 1529

57. ARROZ CON CALDO DE CARNE -- Rice with Meat Broth

 You must take rice and wash it with cold water or tepid water three
 or four times, and when it is well washed set it to dry on a wooden
 chopping block in the sun, and if there is none, near the fire, and
 when it is dry clean it well of the stones and filth; then put a very
 clean pot on the fire with meat broth, which is fatty and well
 salted, and put it on the fire, and when the broth begins to boil,
 cast the rice in the pot and when the rice is more than half cooked,
 cast in goat or sheep milk, and for lack of these cast in almond
 milk, and cook it all in the pot, stirring it from time to time with
 a ladle so that it does not stick to the pot or burn, and when it is
 cooked remove it from the fire and put the well-covered pot inside a
 basket [espuerta] or basket [cesta] of [salvados?] and leave it there
 to rest for a while, which should be for the space of an hour or at
 least half; then take egg yolks and beat them well when you wish to
 prepare dishes, and cast them in the pot, mixing them with the rice,
 and giving them a few turns with the ladle, after preparing dishes,
 and cast upon each one sugar and cinnamon.  But note one thing, as I
 said in the chapter on semolina: that in none of these pottages, such
 as rice, semolina, barley and fideos, when cooked with meat broth, is
 it necessary to put in any kind of milk; but everything is in [accord
 with] the appetites of the men who eat it, and with this pottage
 there is no need to cast sugar upon the dishes; however sugar never
 harms the food, and the excellence is in this; that each one does
 according to his taste.

58. ARROZ EN CAZUELA AL HORNO -- Casserole Rice in the Oven

 Clean the rice well of stones and filth, and wash it with two or
 three [changes of] cold water and then with hot water, and after it
 is well washed set it to dry on a wooden chopping block in the sun or
 by the heat of the fire, and when it is dry, clean it again in such a
 manner that it is very clean, then take a very clean cazuela and cast
 in good meat broth which is fatty and set it to boil on the fire, and
 when it begins to boil put in two or three threads of saffron so that
 the broth becomes nicely yellow, and when the broth is nicely yellow,
 cast in the rice bit by bit, stirring it with a stick or with a
 ladle, and when the rice is in the cazuela cast in whatever quantity
 of broth that seems necessary to you to so that it cooks no more, and
 taste it to see that it is well salted and fatty, and put it to cook
 in the oven, and a little before it finishes cooking remove it from
 the oven and cast some whole fresh egg yolks over the rice, and then
 return the cazuela to the oven to finish cooking, and it is cooked
 when you see that the rice has made a good crust on top, and then
 prepare dishes, and in each one put one or two of the egg yolks which
 were upon the rice; and if by chance the oven was not prepared, put
 the cazuela on a coal fire and put an iron lid full of embers on it,
 and in this manner it will come out of there as if it had been cooked
 in the oven and perhaps better because it remains nearer for
 sampling: and this is good rice.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper  at  idt.net


Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 10:15:14 -0000
From: "Yeldham, Caroline S" <csy20688 at GlaxoWellcome.co.uk>
Subject: RE: SC - Risotto?

I had a look in Scully 'Early French Cookery' and found Ris engoule,
attributed to Viandier (Sass attributes something very similar to Forme of
Cury)

His redaction says

1 cup   uncooked rice
1/4 tsp saffron
1 cup   hot milk
1 cup   hot beef bouillon
2 tbsp  beef grease or butter

Rinse rice, dissolve saffron in hot milk, stir in rice.  Add beef boullion
and grease, cover and cook on low heat until liquid is absorbed and rice is
cooked.  Add more bouillon during cooking if necessary.

For a fast day version use almond milk instead of milk and beef bouillon and
omit grease
For a sweet version use almond milk, garnish with pomegranate seeds, candied
orange peel or sliced browned almonds.

Given so many dishes using colour contrasts on the same basic recipe, would
it be unreasonable to deduce a white version (without saffron, with almond
milk) and a green version (no saffron, lots of herbs) served with this?  Or
even a black version - with blood?

I haven't found anything involving lots of cheese and would be interested to
see it.

Which raises the question of what sort of rice was used in the medieval
period - has anyone any info?  Given that rice used in Northern Europe came
from the Po valley (Lombardy), which now produces short grain, risotto rice,
is it reasonable to assume that sort of rice was grown there then?  I find
the recipes don't work so well with long grain rice, which now comes from
India and America.

Any thoughts?

Caroline


Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 10:36:49 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - help?

At 2:03 PM -0700 4/2/98, Sabia wrote:
>...  Also  is there a documented receipe for saffron rice?

I don't know of any saffron rice recipes; my favorite period rice recipe is

Ryse of Fische Daye
Curye on Inglysch p. 127 (Forme of Cury no. 129)

Blaunche almaundes & grynde hem, & drawe hem vp wyt watur. Weshce †i ryse
clene, & do †erto sugur roche and salt: let hyt be stondyng. Frye almaundes
browne, & floriche hyt †erwyt, or wyt sugur. [end of original]

4 c almond milk from:
        7 oz almonds
        enough water to make 4 c of milk
2 c rice
2 T sugar
1 t salt
3 oz slivered almonds for frying
1 T sugar sprinkled on top

Make almond milk. Add rice to almond milk, also sugar and salt, bring to a
boil and simmer covered 20 minutes; let stand 25 minutes. Lightly grease
frying pan with oil and put in almonds, cook while stirring for 5 minutes
at low to moderate heat. Sprinkle almonds and extra sugar on rice and
serve. [from the _Miscellany_]

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 14:35:45 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Rice in period?

IIRC, the Arabs introduced rice from India to Spain, Cyprus and Sicily.  The
initial conquests in India were in 712.  Spain was invaded in 711.  Cyprus
was taken around 683.  And Sicily was taken in the 9th Century.  So rice was
likely introduced to Spain and Cyprus early in the 8th Century and Sicily
some time in the 9th Century.

There was an abortive attempt to grow rice in Southern France late in
period.

Rice was a secondary grain because it was not used to make bread and most of
Europe had to import it.

Bear


Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:06:52 -0700
From: "April Abbott" <orlando at rogues.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Rice in period?

> The thread "A Dilemma on what to cook for Dinner-HELP!" and the interesting
> sub-thread on period polenta got me thinking about another now common grain
> -- RICE.
>
> When did rice enter the cuisines of "SCA period" places? As a Middle
> Eastern persona, at what time would i be able to eat rice? When did rice
> begin to be eaten in Europe? I would assume Italy first, because of the
> connextion with the Near East, but i don't really know any of the history?

    Well, I'm looking through my copy of Platina's De Honesta Voluptate et
Valetudine (the Mary Ella Milham translation) and I see Catalan Blancmange
(using rice flour,) Rice in Whatever Broth You Want, Rice in Almonds,
another recipe for Catalan Blancmange (again using rice flour,) Rice Pie,
Millet Pie (which can also be done with rice,) Date Pie (which has rice in
it,) White Pie (uses well-cooked rice and the juice of almost cooked rice,)
Rice Fritters, another recipe for Rice Fritters, Fritters in the Form of
Fish (made of rice.)  The description of rice refers the ancient spelling,
and a footnote metions reference to rice in Celsus.
    Rice seems to be safely within period for Italy, at least.  Me
speculating here.... I belive arborio rice is currently grown in the Po
river valley in Italy.  Is it a native species there?  Perhaps rice didn't
have to be imported from anywhere else.

- -Sofonisba


Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 15:17:22 -0500
From: Virginia Gatling <vgatling at ectisp.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Rice in period?

Risum, rice, also oryza. The word Risum is used by Platina who says: "Risum,
quod ego antiquo vocabulo orizam appellatum puto"  from APICIUS Cooking and
dining in Imperail Rome  so I guess this makes it sort a period. Regina


Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 09:31:23 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Recipe 7-Weekend of Wisdom

Rice for a Meat Day
Copyright 1999 L. J. Spencer, Jr.
This recipe was problematical from the beginning and actually never got
prepared as written. It is easy to get 2 cps. of milk to come to a boil
without scorching it but bringing 4 gallons of milk to a boil is quite a
different thing. We ended up throwing out the milk and using water as in
standard rice preparation. I think that this was my most disappointing dish.
The rice was moist and tended to stick together. Again I blame this on the
massive quantities used for feast preparation and the length the dish was
held before service. I eliminated the rice cleaning steps because with
today's packaged rice, it was unnecessary.

(From Cariadoc's Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks, Vol.II; Le
Manegier, pg. M-33. Translation by Janet Hinson.)

Translation:
Rice for a meat day. Pick it over and wash in 2 or three changes of hot
water, and put to dry on the fire, then add boiling cow's milk, and grind up
saffron to colour it yellow: soak with your milk, then add in grease from
beef stock.

1 cps. Rice
1 tsp. salt
2 cps. Milk
3 threads Saffron, ground and soaked in 1 T hot water
1 T Rendered beef fat

Bring milk to a boil. Add saffron. Pour hot milk mixture over rice. Cover
tightly and leave stand for 20-30 mins. or until milk is absorbed and rice is
tender. Add fat. Fluff and serve. Makes 4 servings. (NOTE: A garnish of thyme
sprigs is a nice touch.)

Ras


Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 22:10:46 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 7-Weekend of Wisdom

Ras wrote:
>Rice for a meat day. Pick it over and wash in 2 or three changes of hot
>water, and put to dry on the fire, then add boiling cow's milk, and grind up
>saffron to colour it yellow: soak with your milk, then add in grease from
>beef stock.

Would this be the same recipe that goes like this in the Eileen Power
translation?:

Savoury Rice (ris engoulé) for a meat day. Peel it and wash it in two or
three lots of cold water until the water be quite clear, then half cook it,
run off the purée and set it on flat trenchers to dry before the fire; then
cook it until it is very thick, with beef dripping and saffron, if it is a
meat day; and if that it be a fish day, put not therein dripping but instead
put in almonds well brayed and unstrained; then sugar it and add not
saffron.

I don´t see any milk mentioned here - seems to me this is partially cooked
then fried.

Nanna


Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 22:11:21 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 7-Weekend of Wisdom

nannar at isholf.is writes:
<< Would this be the same recipe that goes like this in the Eileen Power
 translation?: >>

The translation that you mention is for the Rice recipe that appears
immediately after Rice for a meat day in the manuscript. Hinson translates
the title for that one as 'Rice, Another Way'. Both translations are very
similar. This is Hinson's translation:

"Rice, Another Way. Pick it over and wash in two or three changes of hot
water until. the water is clear, then do as above until half cooked, then
puree it and put on trenchers in dishes to drain and dry in front of the
fire: then cook it thick with the fatty liquid from beef and with saffron, if
this is a meat day: and if it is a fish day, do not add meat juice, but in
its place add almonds well-ground and not sieved; then sweeten and do not use
saffron."

This recipe is clearly a rice custard like dish while Rice for a Meat day is
clearly a rice dish.

Ras


Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:46:38 GMT
From: "Liam Fisher" <macdairi at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe 7-Weekend of Wisdom

>Would this be the same recipe that goes like this in the Eileen Power
>translation?:
>
>Savoury Rice (ris engoulé) for a meat day. Peel it and wash it in two or
>three lots of cold water until the water be quite clear, then half cook it,
>run off the purée and set it on flat trenchers to dry before the fire; then
>cook it until it is very thick, with beef dripping and saffron, if it is a
>meat day; and if that it be a fish day, put not therein dripping but
>instead put in almonds well brayed and unstrained; then sugar it and add not
>saffron.
>
>I don´t see any milk mentioned here - seems to me this is partially cooked
>then fried.

I differ on the frying, because of the inclusion of saffron, I think the
beef drippings and saffron are added to water and the rice is cooked in it.
The first step seems to be to get rid of the excess starch and preserve the
grain. (as I think the soaking and washing step in Ras' recipe is for as
well) This makes the rice non-sticky and more "fluffy" for lack of a better
word and it would take the saffron much easier and be more appealing than a
yellow sticky mass flavored with beef drippings.

Cadoc
- -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Cadoc MacDairi, Mountain Confederation, ACG


Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 14:04:38 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Coronation feast

Christina Nevin wrote:
> What type of rice dishes? Could you please post the recipes?

See above. Rices dishes could include white  or colored/flavored
vegetarian dishes cooked in almond milk, a sort of meatless blankmanger,
rice cooked in meat broth, or by extension for vegetarians, vegetable
broth with or without saffron. For sake of being medieval food in
Europe, the rice should be moist and just a bit fluffy, but very soft,
more like rice pudding than like pilaf. And, you want to avoid burning,
which often afflicts rice dishes cooked in quantity. From years of
precooking and reheating large quantities of risotto I've come up with a
fairly foolproof method of using pre-cooked, unseasoned rice, and
cooking it with broth or almond milk to get a vague approximation of
what a medieval rice dish would be like. More later.  

Adamantius, on the fly/no flies on me


Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 13:21:00 EST
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - Check out Breeding rice, Oryza sativa L.

I got this from *Cool Fact a Day
Phillipa Seton 

<A HREF="http://gnome.agrenv.mcgill.ca/breeding/students/max/rice/rice.htm">Cl
ick here: Breeding rice, Oryza sativa L.</A>
http://gnome.agrenv.mcgill.ca/breeding/students/max/rice/rice.htm 


Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 01:01:11 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: SC - Fw: [SD] Peppermint Rice

Ok, the answer was supplied, so I thought I'd send it along here. 
	Christianna

Source:  Medieval Holidays and Festivals by Madeliene Pelner Cosman,
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1981

2 cups raw rice
4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons firmly packed crushed peppermint leaves, or 2 teaspoons
   dried peppermint crushed in a mortar with 2 tablespoons crushed fresh parsley
natural green food "paint"

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the rice, water, salt, butter, food 
coloring, if desired, and peppermint paste.  Bring to a quick boil over a high heat.

Cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 12 to 15
minutes.  The rice should be a delicate green color.

For my faults,
Aethelthryth/Carol


Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 22:53:19 -0400
From: "Ron Rispoli" <rispoli at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Substitutions-hazelnut milk

> Incidently, does anyone have an
>explanation as to why rice cooked in milk or cream just does not do as
>nicely as rice cooked in water?  Does the fat content prevent/hinder
>liquid absorption?
>
>Allison,     allilyn at juno.com

I don't think its the fat because most recipes for rice I come across say
to add butter to the rice/water pot.  It might be that for the same volume
milk and cream just have less water for the rice to absorb. To compensate
you need to increase the volume of milk or cream. Is this for a rice
pudding? If so split the liquid in your recipe to half milk/half water that
way when its done the rice will be soft. Also only add egg yolks to the
cooking pudding saving the whites for a meringue that you add after the
pudding has cooled.  Makes it very light and alas out of period.  Unless
someone can contradict me- Please.


Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 10:30:37 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - Substitutions-hazelnut milk

On Sat, 20 May 2000, Ron Rispoli wrote:
> pudding? If so split the liquid in your recipe to half milk/half water that
> way when its done the rice will be soft. Also only add egg yolks to the
> cooking pudding saving the whites for a meringue that you add after the
> pudding has cooled.  Makes it very light and alas out of period.  Unless
> someone can contradict me- Please.

When making rice "porridge" all the recipes (modern) make you first
boil the rice with some water until absorbed, then add milk (and butter
and a stick of cinnamon) and cook until done. 

/UlfR
- -- 
Par Leijonhufvud                                      parlei at algonet.se


Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 21:51:11 -0500
From: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Subject: SC - Recipe: Rice

By way of penance for my off-topic posts, here's a rice recipe from 
Granado, suitable for Lent.

Source: Diego Granado, _Libro del Arte de Cozina_ (Spanish, 1599)

Para hazer escudilla de arroz con leche de almendras, o con 
azeyte

To make a dish of rice with almond milk, or with oil

Take the rice, clean it, and wash it with warm water so that it will 
become whiter, and will cook more quickly; have it be soaking in 
warm water for an hour, remove it, and let it dry in the sun, or by 
the heat of the fire, far from the flame, so that it does not turn red, 
and set it on the fire in a vessel of earthenware with enough water 
to cover it, and when it has absorbed the water, put in the almond 
milk with fine sugar, many times, and cause it to finish cooking, in 
such a manner that it becomes solid, and being cooked, serve it 
with sugar and cinnamon on top.  You can sometimes serve it as 
ginestada[1], having strained it through a sieve, with more sugar 
and ground cinnamon and saffron, and returning it to cook with a 
little rosewater and malvasia[2].  If you wish to make the rice with 
oil in the Italian style, it is not necessary to do more than to cast 
the rice in water in a pot with oil and salt and saffron, and at the 
last [moment] add ginger with some chopped herbs, or fried 
onions.  But in Valencia, it is made so curiously, that each grain is 
separate, in this manner.  The rice having been washed, and dried 
in the sun in a very white napkin, they put it in a casserole, and 
cast in the quantity of sweet oil that is needed: in which oil they fry 
a some cloves of garlic, so that all the grains become coated, 
turning them very well with the oil and the garlic, and cast in 
spices, and saffron, and some beaten eggs, turning them by 
stirring everything together; then they cast in water, and set the 
casserole on the fire, and after it has finished absorbing the water, 
they put in three or four whole heads of garlic, and carry it to 
thicken in the oven, and when it has made a crust the color of gold, 
they set it to stew[3] until it is the dinner hour; and each grain 
comes out separately, and in whatever manner, this dish must be 
served hot.


Notes:
[1] ginestada is a pudding-like dish made with rice flour, milk (or 
almond milk), sugar, and spices.  It may contain nuts and dried 
fruits.  There are a couple of ginestada recipes in the Florilegium.

[2] malvasia (aka malmsey) is a sweet wine.

[3] "estobar" means "to stew".  In other recipes involving grains, it 
usually means to leave the cooked grain in a covered dish, so that 
it will continue to absorb moisture.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 22:19:13 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe: Rice

rcmann4 at earthlink.net wrote:
>  But in Valencia, it is made so curiously, that each grain is
> separate, in this manner.

This might be seen as further evidence that the most common form in
which rice is cooked is as a thick porridgey dish, rather than as a
pilaf. Then, of course, there's the German recipe for Rice from Greece
(I think that's it) in which rice is mostly, but not completely cooked
in liquid, then sort of sauteed to firm it up a bit. Another similar
type of dish would be the Digby "Rice Boiled Dry". 

> The rice having been washed, and dried
> in the sun in a very white napkin, they put it in a casserole, and
> cast in the quantity of sweet oil that is needed: in which oil they fry
> a some cloves of garlic, so that all the grains become coated,
> turning them very well with the oil and the garlic, and cast in
> spices, and saffron, and some beaten eggs, turning them by
> stirring everything together; then they cast in water, and set the
> casserole on the fire, and after it has finished absorbing the water,
> they put in three or four whole heads of garlic, and carry it to
> thicken in the oven, and when it has made a crust the color of gold,
> they set it to stew[3] until it is the dinner hour; and each grain
> comes out separately, and in whatever manner, this dish must be
> served hot.

Hmmm. further evidence for at least local existence of the early pilaf.
Almost a garlic paella, actually, and very similar to some of the
Persian rice dishes (i.e. the crust, etc.) 
 
> Notes:
> [1] ginestada is a pudding-like dish made with rice flour, milk (or
> almond milk), sugar, and spices.  It may contain nuts and dried
> fruits.  There are a couple of ginestada recipes in the Florilegium.

I think perhaps there may be a broader definition, at least under this
name, or ones like it. I don't seem to be able to find the exact word
(because, of course, I need it) and therefore my evidence is a little
shaky, but it should be pretty well checkable. Isn't ginestada linked to
words referring to the yellow broomflower plant, as in Plantagenet, and
as in jance, which is frequently thickened with eggs, sort of an
unsweetened custard, then flavored with ginger, garlic, saffron, etc. I
wonder if the fact that this ginestada is sieved might suggest it is to
be used as a sauce for meats, as jance was. Yes, I realize this dish
(the main one, anyway) doesn't call for eggs, and is not yellow, but
perhaps it had evolved from a thick pale-colored sauce made like other
French jances or English gaunceli for gees...

Oh, one more question:

> put in the almond 
> milk with fine sugar, many times, and cause it to finish cooking

Could this fine sugar be sieved? This might tie in more with the
expression "many times". Just a thort.
 
Adamantius


Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 23:35:55 -0500
From: rcmann4 at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe: Rice

And it came to pass on 4 Mar 01, , that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> > Notes:
> > [1] ginestada is a pudding-like dish made with rice flour, milk (or
> > almond milk), sugar, and spices.  It may contain nuts and dried
> > fruits.  There are a couple of ginestada recipes in the Florilegium.
> 
> I think perhaps there may be a broader definition, at least under this
> name, or ones like it. I don't seem to be able to find the exact word
> (because, of course, I need it) and therefore my evidence is a little
> shaky, but it should be pretty well checkable. Isn't ginestada linked to
> words referring to the yellow broomflower plant, as in Plantagenet,  

Yes, the name comes from ginestra, the Spanish word for the 
broomflower plant, because ginestada is normally colored yellow 
with saffron.  Though Nola has one recipe which he says may be 
left white by omitting saffron.  (For those who were at the Pennsic 
pot-luck, this is the dish I brought.)

> and as in jance, which is frequently thickened with eggs, sort of
> an unsweetened custard, then flavored with ginger, garlic, saffron,
> etc. 

Well, the four ginestada recipes I know are all sweetened.  Two of 
them are in Nola -- one of which calls for 2 ounces of rice flour and 
1 ounce of sugar per dish.  Another is in Granado, and calls for 4 
pounds of sugar and 14 oz. rice flour to a gallon and a half of 
almond milk.  The fourth is in Scully's Neapolitan collection, and 
calls for "enough sugar".

> I wonder if the fact that this ginestada is sieved might suggest it
> is to be used as a sauce for meats, as jance was. Yes, I realize
> this dish (the main one, anyway) doesn't call for eggs, and is not
> yellow, but perhaps it had evolved from a thick pale-colored sauce
> made like other French jances or English gaunceli for gees... 

Could be.  Many of the pottage dishes are.  And the fact that it 
seems to be sweet is no reason that they couldn't have used it as 
a sauce for meat.  I should mention, though, that this particular 
recipe is in a chapter entitled "Dishes of fish, and others for days in 
Lent".
 
> > put in the almond 
> > milk with fine sugar, many times, and cause it to finish cooking
> 
> Could this fine sugar be sieved? This might tie in more with the
> expression "many times". Just a thort.

I think it means to add the almond milk bit by bit, so you keep the 
rice moistened, but don't add too much liquid.

If someone would like to double-check me, the Spanish phrase is:
"y en aviendose embevido el agua pongase la leche de almendras 
con azucar fino en muchas veces, y hagase acabar de cozer..."
  
> Adamantius

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 22:12:58 -0800
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pt. 2 - Medieval Persian Iron Chef

Here are the recipes three dishes that were served on one tray:

Bustaniyya - Orchard Dish - spiced chicken and lamb with pears,
peaches, and almonds
Saffron Rice
Rutab Mu'assal - Honeyed Dates, stuffed with almonds

Anahita

---------------------

Bustaniya - Orchard Dish
Spiced Chicken and Lamb with Pears, Peaches, and Almonds

<snip - see lamb-mutton-msg?
---------------------

Arruz al-Zafran - Saffron Rice
There are no single recipes for cooked rice, so I concocted this one
from several that I read. It leaves a lovely chewy golden "crust" in
the rice cooker that my team was snacking on in the kitchen. For a
smaller dinner, you can serve the "crust" cut up to the diners.

Arruziya:

Arrus Mufalfal:

(Both in Waines)

My Work-Up:
Basmati rice
almost 1 gallon whole milk
water
1 teaspoons saffron
2 teaspoons salt

The following is the procedure I used to cook the rice in a couple
medium-large rice cookers.

1. Put three rice cooker measures of rice into rice cooker.
2. Add 1/4 teaspoon of saffron, crumbled in your fingers and
sprinkled over the rice.
3. Put three more rice cooker measures of rice into rice cooker.
4. Add another 1/4 teaspoon of saffron.
5. Add six rice cooker measures of milk.
6.Add six rice cooker measures of water.
7. Turn on rice cooker.
8. After liquid has been bubble for a little while, give the contents
of the rice cooker a stir, to more evenly distribute the saffron.
9. Cook until done (rice cooker stops cooking).
10. Remove liner with rice in it and turn upside down in a deep
container. There should be a lovely soft chewy golden-brown crust on
the bottom. This is considered a delicacy in modern Persia/Iran.
11. With a good knife, cut off the crust and set aside, then with a
rice paddle, unclump the rice.
12. Repeat the above process until you have completed sufficient
rice. I used the equivalent of four rice cookers full for one hundred
people.
13. You can serve the crust cut into wedges or feed it to your
grateful cooking staff...

To use regular pots on the stove, put equal quantities of milk and
water, bring to a boil, add saffron then a quantity of rice equal to
one of the liquids, stir, reduce heat to very low, cover and cook for
about 15 minutes. Heat must be VERY low or bottom of rice will burn.

---------------------

Rutab Mu'assal - Honeyed Dates stuffed with almonds, scented with rosewater
<snip - see dates-msg>
---------------------

These were served thus:
On ten round flat serving trays, a ring of rice was made around the
outside. The meat was mounded in the middle. And 10 dates were placed
evenly around the outer edge of the rice, the spaces between them
filled with garbanzo beans.


Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 10:18:25 -0500
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking rice in feast quantities

The Rice Book by Sri Owen. (New York: St. Martins, 1993) and
Seductions of Rice by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid.
New York: Artisan, 1998) are both great source books on rice
cookery and rice recipes. There are a number of variations
of rice cookery, depending upon the culture and the type of
rice being used. These books explain the different methods.

Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway


From: "micaylah" <dy018 at freenet.carleton.ca>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking rice in feast quantities
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 11:34:32 -0500

I definitely cheat when it comes to rice. I pre-cook it and freeze it in
boiling bags. On the day of, I then pop them into boiling water and poof
I get nice fluffy nonsticky hot and nonscorched rice. Works like a
charm.

I do want to give these other methods a try though. Anything to prevent
burnt rice and the hassle for the scullery staff in washing up these
pots.

Micaylah


Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 08:36:40 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] RE Drachenwald Coronation/12th Night Menu

Christina Nevin wrote:
>  > > Greek rice (half-boiled then fried)
>  > Any evidence of rice being done this way there (or anywhere else) in
> period?
>
> It tells you to do so in the recipe:
> 5. This is called Greek rice. [Greek Rice]
> This is called Greek rice. Take rice and boil it in spring-water. When
> half cooked pour away the water, and fry the rice in pure lard. Then
> pour away the lard, sprinkle with sugar and serve. Don't oversalt.

I wondered about this myself. Given that most medieval European rice
recipes seem to produce a thick porridge-type dish, and these dishes
often speak of cooking he rice in water or broth until it begins to
split/burst, it would seem that half-cooking it in water would produce
rice that is very nearly cooked through by modern standards. In other
words, probably pretty similar to the point at which Creole [boiled like
pasta] rice is removed from the water and steamed until fluffy, or the
point at which Chinese boiled rice has absorbed all the water and is
steamed over low heat to finish.

Except you then fry it instead of steaming it. The fact that the recipe
speaks of draining it suggests that a fair amount of fat is involved,
but the question that comes to mind is whether this is deep-fried,
crispy or puffy rice, or more like an Asian fried rice, which is itself
not too different from a pilaf in texture. I'm thinking it may be the
latter, Greece being close to Turkey and all; it would then be a matter
of simply having reversed the order of the cooking processes, since
nowadays pilaf is usually sauteed first, then combined with boiling
liquid and simmered.

On the other hand, sprinkling sugar on fried foods being a pretty common
habit in medieval European recipes, maybe the rice _is_ supposed to be
crispy.

Opinions? Info?

Adamantius


Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 07:16:38 -0500
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Imaginary list was Re: Irish Stew recipe

Also sprach Randy Goldberg MD:
>  Sadly, the rice in almond milk (20 quarts!) burned and had to be
>tossed (it was inedible, the whole pot tasted of the burn).

About this rice in almond milk -- did it simply burn, or did it
refuse to cook until you raised the heat up to maximum and cooked it
for two hours, _after_ which it burned? I ask because in cooking rice
in almond milk from a raw state, the oil component of the almond milk
seems to create a waterproof shield on each grain of rice, preventing
it from absorbing water. Most recipes (that I've seen) for rice in
almond milk, such as blankmanger, call for the rice to be cooked in
water until what modern cooks would consider "done", then it is
recooked in the almond milk to a risotto-ish consistency.

Adamantius


From: "Randy Goldberg MD" <goldberg at bestweb.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Imaginary list was Re: Irish Stew recipe
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 07:55:34 -0500

> About this rice in almond milk -- did it simply burn, or did it
> refuse to cook until you raised the heat up to maximum and cooked it
> for two hours, _after_ which it burned? I ask because in cooking rice
> in almond milk from a raw state, the oil component of the almond milk
> seems to create a waterproof shield on each grain of rice, preventing
> it from absorbing water. Most recipes (that I've seen) for rice in
> almond milk, such as blankmanger, call for the rice to be cooked in
> water until what modern cooks would consider "done", then it is
> recooked in the almond milk to a risotto-ish consistency.

The rice was parboiled in plain water for about 7 minutes, then dumped out
and the almond milk was added. It was then cooked for about 20 minutes, by
which time it was burned, despite almost constant stirring. Next time I will
NOT use a 20 qt stock pot - if I really NEED that much rice, I'll do it in
two or three smaller vessels - you just CAN'T keep that much stuff in
constant motion without a motor. :-)


Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 11:40:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Ruth Frey <ruthf at uidaho.edu>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks digest, Vol 1 #1507 - 12 msgs

Also sprach Randy Goldberg MD:
>The rice was parboiled in plain water for about 7 minutes, then dumped out
>and the almond milk was added. It was then cooked for about 20 minutes, by
>which time it was burned, despite almost constant stirring. Next time I will
>NOT use a 20 qt stock pot - if I really NEED that much rice, I'll do it in
>two or three smaller vessels - you just CAN'T keep that much stuff in
>constant motion without a motor. :-)

        Just for the heck of it, here's how I handled Blancmange
(for 60 people) for the local 12th Night:
        I basically started with Cindy Renfrow's redaction in
the first volume of _Take a Thousand Eggs..._, with the flavorings
adjusted to personal taste based on a test batch made as written.
I scaled the whole thing up 10X, as I recall.
        First, I cooked the rice (long-grain brown, which I got free
as a donation -- short-grain would've been more Period, but I'll take
"free" when I can get it) separately, in salted water, till it was done,
then mixed in a portion of almond milk.  The chicken (boneless, skinless
breasts) were cooked separately in the 2nd portion of almond milk,
removed from the milk, shredded with forks, then mixed back into their
almond milk.
        I didn't have a container large enough to mix the 2 portions
together, so I took my gallon-sized freezer bags and filled each one
half-and-half with each mixture, squished them around, and then put
them on the porch to cool off (one of the advantages to living in
a cold climate).
        The next day (the feast), I dumped the blancmange into
2 big aluminum roasting pans, covered them with foil, and set them
in the oven at low temp (about 200 - 250F) about 2 hours before the
feast.  By the time of serving, the blancmange was piping hot and
ready to go.  I sprinkled on rosewater (not in the original redaction,
but common in blancmange recipes, and tasty) and stirred it in just
before serving.
        People loved it, and it solved the question of how to
make that much blancmange without burning it in the bottom of
a big pot, or using up valuable stovetop space with lots of little
pots.  As it turned out, I had over 2 times the amount of the stuff
we needed, but it was very popular in "leftover bags".

        Not that this would've helped in a situation where there
was no kitchen, unfortunately, but it's a successful way to make
a lot of sticky rice stuff.

                -- Ruth


Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2002 12:15:30 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Vidalia nionions...

What I find interesting about this site is that they stock a probably-period
breed of rice, Carolina Gold, which dates from the 1600's.  Some nice cookware
too, I covet that "biscuit bowl" which looks just like a bread-kneading trough
I've seen in various period artworks.

Selene, Caid [but married to a B'ham boy, remember]

> Kiri:  > If you go to www.boiledpeanuts.com, you can order them online......


Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 11:35:17 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Serving Hard Cooked Eggs

> This is called rice from Greece. You should take rice and boil it in water
> until half done. Then pour out the water and boil the rice then in a clean
> fat and then pour the fat off and do not oversalt.

The translation by Melitta Weiss Adamson says to finish the cooking by
frying the rice in lard, then pour off the lard and sprinkle the rice 
with sugar. And do not oversalt.

Cindy


From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Greek rice- was Re: [Sca-cooks] Serving Hard Cooked Eggs
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 19:17:06 -0400

>> This is called rice from Greece. You should take rice and boil it in water
>> until half done. Then pour out the water and boil the rice then in a clean
>> fat and then pour the fat off and do not oversalt.
>
> The translation by Melitta Weiss Adamson says to finish the cooking by
> frying the rice in lard, then pour off the lard and sprinkle the rice  
> with sugar. And do not oversalt.
>
> Cindy

Thanks, Cindy- another take is always good ;-)

What I did, since I had vegetarians to deal with, was fry the first  
batch in olive oil, then the subsequent batches in the lovely goose and duck fat  
I had from the goose stew- lovely flavor, and satisfied the vegetarians and
the carnivores without much extra effort.

Which phrase indicates the sugar?

Phlip


From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: Greek rice- was Re: [Sca-cooks] Serving Hard Cooked Eggs
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 19:30:52 -0500

> Which phrase indicates the sugar?
>
> Phlip

"vnd ein zucker dor vf vnde gibs hin vnd versaltz niht"   (Hayek, 1958)

Zucker is sugar.  Roughly translated, "and a sugar then serve it forth  
And salt not."

Bear


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 12:16:01 -0500
From: "Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Phlip:
>>  You said you were looking for something to bulk out the crab. I
>>  think, if I were you, I'd do a blomanger of fish and just use
>>  crabmeat, maybe garnishing with a smaller percentage of crab shells
>>  so people know what they're getting into (Hint:
>>  PRE...COOK..THE...RICE...!!!).
>
> Gee, Adamantius, what brought that on?
>
> Giggling madly at a certain memory ;-)

twitch... twitch... left eye blinks rapidly and independently of
motor control...

My theory, for lack of a better one, is that almond oil is _the_
perfect waterproofing material for rice, and that rice to be cooked
in almond milk either needs to be precooked in water or stock first,
or bruised or pulverized in some way to speed up the process. Maybe
it was extremely hard or soft water, I don't know. What I do know is
that rice, even in quantity, shouldn't take two hours to cook in
plenty of liquid and a heat range providing between a full, rolling
boil to a steady simmer all that time. And just as obviously, the
longer you cook it, the greater the likelihood that it'll burn.

Actually, I believe most blancmanger recipes do specify pre-cooking,
or at least cooking in stock or water before adding the almond milk.
Unfortunately, they don't say why, or warn you what will happen if
you don't.

A.


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 12:24:51 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

adamantius at verizon.net writes:
<<My theory, for lack of a better one, is that almond oil is _the_
perfect waterproofing material for rice, and that rice to be cooked
in almond milk either needs to be precooked in water or stock first,
or bruised or pulverized in some way to speed up the process.>>

Hmm.  There's a recipe called Ryse of Fish Day in, I think, Forme of Cury,
which calls for rice to be cooked in almond milk made with water, and it's
worked quite successfully for us, in feast quantities.
Yes, it is Forme of Cury:  Blanch almonds and grind him, and draw him up with
water. Wash the rice clean, and do thereto "sugar roche" and salt; let him be
standing.  Frye almonds brown, and flourish it therewith, or with sugar.

The only recipes I've seen that start with "wash rice clean" are for 
raw rice.

We've also faked a sort of Rice of flesh by throwing ground almonds into the
cooking broth, while the rice was cooking, rather than steeping the almonds
seperately in a small amount of the broth and adding it in before 
serving, as the recipe actually says to do.

Brangwayna


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 12:40:50 -0500
From: "Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Looking for Crab recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Bronwynmgn at aol.com:
> adamantius at verizon.net writes:
> <<My theory, for lack of a better one, is that almond oil is _the_
> perfect waterproofing material for rice, and that rice to be cooked
> in almond milk either needs to be precooked in water or stock first,
> or bruised or pulverized in some way to speed up the process.>>

> The only recipes I've seen that start with "wash rice clean" are for 
> raw rice.
>
> We've also faked a sort of Rice of flesh by throwing ground almonds into the
> cooking broth, while the rice was cooking, rather than steeping the almonds
> seperately in a small amount of the broth and adding it in before 
> serving, as the recipe actually says to do.

As I said, it was for lack of a better theory. All I can say for sure
is what phenomenon occurred, and I have about 400 witnesses to that.
I just cannot easily explain _why_ it occurred the way it did. Maybe
it was really old rice, as with [was it Christiana's or Selene's, I
forget which] blackeyed peas of last week or so. However, my
experience with really old rice is that it gets mushy more easily,
rather than staying rock-hard.

However, regardless, I'd still have to say that more rice recipes
call for cooking in something watery first, and adding almond milk
later, than for cooking it in almond milk, and that doing the
water-phase cooking in advance is reasonably in keeping with that,
and would have solved my problem, had I done it. Certainly it
couldn't hurt, all other things being equal.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 21:48:01 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking rice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 22:24 -0600 2004-01-11, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Adamantius commented:
>> My theory, for lack of a better one, is that almond oil is _the_
>> perfect waterproofing material for rice, and that rice to be cooked
>> in almond milk either needs to be precooked in water or stock first,
>> or bruised or pulverized in some way to speed up the process. Maybe
>> it was extremely hard or soft water, I don't know. What I do know is
>> that rice, even in quantity, shouldn't take two hours to cook in
>> plenty of liquid and a heat range providing between a full, rolling
>> boil to a steady simmer all that time. And just as obviously, the
>> longer you cook it, the greater the likelihood that it'll burn.
> Could the rice have simply been old, like the beans we recently 
> discussed? Or does that not happen to rice?

The following may or may not be relevant.

I cook a lot of short grain brown rice, always in a covered pot.

The only times I've "cooked it for two hours and it still wasn't done"
happened (a number of times until I figured out my problem) quite a
few years ago when I was impatient and figured, just turn *up* the
heat under the pot and it will cook faster.

Wrong.

I don't know why, but whenever I did that the rice definitely
resisted, and refused to get cooked.  Perhaps some food scientist
can explain it.

So I've learned to always always do the short grain brown (when
using the covered pot method) at a very low simmer.  Especially
when I'm in a hurry.

On the other mitt, basmati rice does fine in an open pot at a
rolling  boil with a couple of tablespoons of oil or ghee over the
highest flame I've got.  Clearly the oil is failing to waterproof it.

Thorvald


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 07:32:34 EST
From: DeeWolff at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking rice
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I have found that a way to "fix" uncooked rice is to take the offending
grains, put it in a microwaveable bowl with top and to "nuke" it.

This pretty much takes care of the problem, by steaming the "crunchy"
kernels.

Otherwise, I once read here (I believe it was Cariadoc's post) that boiling
the water, adding the rice and stirring in the almond milk, bringing all back
up to a boil, and then turning off the heat and putting it on the back of a
warm stove works well.

I use this method, with few failures. I also learned that smaller batches are
the best way to do it, and microwaving the offending remains follow-ups the
"failure to thrive."

Or, I can just bring my rice cooker to an event.

Andrea
who lived on all types of rice before Atkins


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 08:01:52 -0700
From: "Kathleen A. Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking rice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

you can indeed get old rice that will not cook, even after hours.
happened at a feast i was helping. someone got it in a huge bag from the
local oriental grocery... to save $$$, of course.

however... it was a DEEE-sas-TER!   then they tried to let it steam done in
a cooler... which didn't work.   the folks added the cheese and other gunk
to it then with high hopes.

nope.  zip, zilch, nada.   then they tried to reheat it and cook it with
the cheese in it....

sigh...

i learned SO much that day...........  especially to stand out of the line
of fire when folks are insistent on shooting themselves in the foot  
(feet?).

cailte
who'd rather trust barley than rice


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:08:53 -0800
From: "Lorenz Wieland" <lorenz_wieland at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking rice
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

vicki shaw wrote:
> I always have problems with Arborio rice.  My daughter always makes
> it to perfection, but mine turns unto a gloopy mush!

Arborio (or Carnaroli or any other variety very high in starch) can't be
cooked like other rices.  You need to start it using a quantity of liquid no
more than equal to the quantity of rice, cook until most of the liquid is
gone, and add more liquid in small quantities while constantly stirring 
the mixture.  Here's a basic, and relatively foolproof, risotto:

2 tbl olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
1.25 cups arborio rice
1 cup white wine (Sauvingnon Blanc or Pinot Grigio)
4 cups chicken stock

Heat oil in sautee pan over medium-high heat.  Heat broth to simmer in
separate container (sauce pan, microwave container, etc.). Sautee onions,
garlic, salt, and pepper until onions are translucent.  Add rice and cook,
stirring, for 1 minute.  Stir in wine and reduce until almost no free liquid
remains.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add in chicken broth 6oz at a time (one
standard ladle-full), stirring rice constantly until done to taste.

Optionally, add in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf
parsley at the end.


Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 17:34:18 -0800
From: "Lorenz Wieland" <lorenz_wieland at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking rice
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

As an aside, many Italian cooks don't consider risotto complete without the
addition of butter and/or cream at the end, in contrast to what I posted
earlier.  I think the rice itself produces a creamy enough taste and texture
without the addition of dairy fat, but your mileage may vary.

-Lorenz


Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 21:45:41 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Partly OP: Brown vs. white rice?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Rice cultivation appears to have
begun in China and spread into southern Asia and India.  From there it
spread to Mesopotamia and on to Syria and Egypt by about the 3rd Century
BCE.   Rice cultivation was brought into wide-spread use in the
Mediterranean Basin with the Islamic Expansion.  Rice was grown wherever
possible in the Arab world.

Period (and often modern) European rice production was in the Ebro Delta of
Spain, the Caramague of France, parts of Italy and Sicily.  Rice growing was
not a happy occupation (or overly successful) in the Caramague of the 16th
Century as is documented in the Quiqueran de Beaujeau's "De laudibus
Provinciae."  Spain and Italy were better producers and the Spainish 
Brought rice production to the New World early in the 16th Century.

Had rice been imported from the Far East it would have been as expensive as
spices and would not have been used in the quantities the recipes require.

Milling rice is a very old process which appears to have originated in
brewing.  Milled rice is almost pure starch which makes it easier to
ferment.  As for period milling the question is, how far did they go?
Modern milling goes through four stages after hulling, 1) removal of the
epicarp, mesocarp and part of the germ, 2) removal of the endocarp, 3)
removal of the spermoderm, and 4) removal of the aleuronic layer and the
remaining germ.  The refined rice is then "polished" with linseed oil and
"shined" with glucose and talcum (polishing and shining are apparently
fairly modern techniques.  As I understand it, each stage of the 
refining leaves the rice lighter in color.

It is interesting to note that stage four milling removes all of the B
vitamins from the grain.  Lack of B vitamins is what causes beriberi.
Beriberi was not described until the 17th Century, which may mean that level
four milling wasn't practiced until then or that the diet changed so 
that other sources of B-complex were unavailable.

Bear


Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 13:02:29 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Partly OP: Brown vs. white rice?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> How early was rice grown in Spain and Italy?  Rice is featured in many
> English sources from the 14th and 15th centuries.  Also note that
> saffron is one of most common spices referred to in "Two
> Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books" - it appears to have been used
> extensively in spite of its cost.  Sugar was brought in to England from
> Cyprus and was still used quite heavily.

Rice was being grown in Spain in the early 8th Century, shortly after the
Moorish conquest in 711.  It was being grown in Egypt prior to that and was
probably being grown along the Levantine Coast to Syria.  It was being grown
in Cyprus and Sicily by the 10th Century and was being grown in the Po
Valley of Northern Italy by the 15th Century.

England imported sugar from Cyprus, Egypt and the Barbary Coast.  Rice 
would have probably been cheaper than sugar.

> Further, the preservative effect of de-germing the rice would still be
> important if the rice were imported to northern Europe from the
> Mediterranean basin instead of from the Far East.
>
> - Doc

I think you are overestimating the value of de-germing.  Most grain was
shipped whole and milled as needed.  I see no reason for rice to be any
different.  Most grain was eaten within two years and most milling did not
seperate the germ.  With favorable winds, it is only a few weeks from the
Mediterranean to northern Europe, so long term storage was not an issue.

Bear


Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 08:59:24 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Partly OP: Brown vs. white rice?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I don't know what kind of rice "brown rice" is, but i won't eat it,
and I rarely ate it even when i was a strict vegetarian. It's nasty
stuff in my experience.

Unpolished rice is not necessarily like American brown rice. I've
eaten rice that hadn't been polished to whiteness when i lived in
Indonesia and it was tasty, not like American brown rice. The junk
that is sold in America as brown ice is definitely an inferior rice.

Then again, i won't buy white rice grown in the US, because American
white rice is grossly inferior rice. One of the ways people bought
rice in Indonesia was to smell it. Good rice is fragrant, and
different rices smell different. I buy South or Southeast Asian rices
because they actually smell and taste good. I don't even buy American
rice for SCA feasts. I may compromise on some ingredients to save
some money, but not the rice.

Also, a nice high quality white rice soaks up sauces which brown rice
won't, so brown rice doesn't fit well into many cuisines.

Anahita
Strong-Opinions-R-Us


Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:34:18 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Partly OP: Brown vs. white rice?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Brown rice is any rice which has not been milled to the point of removing
the aeluronic layer.  Polished rice is milled rice that has been treated
with linseed oil to provide a "polish" coat.

Most rice in the U.S., brown and white, is long-grain rice, which is to what
I suspect you are really objecting.  Short grain and medium grain rices seem
to be starchier, cook better and have better flavor.  Some of the health
food brown rices I have encountered have actually been partially hulled
brown rice with a lot of chaff remaining.  Nutritional--maybe, but certainly
textural and taste deficient.

The primary nutritional difference between white and brown rice is the
epicarp, mesocarp, endocarp, spermoderm, germ and aeluronic layer of brown
rice contain the B vitamins.  When those are milled away to make white rice,
the rice loses much of its nutritional value.  If the diet consists mainly
of white rice without something to provide supplemental B vitamins, then
there is a possibility of beriberi.  Apparently some commercial processors
have been adding B vitamins to the coatings in the polishing process to help
reduce the chances of beriberi.

As a small aside, period rices were more likely to be short or medium grain
rice.

Bear


Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 14:42:39 -0400
From: Barbara Benson <voxeight at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Libro Novo/Rice Question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I am having a bit of difficulty digging something up and was hoping
that some good gentle might be able to assist me. I am working on
finding a rice dish for my Norman/Sicilian feast and getting
frustrated.

In Clifford Wright's book Mediterranean Feast he makes the following statement:
"I believe that the dish was once a kind of saffron pilaf known among
the Jews and Arabs of medieval Sicily who traveled north. As early as
the sixteenth century, the Renaissance chef Cristoforo da Messisburgo
had claimed that he thought rissoto con lo zaffrano was born in
Sicily." His website is just a repeat of what is in the book.

If my brain is not completely betraying me isn't Cristoforo the guy
responsible for Libro Novo? I do not have a copy of that and if anyone
does I was wondering if they could take a look see and share the rice
recipe being referred to (if it exists).

Anything to confirm or deny this line of research would be completely
welcome. I have poked about the Flori-thingie with very little
success, and searching for any of the above keywords mostly brings me
to websites in Italian - which is not particularly helpful.

--Serena da Riva
Barony of the South Downs, Meridies


Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 14:56:00 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Riso con lo zafferano and rice puddings
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

For the saffron rice one, I took a look at Clifford Wright's footnotes,  
and the historian citations he uses are good ones. The big problem is  
that most of the gastronomical scholarly stuff has only been produced  
by Italian scholars, in Italian. In poking around on the Web, I found  
lots of recipes for the Milanese version, which calls for a type of  
pork sausage, but I've seen modern-day Sephardic saffron risotto  
recipes that are of course pork-free. In Italy and Spain, the surest  
way to demonstrate that you weren't a "secret Jew" was to eat pork.  
Pork entered Sicilian cuisine with a vengeance when the Spanish took  
over the island. For Serena, I suggest that if you can find a Sephardic  
Jewish recipe for saffron risotto, that should be very close to what  
the Jews on the island ate.

<snip>

Gianotta


Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 18:44:03 -0400
From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Libro Novo/Rice Question
To: "SCA Cooks Italian" <scacooksitalian at yahoogroups.com>,	"Cooks
	within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

So, I had to get away from packing for a while, and decided to see how  
fast I could find rice recipes in the Libro Novo.  Didn't take *too*  
long to find four recipes (translation credit goes to Master Basilicus  
Phocus).  Here they are, along with one from Scappi, sent and  
translated by Mistress Helewyse.

TO MAKE RICE OR SPELT IN THE TURKISH STYLE

             Take one and half- pounds of rice that does not have bad  
smell and wash well with hot water, and then put to dry and clean it.   
Then take 8.8 avoirdupois pounds of good  milk of cow, and put it in a  
pot well- tinned on a three legged stand to the fire, and put inside  
named rice with a pound of very white sugar and make it to boil, always  
stirring with a wooden spatula for half a hour.

             Then put a half-pound of butter inside and a small amount  
of rose water, and when it is ready for the banquet, you shall put over  
it the sugar. (Extra sugar as a garnish)


TO MAKE TEN PLATTERS OF RICE OR SPELT (WHEAT) IN THE SICILIAN STYLE

             You shall notice the order of those of the egg tarts  
(recipe 77 C) with regard to above-mentioned, till that it is ready for  
the banquet in the small platter, then you make four or five positions  
per small platter on over and about of the size of an egg, and you  
shall place a egg per hole with the white and yolk.

             Then you shall give it sugar and cinnamon on over and in  
the same quantity that is given in the others.  Then you shall give it  
a heating with the mobile terra cotta (or metal) oven, and you shall  
sent it to table, and instead of egg, you can place the hard egg yolks  
on over and about, which does the same effect.


TO MAKE RICE OR SPELT WITH YOLKS OF EGGS AND CHEESE FOR TEN PLATTERS

             Take a pound of spelt or rice that is very clean and washed  
and is very white, then put it to boil in rich broth.  And when it is  
nearly cooked, take two pounds of grated hard cheese and ten egg yolks,  
and mix above eggs with the cheese and place in above rice with a  
quarter (ounce) of pepper, a small amount of saffron, always mixing  
everything well together in the pan, until it is finished cooking.

             And whenever it is ready for the banquet you shall put six  
ounces of sugar over it.  And if you shall put a half-ounce of  
cinnamon, it is nothing to take back, and you can also make without.


TO MAKE TURKISH RICE FOR LENT IN TEN PLATTERS

             Take two and half-pound peeled sweet almonds, and grind  
well and make milk, dilute it with water.  Then get two pounds of rice  
that is washed and wash again with hot water, so much that it is very  
white.  Then get a pot well tinned and clean, and put inside the milk,  
and the rice with a pound of white sugar, and mix everything well  
together, and then put to a clear fire always stirring it, till that  
the rice to you shall appear well cooked.  And at that time you shall  
take it off from the fire, and you shall put inside it a half-glassful  
(~3.5 ounces) of rose water.  And when you shall have it ready for the  
banquet, you shall put over it some sugar.


A saffron rice recipe from Scappi, isn't quite risotto, but it is rice  
with saffron. I don't have the Messisbugo handy. Sorry.
Helewyse

Per far minestra di riso con latte di mandole o con oglio.  [1]
Cap CCXXI, Terzo libro, folio 150
Piglisis il riso di Lombardia o di Salerno, nettisi, & lavisi con acqua  
tepida, & accioche rimanga piu bianco, & si cuoca piu presto facciasi  
stare in molle nell'acqua tepida per un'hora.  Cavisi, & lascisi  
asciugare al Sole, o al calor del foco lontan dalla fiamma, accioche  
non divenga rosso, & pongasi nel foco in un vaso di terra o di rame con  
tant acqua che stia coperto, & come haverà sorbito l'acqua, pongasi il  
latte di mandole con zucaro fino in piu volte, & facciasi finir di  
cocere di modo che resti sodo, & come sarà cotto, servasi con zuccaro &  
canella sopra.  Si potrà ancho alle volte servire per ginestrata,  
havendolo passatao per lo setaccio con piu zuccaro, & cannello pesta, &  
zafferano, & facendolo ricuocere con un poco di acqua di rose, &  
malvagia, ma volendolo con oglio, non occurre altro che metterlo nella  
pignata con oglio, acqua, sale, & zafferano, & nell'ultimo giungervi un  
poco di herbette, o cipollette soffritte, & in tutti i modi vuole esser  
servita calda!
   la minestra.
To make a dish of rice with almond milk or with oil. [1]
Take rice from Lombard or Salerno, clean and wash with warm water, in  
order that it stays more white, and it cooks faster let is soak in warm  
water for an hour.  Pour it out and let it dry in to the sun or in the  
heat of a fire a long way from the flame in order that it does not  
become red (toast), and put it on the fire in a pot of ceramic or  
copper with enough water that it is covered.  And when it has absorbed  
all the water add to it almond milk with fine sugar many times (enough  
to cover?) and let it finish cooking in such a way that it remains  
firm.  And when it is cooked serve with sugar and cinnamon above.  One  
can also at the same time serve like a "ginestrata", having passed it  
through a sieve with more sugar and ground cinnamon and saffron, and  
re-cook it with a little rose water and Madeira wine.  But if you want  
it with oil, don't do that but put in the pan with oil, water, salt and  
saffron and at the end add a little chopped herbs or chopped onion that  
have been fried.  And in all these ways this dish is prepared it should be  
served hot.


Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 05:27:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Heather Musinski <rachaol at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Libro Novo/Rice Question
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org, scacooksitalian at yahoogroups.com

Serena

    This is serendipity, because I was thinking about this recipe last  
night. I am re-reading bits of Italian Cuisine:A Cultural History by  
Capatti and Montanari, and this tidbit about rice caught my attention.
   "Rice took hold in the north of Italy in the fifteenth century. In  
1474 Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Lord of Milan, wrote two letters agreeing  
to export some bags of rice for cultivation to the countryside of  
Ferrara. This suggests that it had already been cultivated in Lombardy  
for some time."

    However, the mid-15th century seems to be the point when rice was  
embraced as a food product across most Italian regions. Prior to that  
time, the Arabs introduced rice to Sicily & Spain. In other regions  
rice was sold by spice vendors as an exotic. Capatti & Montanari also  
indicate that rice flour was used during the Middle Ages as a medicinal  
agent, or as a thickener, rather than the grain/carb filler that it  
became after the 15th c.

The recipe Wright mentions must be the one below:

77 C

TO MAKE RICE OR SPELT WITH YOLKS OF EGGS AND CHEESE FOR TEN PLATTERS

             Take a pound of spelt or rice that is very clean and washed  
and is very white, then put it to boil in rich broth.  And when it is  
nearly cooked, take two pounds of grated hard cheese and ten egg yolks,  
and mix above eggs with the cheese and place in above rice with a  
quarter (ounce) of pepper, a small amount of saffron, always mixing  
everything well together in the pan, until it is finished cooking.

             And whenever it is ready for the banquet you shall put six  
ounces of sugar over it.  And if you shall put a half-ounce of  
cinnamon, it is nothing to take back, and you can also make without.


Messisbugo does mention several dishes in the Sicillian Style, though  
this one is not explicitly titled as Sicillian. Basilius reddacted this  
one for a feast a few years back, and made the decision to cut back on  
the cheese. The 2 lb of cheese to 1 lb of rice made a memorable mass.  
Much more cheese with a little rice, than rice with cheese. It was a  
beautiful golden color, if I remember correctly. The dish was also very  
well received by the cheeseheads in the room.

Let me know how it turns out for you, if you decide to use it.
Rachaol


Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 13:36:02 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>>>
I've some questions concerning rice.  When did rice start appearing on menus
in northern Europe, what did it look like and what is the best modern
equivalent.

Daniel
<<<

Rice is believed to have been introduced into Spain in the 8th or 9th
Century with the Islamic expansion.  Cultivation spread around the
Mediterranean and rice was traded into Northern Europe.  Rice recipes are
found in most of the cookbooks of the High Middle Ages and later.  The
original European rice was probably a long grain similar to bismati, but may
have included other short or medium grain varieties.  Arborio is a medium
grain rice that appears to have been developed in Italy, although there is
not much information on when.

Bear


Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 20:34:09 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <eduard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Sep 5, 2005, at 2:03 PM, Daniel Phelps wrote:
> I've some questions concerning rice.  When did rice start appearing
> on menus in northern Europe, what did it look like and what is the
> best modern equivalent.

Info from assorted cookbooks:

Le Menagier de Paris (France, 1393)  -  12 recipes
Forme of Cury (England, 1390)  -  42 recipes
Le Viandier de Taillevent (France, ca. 1380)  -  2 recipes
Ein Buch von guter spise (Germany, ca. 1345)  -  15 recipes
Enseignements (France, ca. 1300)  -  2 recipes

It's obvious that rice is being used throughout England, France &
Germany by the 14th century.

Interestingly enough, "Libellus de arte coquinaria: An Early Northern
Cookery Book" (Grew & Hieatt), which dates to the 13th century
(written in Danish, Icelandic, and German), does not have a single
recipe containing rice.

- Doc
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Edouard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)


Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 21:26:20 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

But it's such a short work.  It doesn't contain a lot of things.
It's only 35 recipes afterall.

Johnnae

Daniel Myers wrote: snipped
> Interestingly enough, "Libellus de arte coquinaria: An Early Northern
> Cookery Book" (Grew & Hieatt), which dates to the 13th century
> (written in Danish, Icelandic, and German), does not have a single
> recipe containing rice.
>
> - Doc


Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:47:45 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food Safety / Food Preservation question
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

>> Needs _Wild_ rice!
>
> Except "wild rice" isn't a rice. It's a grass. Another bit of trivia
> picked up from this list. :-)
>
> But then I guess trying to sell "wild grass" has problems from a
> marketing standpoint.
>
> Stefan

Rice is also a grass.  Collectively, the grain producing grasses (wheat,
oats, corn, rice, etc.) are referred to as cereal grasses.  When you include
plants like buckwheat and amaranth, the collective term is cereals.

Bear


Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 14:44:23 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Mujadara vs. muzuwwara, related or not?
To: "Christiane" <christianetrue at earthlink.net>,	"Cooks within the
	SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

A couple of the recipes in al-Baghdadi have the rice simmered with the meat
and sauce until cooked.  I don't recall if they had lentils also.

The Arabs cultivated rice in Egypt, Spain, and Cyprus as well as Sicily.  It
was also grown in late Medieval France along the Mediterranean and in other
parts of Italy.  It is fairly certain that the Arabs introduced rice
cultivation to Mediterranean Europe from Egypt with the Islamic expansion
and that rice was introduced into Egypt from Persia, but that introduction
could be anywhere from the 4th Century BCE to the 8th Century CE.

A one liner in The Cambridge World History of Food suggests that although
the Romans did not grow rice, they imported rice wine.

Bear


Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 10:30:06 -0700
From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sugar and rice in Iberia
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Stefan wrote:
> 711? Rice and sugar in Europe, even if you include Iberia, that
> early?  That is much earlier than I had gathered from earlier
> discussions.

The Muslims - a combined Arab and Maghribi Amazight (Berber) force -
began their invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 711. They defeated
the Visigoths, whose own people were not fond of them, and there are
reports that in some places the populace opened the city gates to
admits the Muslims.

> I'm surprised they wouldn't have spread north from there
> within centuries of then. I got the impression from earlier
> discussions that both came in from the east, not from the southwest.
> Or is this complicated by the fact that while known in Spain they
> weren't really widely used because they were still items that had to
> be imported from the east?

I rather doubt they were growing sugar and rice quite as early as the
initial invasion - folks need a little time to settle down. But
around 750 'abd al-Rachman arrived and became the ruler of the rather
cultured region of al-Andalus.

He was the last surviving member of the Umayyad dynasty, chosen by
the last of the Rightly Guided Ones who succeeded Muhammed to rule
Dar al-Islam from the capital of the Caliphate in Damascus. The
Umayyads were assassinated and otherwise murdered by the 'Abbasids
who decided to take over. 'abd al-Rachman's mother was Amazight and
it took him a few years to make it to his mother's family, who were a
bit uncomfortable with him, fearing his presence would draw the wrath
of the 'Abbasids, who moved the capital city to Baghdad. But he was
welcomed in al-Andalus

So it is possible that sugar and rice were grown in the Iberian
Peninsula within the 8th century, and they were there by the 9th.
Another crop - not food related - was also brought around this time:
cotton.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:06:20 -0400
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Sugar and rice in Iberia
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Stefan wrote:
> . . . we have no way to determine how much earlier they were being
> used. In this case, the recipe is probably being casually tied to the
> Arab invasion of Iberia in 711 and the commonly accepted opinion that
> they brought rice and sugar to the peninsula. >>> 711? Rice and sugar
> in Europe, even if you include Iberia, that early? That is much
> earlier than I had gathered from earlier discussions. I'm surprised
> they wouldn't have spread north from there within centuries of then. I
> got the impression from earlier discussions that both came in from the
> east, not from the southwest. Or is this complicated by the fact that
> while known in Spain they weren't really widely used because they were
> still items that had to be imported from the east?
and Volker Bach wrote:
> Richard Fletcher speculates that the tipping point lay somewhere in
> the 9th/early 10th century. Before that time, even if both crops had
> been introduced, they would have been limited to market gardens
> catering to the foreign elite (and with strong trade flows in the 9th
> century, there's no reason they couldn't have been imported). Of
> course, by the twelfth century sugar and rice are common crops, so the
> introduction can't have been much later, either. Also, there's little
> reason to think the Visigoths were unaware of rice or sugar even if
> they didn't produce either.

     I have found that rice was cultivated by the Byzantines during the
6th C in southwestern Spain but on such a small scale that the Muslims
had to import in the beginning of their reign and took sacks of with
them when they first went to Valencia. The Fletcher speculation could
hold water as irrigation systems in Al-Andalus were re-established and
expanded between the 8-10th C which could be a factor upholding this
theory. Now we do have Avenzoar (1073-1162) commenting on rice bread
which he claims difficult to digest.  The 13th C Hispano-Arabic
anonymous MSS contains at least a half a dozen recipes with rice in the
title and many more calling for it as an ingredient.
     Stefan as far as the spread of rice is concerned from the Far East
to Europe please see your rice-msg
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/rice-msg.html  The answer
there is pretty clear :-D . Rice that was first cultivated in Spain by
the Muslims was around Seville and then spread over Al-Andalus and
northeast to Valencia. It had to have taken hold there by the time James
I conquered it from the Muslims in 1231 as Christians continued to grow
it as happened in Seville when it was conquered by Castile. There
Christians found 34% of the land dedicated to rice production.

Suey


Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 17:24:29 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sugar and rice in Iberia
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> However Being as the the Visagoths were allies to the Romans before they
> got royally stabbed in the back and the Romans copy much of the developments
> of Greece, being as it is generally accepted that Alexander the great brought
> rice back to the Med, it is quite possible that they knew of rice if not of
> its growing. Since they most likely knew of rice they would have found the
> Moors of Africa a viable trading partner from whom they could have
> acquired rice.

Rice was known, but, apparently, not grown.  Celsus, Pliny, Galen and
Dioscorides knew of the plant, but there are no references to its
cultivation in the Roman sources.  That it was found, probably in the Indus
valley, during Alexander's Indian expedition (327-324 BCE) is generally
accepted, but it's use other than as an imported medicine is unknown.  The
collapse of Alexander's empire and the expansion of Rome into the Greek City
States may have prevented adoption of sugarcane and rice cultivation at that
time.

The article on rice in The Cambridge World History of Food states that
rather than rice, rice wine was imported into Rome.  The article appears to
be citing, Lu, J.J. and Chang, T.T., "Rice in Its Temporal and Spatial
Perspectives" pp 1-74; in Luh, B.S.,ed., Rice:  Production and Utilization,
Westport, Conn, 1980.

Thus setting up the invite to the moors to come across in 711 by a
> Visagothic prince( rather kryptic that date). So whilst we can not prove
> rice was grown in Iberia before then we can accept I believe that it was
> maybe not in common ussage but still there.

Rice cultivation probably began in Egypt in the 6th or 7th Century (Owen,
Roger and Sri, The Rice Book, 1993.).  If true, rice was a relatively new
crop in the Mediterranean Basin and may not have had time to spread widely.
The Visigothic Kindom had spread from Spain into North Africa by that time,
but there is little evidence of a continuous trade with Egypt and no
evidence of rice cultivation.

By the time of the invasion, Islam was not yet one hundred years old and
it's expansion into North Africa began in 642, was interrupted by a civil
war, are restarted in 661 under the Umayyad Caliphs.  The conquest of North
Africa was almost complete by 682, but the Moslem army was forced to retreat
from the area around Tripoli by the Visigothic governor of Cetua, "Count
Julian."  Between a Byzantine invasion and a Berber rebellion, the Moslem
army was in a continuing state of combat until 698, when North Africa was
divided into three provinces.  Given the state of North Africa during the
period, I hardly think it was an auspicious time for spreading rice
cultivation west from Egypt.

Bear


Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:11:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Louise Smithson <helewyse at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period medieval rice, brown or white?
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

<<< But what I don't find in there is clear evidence of whether medieval  
European rice tended to be brown or white or either. Presumably,  
there would have been a preference for white similar to that of  
"white bread" at least for the nobility. But it does take more effort  
to mill/polish away the brown coating, but again the nobles weren't  
unknown for doing such extravegances. Was there a technical  
difficulty in hulling/polishing the rice?

Anyone have any comments?

Stefan >>>

We don't have very good proof that medieval rice was white but we have good circumstantial evidence.

1) brown rice goes rancid really quickly

2) it is very simple to polish rice, you need a really large pot and a stick, (something that looks like a giant mortar and pestle) you pound the rice and it polishes itself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cajun_woman_hulling_rice.jpg)

3) There are dishes made with rice which are "white" specifically biancomangere or the various blancmanges.
 
I did a whole bit on this for doc a while back and it can be found here: 
http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/rice.shtm

Helewyse


Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:11:04 -0700
From: Dragon <dragon at crimson-dragon.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period medieval rice, brown or white?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<<
Bear wrote:
Most rice in the U.S., brown and white, is long-grain rice, which is to what
I suspect you are really objecting.  Short grain and medium grain rices seem
to be starchier, cook better and have better flavor.  Some of the health
food brown rices I have encountered have actually been partially hulled
brown rice with a lot of chaff remaining.  Nutritional--maybe, but
certainly textural and taste deficient.
>>>

The specific varieties of long grain rice cultivated and sold in the 
U.S. are relatively bland and neutral compared to other types of 
rice, but to say that long grain rice in and of itself is flavorless 
is a rather long stretch. Both Basmati and Jasmine rice varieties are 
long grain cultivars and are both extremely fragrant and flavorful.

The method of cooking is also extremely important in bringing out the 
unique flavor of each rice. Overcooking and over-softening of the 
typical American variety white rice is responsible for a lot of the 
dismal reputation it has in my opinion. When properly cooked, it has 
a good, clean flavor that is a nice base for other things.

Personally, I think every type of rice has a distinct flavor, which 
in some cases is pronounced and in others is subtle. I can't eat as 
much of it as I used to so I no longer have 7 to 10 varieties in the 
house at any time. Each variety had it's own distinct flavor and I 
enjoyed all of them from time to time on their own with no condiment 
or accompaniment. I also found that the flavors of a given regional 
cuisine most often worked best with the variety of rice from each 
region, though there were times that I found I liked a different 
variety better with a given dish.

<<<
But what I don't find in there is clear evidence of whether medieval
European rice tended to be brown or white or either. Presumably,
there would have been a preference for white similar to that of
"white bread" at least for the nobility. But it does take more effort
to mill/polish away the brown coating, but again the nobles weren't
unknown for doing such extravegances. Was there a technical
difficulty in hulling/polishing the rice?

Anyone have any comments?
>>>

Rice milling and de-husking has been going on in Asia for centuries, 
perhaps millennia. I don't see the availability of white rice in 
period as being much of a problem because it stands to reason to me 
that the technology to do this moved with the grain out of Asia as it 
was introduced into new areas. I'm wondering if there might be some 
period sources dealing with agricultural practices of growing rice 
that might shed light on this. I think it would be more likely to 
find an answer in such sources than in cooking manuscripts. As we all 
know, cooking sources often rely on what is supposed to be common 
knowledge in the time they were written, very often what was common 
knowledge never gets written down and may be lost to subsequent generations.

I'll leave this with one final thought... I'd be willing to bet that 
blancmange wouldn't be called blancmange had they been using brown rice...

Dragon


Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 19:06:06 -0700
From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] White Rice
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I always assumed that the rice eaten by the gourmets in the Middle 
East was white rice. Somehow tough brown rice seemed completely 
incompatible with that otherwise refined cuisine.

Just the other night, i came across recipes and poems in ibn Sayyar 
al-Warraq's compendium of 9th and 10th C. recipes (Nawal Nasrallah's 
translation) that clearly specify white rice.

p. 263:
In a poem on the dish Aruzziya by Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi, by the 
recipe's creator:
"Aruzza with milk of any blemishes free.
Made simple with one kind of grain, drowned in fat [sheep tail fat 
and olive oil in the recipe]
How marvelous is the meat in it, with fat almost as much as the meat.
The meat slices like fresh dates, moist and tender. How pretty in the 
huge bowl it looks.
A closer regard will make you think it is the full moon but blemish-free."

The ingredients are:
lean rump meat thinly sliced and smoked, sheep tail fat, olive oil, 
salt, and water (avoid murri as it will discolor the dish).
And milk, galangal, cinnamon, and rice
The meat is prepared separately from the rice and milk. It's not 
entirely clear if they are mixed before serving, or if the meat 
garnishes the rice...

p. 385:
A recipe for faludthaj made with rice
"Choose Levantine rice or Yemenite. These are the best and whitest 
rice varieties available..."
(the recipe is an entire modern page long, so i won't include it)

I recall some other poems in the book that indicate how white a rice 
dish is, but can't find them at the moment

On the other hand, on p. 446, in chapter 108 - Making Grain Stews for 
the Sick - the first two recipes call for toasted brown rice.

In fact, in her Glossary, Nasrallah says, p. 557:
"Husked white rice is the variety generally used. Unhusked rice is 
called...'red rice'."

I wonder if even this "coarser" rice was really like our modern brown 
rice.  I ate red rice in Indonesia - it had been husked, and 
apparently partially polished, but not fully polished. The outer 
layer was a deep rich warm red-brown, kind of brick-red. When it was 
cooked the outer "skin", split open and the originally white inner 
part became pink. Not only was it really pretty, but it tasted 
wonderful, too, like rice with an almost nutty flavor. I'm sorry it's 
so expensive here, or i'd eat it more often because it tastes 
delicious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cargo_rice
This is probably what i ate in Indonesia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutanese_red_rice
This is now sold in US markets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camargue_red_rice
This is a type of sticky red rice

I also ate black rice in Indonesia - i have to laugh when i see it 
sold so expensively in the US as "Forbidden Rice", which is a crock 
of horsepucky and a load of manur... marketing hype. I know of two 
kinds of black rice. The kind i had in Indonesia is a medium grain 
that is husked but not polished, that cooks up more or less like 
regular rice, except that the black-purple skin splits open during 
cooking and the normally white inner part becomes a lovely lavender. 
I don't quite recall the flavor because it was used for kolak, a 
sweet snack food, and cooked with plenty of rich coconut milk, yummy 
palm sugar, thick slices of fresh ginger. The other kind is black 
sticky rice, which is used in parts of mainland Southeast Asia for 
sweets. There certainly is nothing "forbidden" about it anywhere in 
Southeast Asia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_rice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rice
These two entries are pretty much for the same rice. The second had a 
couple good photos and includes info on both kinds of black rice.

---

Next, i've read in several books on Ottoman cuisine that certain 
European scholars think that rice did not reach the Middle East until 
brought by the Mongols, when they invaded in the mid-13th C. Clearly 
those scholars don't read cookbooks! Not only is rice called for in 
the early 13th C. cookbook of al-Baghdadi, written several decades 
before the invasions, but in the mid-13th C. Andalusian cookbook - 
and rice production couldn't have gotten there in just a decade or 
two. In fact, as is clear, rice is called for in 'Abbasid 9th and 
10th century recipes, for 3 and 4 centuries prior to the Mongol 
invasion, as it is called for in 32 recipes.

---
Back in the late 60s and early 70s when i was a vegetarian (and for a 
short time even macrobiotic, because of some house mates), i was at 
times compelled to eat brown rice, which i considered truly 
unpleasant. Compelled only some of the time, because it was served in 
some restaurants i frequented, and by friends. I did cook it myself 
for a some months, but never liked it and switched to various kinds 
of white rice.

Many cuisines that feature rice are cooked in such a way as to create 
a fair amount of sauce. The dishes are meant to be served on or next 
to white rice, which will absorb most of the liquid and made the 
whole thing easier to eat. Brown rice, in my experience, doesn't soak 
up the sauce and just sits there, while the delicious liquids pool 
beneath it.

Current methods of processing brown rice make it more palatable (and 
cook faster), and i eat it when i'm in a "healthy" restaurant that 
serves nothing but. However it's still not on my list of things to 
buy for home. I'll get my fiber and my B-vitamins in other foods.
-- 
the person sometimes known as Urtatim
(that's err-tah-TEEM)


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:09:44 -0500
From: Michael Gunter <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

[Talking about Minute Rice]

<<< It did come in handy for camp cooking for 20+ people when
I had no oven and only a coleman stove. I wanted to avoid scorching the
rice on the stove even at the lowest flame I could get. I certainly don't
like the tasted of burnt rice.

I thought it to be a reasonable option. >>>

It's not too bad if cooked in a good chicken stock or some
type of flavored broth or water. But there are better options.

If you wish to aviod the burning of rice there are a couple of things
you can do when camping.
First is pre-cook the rice and seal. Then drop the bag of cooked
rice into hot water. No mess.

If you must use a pre-packaged rice then I suggest "Uncle Ben's
Boil-In-Bags". In taste tests it has scored the highest and is
very good and convenient. There is also much less cleanup
than cooking rice in a pot. Personally, I hate scrubbing pots 
when camping. 

<<< Is there something odd about the Minute Rice that I just don't taste? >>>

There is very little rice flavor in Minute Rice. More of a processed
cardboard taste. And the texture is way off. There are much
better choices out there currently. 

<<< Euriol >>>

Gunthar


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:08:19 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008, euriol wrote:
<<< Is there something odd about the Minute Rice that I just don't taste?

Euriol >>>

The box tastes better? (and yes, I did try, just so I could say that)

Use Uncle Ben's if you have to use instant rice. Minute Rice is...ugh. The 
only thing I have ever used it for where it was at all useful was blending 
it and using it to thicken soup.

Margaret FitzWilliam


Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:22:31 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I was going to argue against Minute Rice too but Lord Dragon beat me to it.

"Is there something odd about the Minute Rice that I just don't 
taste?"   Yeah, it has not GOT a taste.  And the texture of actual rice 
has been completely lost in the refining, cooking, drying and 
re-constituting of it all.  The savings in time is just not worth while 
for a "Feast", is it?  We really do want to try to make these Feasts 
more special than a meal at home, so we take a little extra time and 
trouble.

On the other hand... if someone has donated a case of the stuff, you can 
figure out a way to use it, well disguised.  I used up two cases of 
Rice-A-Roni [The San Francisco Treat] that my lord and I won from game 
shows as a base pilaf for a baronial luncheon.

Selene


Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2009 22:47:23 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook?

<<< I just finished reading the entire Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook for the
second time, and I can't find a single reference to rice. No rice.
Whatsoever. How is that possible? Did they not eat rice? Did they only
eat their Buraniyyas and Tafayas with only bread? >>>

"And he who wants to make khab? s from rice 
should wash it several times in hot water and 
strain the water off and sprinkle it lightly, 
then ..."

"Take tender fat meat and cut into the pot with 
salt, pepper, coriander seed and oil; cook till 
half done and then cut several peeled carrots 
into "reeds" smaller than a finger, and throw in 
with the meat with a little water and a little 
vinegar and saffron; then sprinkle with a little 
washed rice and when it is all done"

"Kinds of Starch Dishes: Couscous, Rice, Meat 
Porridges (Harisas), Noodles and the Like."

"You can make rice and noodles according to this recipe."

"Preparation of Rice Cooked Over Water [a double boiler method]

Take rice washed with hot water and put it in the 
pot and throw to it fresh, pure milk fresh from 
milking; put this pot in a copper kettle "

"How Rice Is Cooked in the East

[p. 59, verso] Take rice washed with hot water 
and put it in a pot and with the rice put fat 
mutton, from the chest, "

"Recipe for Rice Dissolved With Sugar"

"Rice Har? sa

Wash the needed amount of rice and let it sit for 
a day in enough water to cover it."

"Good Jash? sha: It Fattens Thin Women and Men

Take crushed wheat and an equal amount of rice, 
and garbanzos and hulled and washed spices, "

"Recipe for Honeyed Rice"

Yes they used rice.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com


Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:51:10 -0400
From: devra at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] article on rice - a little late period

From the Fall/Winter 2010 quarterly newsletter of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

<<< Lost Plant Found?

There are only two species of cultivated rice in the world: Oryza glaberrima (African rice) and O. sativa (Asian rice.) Even though historical records indicate that African rice was at one time grown in several regions of the Americas, it is now almost unknown except in Africa, near where it originated--and Asian rice is displacing it even there.

Careful detective work has recently led to the discovery in the Republic of Suriname (in northwestern South America) of what appears to be rice descended from the African rice that was brought to the New World with African slaves.  Small quantities of O. glaberrima are sold there for ritual use, and some of this rare rice has even been exported to the Netherlands for sale in shops catering to immigrants from Suriname.

Prior to the introduction of Asian rice to the U.S. in the late 1600s, African rice was the only rice species grown by slaves in South Carolina. Perhaps gardeners in South Carolina could grow African rice as an "heirloom" crop!

(Source: T. Van Andel, 'African Rice (Oryza glabberima, Steud.) Lost crop of the Enslaved Africans Discovered in Suriname." Economic Botany, March 2010, pp1010 (NY Botnaical Garden Press) >>>

So I guess that all those strange red and purple and green rices are just strains of the one species.  Now I'm worrying about a blight wiping out the species, the way we nearly lost our corn a few years ago....

Devra


Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 22:38:13 +0200
From: "Susanne Mayer" <susanne.mayer5 at chello.at>
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Since it is Pennsic I have a totally off-topic is
	Risotto

http://www.risogallo.it/risogallo/home.jsp?domain=2&lang=2

How To, a bit about the different rice types

Arborio, Carneroli  or Vialone Nano nd recipes

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/risotto.asp

more about risotto

So arborio is by no means the only italian Risotto rice.
Yes Risotto made propperly takes some time (NO short cuts, except if you 
have the easy cook variety, and enven then it will take at least a 1/4 
hour!) 20-30 min you add a laddle liquid at a time, stirr till it is absorbed by the rice, add next laddle,..., till all your broth (works best) is used up and the rices has still an *al dente* center but is creamy outside. "liquidness" of 
risotto comes from taste of maker ( I also brefer a bit thicker risottos as 
most italians would) region of recipe (some risottos resemble mor a soup, 
than others) rice type you use,....

as to saffron risotto = Risotto Milanese "ris?tt giald"

onion (white italian), saffron, broth, rice, butter, white wine (dry), salt, 
granna Padano , nothing else

recipe in Italian:

http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Risotto-allo-Zafferano.html

and here the story and history of the risotto, here they state that  the 
first recipes with rice roasted in butter and then slow cooked in broth is 
documentable in 1779

http://www.risottomilanese.it

and  I have to second  Johnnae: is indescribable  (pumpkin season 
starts,...)

Katharina


Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:03:44 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Risotto was Since it is Pennsic I have a
	totally off-topic is	Risotto

Here's another take on the history (since I am sure that Stefan needs  
more for a file):

http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/29/id/32/

http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/recipes/display/bycountry.php/recipe_id/727/id/3/pg1/6/
As early as the sixteenth century, the Renaissance chef Cristoforo da  
Messisburgo had claimed in his Libro novo [nel qual s?insegna a far  
d?ogni sorte di vivande secondo la diversit? de I tempi cos? di carne  
come di pesce] that he thought risotto con lo zaffrano (which he  
called riso all Ciciliana) was born in Sicily

Note:  These notes are for readers interested in pursuing this history  
further:

Messisburgo [also Christofaro di Messisbugo] was published in Venice  
in 1557 (see p. 72 of the Arnaldo Forni edition in Testi Antichi de  
Gastronomia no. 2 published in 1982).

My claim is not new, see Denti di Pirajno, Alberto. Siciliani a  
tavola: itinerario gastronomico da messina a porto empedocle. Milano:  
Longanesi, 1970, page 134,
and Maffioli, Giuseppe. La cucina veneziana. Padua: Franco Muzzio,  
1982, page 222.

Also see, for the growing of saffron and rice in Arab Sicily, the  
extracts of Yaqut?s (b. 1178) Mu?gham al-buldan and al-Qazwini?s (c.  
1203-83) Atar al-bilad (Notable things in countries and news about  
men) in Amari, Michele, ed. Biblioteca arabo-sicula. versione  
italiana. Torino: Ermanno Loescher, 1880-81, vol. (1) page 201 and  
vol. (2) page 238, par. 140 as well as al-Muqqadasi?s description of  
Sicilian saffron cited in Lewis, Archibald R. Naval Power and Trade in  
the Mediterranean, A.D. 500-1100. Princeton: Princeton University  
Press, 1951, page 211 and Wright, Clifford A. Cucina Paradiso: The  
Heavenly Food of Sicily. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, page 111.

How to cook:
http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/tips.php/id/12/

Johnnae


Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2012 19:41:18 -0500
From: Sayyeda al-Kaslaania <samia at idlelion.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brown rice

<<< I am currently trying to research the usage of brown vs white rice in 
period. The only mention that i have found so far is that white rice 
came in in Japan in the 17th C. 
(http://ask.metafilter.com/149004/History-of-white-not-wholegrain-rice-in-Japan)

Does anybody have a source that can shed more light? Gut feelings says 
brown rice, but that tends to be unreliable ;)

Arpad >>>

Here is what I have about rice in period. It's a tricky one to research. 
The citation precedes the notes, in the last one there are three notes 
from the same source.

Sayyeda al-Kaslaania

------Lewicki T, & Johnson M. /West African Food in the Middle Ages: 
According to Arabic Sources/. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974.

p 33 Rice was both collected from wild species and cultivated. /Oryza 
Barthii/ and /oryza breviligulata/ grow wild. /Oryza glaberrima/ was 
cultivated; and /oryza sativa/ was introduced late in period for 
cultivation.

------Miller, H. D. "The Pleasures of Consumption: The Birth of Medieval 
Islamic Cuisine." in /Food: the History of Taste/. Edited by Paul H. 
Freedman. California Studies in Food and Culture ed. University of 
California Press, 2007. 135-162.

p 150 During the first centuries of Islam, rice was most often served as 
an accompaniment to the main dish. With the rise of the Safavid and 
Mughal empires, however, elaborate and carefully prepared pilafs became 
the much celebrated centerpiece of the meal.

In thirteenth century Iraq, at least in the kitchen of al-Baghdadi, rice 
is simply washed and almost carelessly thrown into the pot, with only a 
brief caution to guard against it becoming "hard". So, although rice was 
common in the diets of medieval Muslims, and was grown throughout the 
Muslim world, from India to Spain, it was rarely accorded the exaltedly 
status it would later have in, say, Safavid Persia. Instead, it was 
treated as a staple to be mixed in the pot with spinach and meat, rather 
than as a saffroned dish served alone as the centerpiece of a meal.


------Nesbitt, Mark, St John Simpson, and Ingvar Svanberg. "History of 
Rice in Western and Central Asia." in /Rice: Origin, Antiquity and 
History/. Edited by S.D. Sharma. Enfield, NH: Science Publishers, 2010. 
308-340, 535-541.

p 315 The earliest of these cookbooks was compiled by ibn Sayyar 
al-Warraq in about the 940s or 950s and details 615 recipes drawn from 
over twenty cookbooks often written by or for caliphs, princes, 
physicians and leading political and literary figures. A small number of 
these recipes involved rice. This was typically husked white rice (aruzz 
abyad maqshur), which is often referred to as being washed, sometimes 
several times, "until it is clean."[4] Rice-bread (khubz al-aruzz) is 
described by al-Warraq as "less bloating than wheat bread." Among the 
recipes for alcohol-free beer (fuqqa') is one where rice was substituted 
for bread: the type of rice is described as ja'fari (literally "river") 
which may refer to its origin in the marshes of southern Iraq.
[4]. Nasrallah (2007:98, 109, 110, n. 6, 117-118, 238, 245, 258-259, 
261-268, 270- 271, 296, 308, 362, 373-374, 378, 384-386, 393, 408-409, 
446-447, 456).

P 332 The written sources of [the Early Islamic and Later Medieval] 
period suggest that there was somewhat more widespread rice cultivation 
than previously, and that this was undertaken in humid and/or 
well-watered areas of north-west Afghanistan, Iran (Dailaman, Gilan, 
Tabaristan, Fars, Khuzistan provinces), Azerbaijan, lowland Iraq, 
southern Turkey (Cilicia), north-east Syria (the Nusaybin area), 
Palestine (the Jordan valley), Egypt (Nile valley, Faiyum), Yemen (the 
Tihama) and al-Andalus. [66]

[66]. Le Strange (1905:234), Canard (1959), Ahsan (1979:90-92, 140-142), 
Watson (1983:17-19), Nasrallah (2007:385), Lagardere (1996).

p 336 Rice of unknown origin was available in Trebizond (Trabzon) in 
northern Anatolia in 1292; it might well be, as suggested by Venzke that 
rice cultivation did not reach Anatolia until the Turkish conquests of 
the 11th century AD. By the 14th century rice cultivation was well 
established in the Ottoman Empire. [87]

[87]. Venzke (1987-92), Beldiceanu and Beldiceanu-Steinherr (1978).


Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2012 07:23:46 -0700
From: "Daniel Myers" <dmyers at medievalcookery.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brown rice

The problem with brown vs. white rice is that they're both the same
species of plant - it's the amount of milling that determines the color.

Unfortunately I haven't yet found any strong sources which confirm the
color of the rice used in 15th century Europe.  I've started looking
through archaeological sources and late-medieval agricultural texts, but
I haven't had any luck so far.  A good late-period painting would be
nice as well ... the search continues.

Some of the recipes in extant cookbooks involving rice strongly suggest
that it was white rather than brown.  Rice appears prominently in dishes
that are described as "white" (e.g. blancmanger), however that's not
conclusive. 

- Doc


Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 17:29:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: Daniel And elizabeth phelps  <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brown rice

Actually there are two species of rice in common cultivation:

"Rice is a member of the grass family (Gramineae) and belongs to the genus Oryza under tribe Oryzeae. The genus Oryza includes 20 wild species and 2 cultivated species (cultigens). The wild species are widely distributed in the humid tropics and subtropics of Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Australia (Chang 1985). Of the two cultivated species, African rice (O. glaberrima Steud.) is confined to West Africa, whereas common or Asian rice (O. sativa L.) is now commercially grown in 112 countries, covering all continents (Bertin et al. 1971)."  All the continents except Antarctica one presumes.

Processing is what makes the color difference.  Rice processed to white rice has a significantly longer shelf life than brown.  That being said, isn't reasonable that if rice were to shipped a distance it would be white rice, especially since white rice would have been considered higher class than brown?

Daniel


Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 16:57:05 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brown rice

"Brown" rice is more properly "wholegrain" rice, that being rice which has 
had the husk removed and the bran and germ left intact.  Depending on the 
precise cultivar, the bran, which is the exterior of the seed, can be near 
white, light brown, brown, red or black (possibly dark purple).  "White" 
rice is "milled" or "polished" rice, which has had the bran and germ removed 
by milling.  Darker brans have a chemistry that may color the endosperm (the 
starchy core of the seed), so technically, you can have red or black "white" 
rice.

Any culture that can produce rice flour can produce polished rice, so the 
origin of polished rice could be in prehistory.  I am more of the mind that 
polished rice is of Persian origin (as an offshoot of parboiled rice) and 
was likely introduced into Europe during the Islamic expansion.  Parboiling 
rice gelatinizes and hardens the endosperm and permits the bran to be easily 
removed by rubbing (variants of this technique are used in modern 
polishing).  A couple of sources I have encountered suggest that this 
technique began somewhere around the Persian Gulf to improve the storage 
life of rice.  Harold McGee, "On Food and Cooking," states that India has 
been polishing its rice for 2,000 years.  If the technique is as old as 
stated, then it and rice were likely introduced into the Mediterranean Basin 
during the Islamic expansion,

Bear


Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 19:15:12 -0400
From: "Jim and Andi Houston" <jimandandi at cox.net>
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brown rice

Get a copy of "A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food" by KT Achaya.  There
are seven pages in there about the origin of rice and what kinds of rice
were grown where, by whom, and how it was traded throughout history. 

Madhavi


Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 19:05:12 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From: <lilinah at earthlink.net>
To: SCA-Cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Serving stuff over rice

On Wed, 23 Oct 2013, Jim Chevallier wrote:
<<< This article says that its culture was greatly expanded under the caliphs,  
but that it remained a luxury everywhere except in lower Babylonia, where 
it was  the basis for many popular dishes:

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/ahess_0395-2649_1968_num_23_5_421986 (1018) >>>

Lower Babylonia - the marsh area that Saddam Hussein drained, but which is being restored - was a rice growing region. Other rice growing regions within SCA period included, in Persia: the provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran at the southern end of the Caspian Sea; and in Egypt: the Nile Delta, centered around Damietta.

Rice was also grown in al-Andalus, in wetlands south of Valencia, but i don't know if more rice was consumed there than in other parts of al-Andalus or not.

In the areas where rice was grown it was often eaten by ordinary people, often in preference to bread. But these areas were small compared to the breadth of Dar al-Islam, where bread was the basic staple, and the chief grain served with a meal.

I was looking over some Ottoman feast information, and generally rice was not a problem for the palaces to purchase. Yet i came across some interesting information from a major circumcision festival in the early 18th century, that of the four sons of Ahmed III (princes Suleyman. Mehmet, Mustafa, and Beyazid) in 1720, for which the Surname-i Vehbi, extensively illustrated by the famous artist Levni, was created. Each table was arranged for 10 diners. There were a few small dishes (i'm not sure of what) placed around the table and the diners helped themselves with their fingers. In the center was a single dish which the diners shared, dipping into it with their spoons. One dish was rice pilaw with chicken. But there were many other central dishes that did not include rice. In fact, it was noted that each diner tore off a piece of flat bread, placed it before himself, and then put what he'd spooned out of the central dish on it. No individual plates, rice was only in a pilaw, an
d other meat dishes were served without rice.

I realize this is 120 years beyond our period, but it doesn't seem very different from the reports made by visiting European dignitaries the 15th and 16th centuries. Additionally, talking was discouraged during eating, and laughter positively frowned upon.

Finally, at these expansive state dinners, food was brought in, placed on the tables, diners at a little, and the dishes were whisked away. Europeans were shocked, since they'd barely gotten a taste, but it was also true that the Ottoman diners had only gotten a few mouthfuls of each dish. The food was not discarded but each dish was served elsewhere to people of lesser rank - and after they'd had their mouthfuls, the dishes went on to people of even lower rank. So while a feast might have several dozens of dishes, diners only had one or two mouthfuls of each.

Urtatim


Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 22:00:57 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: <lilinah at earthlink.net>,	"Cooks within the SCA"
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Serving stuff over rice

I bookmarked a paper on the history of rice that you might find interesting. 
http://www.ucrs.uu.se/digitalAssets/20/20474_HistoryRiceWesternCentralAsia.pdf

Bear


Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 14:00:35 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Side Dishes for al-Warraq

Ah, the someone averred defense.  Not necessarily a successful play on this 
list.  A number of us like references, footnotes and bibliography.

The comment on the nature of the recipes in al-Warraq is more telling and a 
far better point.  Multiple sources would be better, but I think I can make 
a speculative case for your observation.

Rice (and all cereals) have been cooked in water (and many other liquids) 
since the Neolithic and that manner of cooking is still with us.  There are 
recipes from the same region later than al-Warraq that use water.  So, the 
probability that plain rice is somewhat out of period is wrong.  However, it 
may have been out of favor.

The general opinion is rice entered Persia during the Achaemenid Empire 
(550-330 BCE) probably from India.  Lambton (Landlord and Peasant in Persia) 
provides the fact that rice production in Persia was limited during the 
early Islamic period and had expanded some in Persia by the later medieval 
period.  The conquest of Persia was essentially complete by 651 CE. 
Al-Warraq is 9th Century.  We are discussing a period of roughly 200 years 
during which rice cultivation in Persia was likely limited and the grain was 
more expensive than it would be after cultivation was expanded in Egypt, 
Spain and Sicily (becoming notable in the 10th Century).  Al-Baghdadi is 
13th Century placing it well after the expansion of Islamic rice 
cultivation.

Given and accepting these points as fact, the lack of a simple rice dish in 
al-Warraq might be attributed to the cost of rice in comparison to wheat and 
barley.  The speculation might be further reinforced by comparative cost 
data, contemporary recipes for simple boiled cereals, other other 
observations from the period.  Not an area where I am familiar with the 
available resources.

Bear

-----Original Message----- 
"Now, why do you consider plain rice as "somewhat out of period."

Well, the shortcut is that someone said so on Facebook a few weeks back. :)
More usefully, I see mentions throughout the text of serving with bread, or
of including rice IN a dish, but none of serving with rice, and no recipes
that we would describe as being a rice dish on its own. These do occur in
later period books, such as al-Baghdadi.

There is, of course, the argument that there would be no need to include a
recipe for something as basic as plain rice, but al-Warraq is very careful
to cover everything else in detail - right down to the ma' wa milh recipes;
meat simmered in salted water.

Aodh


Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 16:49:16 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Rice in al-Warraq (was: Side Dishes for
	al-Warraq)

You might find the sections on rice and rice dishes in Nawal Nasrallah's Delights from the Garden of Eden to be interesting reading. She documents the history of rice, varieties, and how it was cooked. See especially pages 66-67.

Johnnae


Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 15:55:05 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: <lilinah at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Side Dishes for al-Warraq

In their article "History of Rice in Western and Central Asia" [included in "Rice : origin, antiquity and history", edited by S.D. Sharma, 2010], authors Mark Nesbitt, St John Simpson, and Ingvar Svanberg note explicitly the small number of recipes that include rice among al-Warraq's 615 or so recipes compiled in the 940s or 950s. They also state that most are porridge-y or desserts. In some meat dishes, a relatively small amount of rice is added, apparently chiefly as a thickener.

They counted about 23 savory dishes that included rice as an ingredient - 3.7% of al-Warraq's total number of recipes - 14 are porridge-y; one is qibba - stuffed tripe (which has the Persian name "gipa"); 5 meat dishes have rice added, but not in a great quantity; one chicken dish has rice listed as optional; one is simmered ribs and rice and milk are cooked in the resulting broth - the description sounds like it results in mushy rice; and an oven baked meat dish with equal quantities of beans and rice. None results in anything like a modern pilaf. A number of these dishes have Persian names, which suggests a foreign source of the rice.

On page 316, they note that there are no references to serving dishes on a bed of rice, whereas many recipes refer to serving dishes with bread.

They also noted about 7 rice desserts, all pudding-like except one (which they call a pudding) which is a judhaba baked with duck drippings, and most made with rice flour.

When i get home i will verify this myself, since it seems i didn't keep a record of my initial count.

They also say, on pp. 316-317: "the references to adding rice may reflect courtly associations rather than common cooking traditions... This is particularly clear in the case of the golden condensed puddings (faludhaj, from Middle Persian paludag, literally ?purified?), where the ingredients include expensive long-distance imports (the main source of camphor was Japan and even the rice is specified as preferably coming from Syro-Palestine or Yemen, in both cases far removed from the kitchens of Baghdad), the process was labor intensive and there is gratuitous reference to straining through costly silk or linen cloth. The implication of these references is that rice was still regarded as a speciality ingredient rather than a staple. Several of these recipes are referred to in connection with Iranians or have Iranian names, and the fact that many other Abbasid court dishes also have Iranian names suggest a strong legacy from earlier Sassanian cuisine."

The authors note that there are four important cookbooks from the 13th century which include recipes for rice (they appear to be unaware of the anonymous Andalusian cookbook, perhaps because it has not be published in book form). They books they mention are :
-- The one compiled in Baghdad in the first half of the century by Muhammad ibn al-Karim al-Katib al-Baghdadi
-- The second is known as Kitab al-Wusla ila l-habib fi wasf al-tayyibat wa-l-tib (Book of the Relation with the Beloved in the Description of the Best Dishes and Spices), usually attributed to Ibn al-?Adim of Aleppo who emigrated to Gaza and thence to Egypt and includes a number of North African dishes as well as recipes identified with particular regions
-- The third is known as Kanz al-Fawa'id fi tanwi' al- mawa'id (The Treasury of Useful Advice for the Composition of a Varied Table), compiled in Egypt during Mamluk rule
-- the fourth was almost certainly compiled by ibn Raz n at Murcia in Andalucia and is titled Kitab Fadalat al-khiwan fi tayyibat al-ta'am wa-l-alwan (Book of the Excellent Table Composed of the Best Foods and the Best Dishes)

The authors say, on p. 318, the "Kitab al-Wusla is the most important for our purposes as it expressly refers to certain dishes which resemble what we recognize as pilaf." I note that this is 300 years after al-Warraq. Many of the other recipes are for meat dishes that include rice among their other ingredients much like al-Warraq's recipes, i.e., as a thickener or one of several ingredients, not a primary ingredient.

The authors go on to discuss rice in Central Asia, noting on p. 320, "Although the name [pilov] indicates a long tradition in Central Asia it was until rather recently more commonly made of barley rather than rice among the oasis dwellers. It was only the rich and wealthy that could afford to use rice in their pilov. However, during the approximately last century or more rice has become the most common ingredient."

On the other hand, the two, as yet untranslated, 16th c. Safavid Persian cookbooks have masses of recipes in which rice is a major ingredient, and a meat dish is either prepared and served on very carefully cooked rice, or the partially and separately cooked meat and rice are layered in a pot and cooked without disturbing before being carefully turned out on a dish and served. By that time - and in that place - two Persian provinces, Mazandaran and Gilan, were and are major rice growing regions - rice has achieved the status and condition with which we associate it.

But in earlier times, in Arabic speaking regions, rice is not the primary starch on which the savory dishes are served, but rather an ingredient used in modest quantities in savory dishes. The primary starch was bread, and a meal quite easily could include no rice whatsoever.

Urtatim


From: "Terri Morgan" <online2much at cox.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cool info blurb Japanese rice)
Date: January 9, 2018 at 3:06:54 PM CST
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

A friend of mine, Mistress Gisela, is working at a museum and in the course of her duties found a very interesting article about 1000-year-old rice. She gave me permission to share what she'd posted on Facebook. - Hrothny

---
This is sort of out of period but I thought some might find it interesting, especially those who follow Japanese culture, cooking and agricultural tidbits. As I'm researching for the Museum's WWI exhibit, I'm reading through 1917 and 1918 editions of the local newspaper in which I find the following.

Mount Airy News, Jan 17,1917

Rice Seeds 1,000 Years Old

Rice grown directly from seed grains 1,000 years old will be served the Emperor of Japan when he attends the autumn maneuvers of the Japanese Army in Shiga prefecture, is a dispatch from Tokyo. The ancient rice grains were found inside a wood image of Vaisravana in a little Buddhist temple in the Village Iwame.

Vaisravana is the god of wealth and his image had become so old as to need repairing. In the course of doing this there was found inside the image a flaxen bag containing the seed and a paper with the following instructions in ancient Chinese characters:
“This image has been carved for the peace of the world. If any one of the later generation open it he should put in new seed.” From the artistic style of the carving and the traditions relating to the image it was estimated that the seeds were 1,000 years old. They were planted and yielded a good crop. 
Milwaukee Centinel


From the fb "Medieval and Ren Cooking and Recipes" group:

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 

Wild rice is not closely related to "regular" rice of Asian origin (Oryza sativa) and is basically a New World food that to the best of my knowledge was not taken back to Europe

"Three species of wild rice are native to North America:

• Northern wild rice (Zizania palustris) is an annual plant native to the Great Lakes region of North America, the aquatic areas of the Boreal Forest regions of Northern Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Idaho in the US.

• Wild rice (Z. aquatica), also an annual, grows in the Saint Lawrence River, the state of Florida,[4] and on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.

• Texas wild rice (Z. texana) is a perennial plant found only in a small area along the San Marcos River in central Texas."

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	rice-msg	2 of 56