Researching Realistic Rice

Fanny Cradock turns her overly attentive eye to the subject of rice for part 25 (don't worry Fanny fans, we still have 55 parts to explore together...) and the many ways to cook with it. Fanny wants us to take a 'realistic' look examining its vast culinary potential. Judging by previous parts, we won't yet be cooking all those potential dishes, but merely laying down the foundations. Fanny gives a rundown of rice use throughout the globe, and reminds us readers it's very much like our potato - a basic and economical food. Thanks Fanny. She does hint that if we do proceed we will be able to make rice dishes for MIPs. Forget VIPs, for Fanny they are Most Important Personages.

Fanny tries her best to give some historical context to rice, but generally finds that every continent has claimed to be the true origin of rice at some point. So, she just goes with what she prefers... For Fanny, the 'nicest' legends come from the East, where rice is a symbol of life and fertility, hence, Fanny claims, why we throw rice at wedding couples. Not really Eastern then. One thing Fanny says is for sure is that every cook should know at least four ways to cook rice in order to elevate themselves one rung higher up the now enormous culinary ladder she has labelled 'Perfect Cookery'. I feel ready for the challenge, so let's go fourth. Erm...

Sweating. That's Fannys first foray into rice. She chooses ordinary Patna rice (she mentions it from time to time, but has only now explained this is 'common' general rice, or Long Grain as it is now known), but for super extravagance she would choose Wild Rice from the swamps of Florida. It's not clear if she forages for it herself while there. Fanny melts some butter, chops an onion, and flings them together with the rice. Stirring for exactly four minutes. She then turns it into a casserole dish, covers wth stock, slips a lid on and pops it into the oven until the liquor is absorbed, around 20 minutes. Technique two continues to cook on the stove top, adding the stock gradually, letting it absorb and adding more. We know this now as Risotto style, but Fanny calls this 'Fried Rice'. Confusing.

The 'fried' rice is sticky and gloopy, but full of flavour while the sweated version is plump and swollen. Different colours and textures. Fanny knows that this is not always desired, so gives two basic techniques for 'grain-separate' rice too. Fanny again uses Patna rice, but also says we can substitute with 'health' rice, which is brown. She haves it into rolling-boiling salted water, stirs it once and lets it simmer for exactly eleven and a half minutes. Timings are very precise for rice. That's it, it should be absolutely grain separate. It is. Technique four is to boil it for only 6 minutes, then drain it and shove it in the oven with some stock until it is absorbed. Fanny says this is ideal for serving with kebab meats on skewers. It's not as plump as the plainly boiled version. I'm not sure what the connection to kebabs is.

And there we have it - four basic techniques for rice. And, four very different results. The sweaty, swollen versions would be great with drier accompaniments, while the perfectly separate ones with wetter things. Take your choice. Once we have the techniques off pat(na), Fanny says we can reach even higher by switching up the chosen liquor as well as the chosen rice. She sometimes replaces some of the water with stock, and some of the stock with sherry, brandy and wine. It probably ends up with the rice being entirely simmered in vodka. Fanny reminds the less experienced among us that red wine should be used if serving with dark meat and white with light. Continuing to remind us to be realistic with our rice however, Fanny says these should only be tackled by highly ambitious cooks in the 'top flight' of rice cookery, and this confidence can only be gained gradually. Thankfully no MIPs or VIPs are expected anytime soon, so I can stick to the basics. Perhaps Fanny will give me a leg up that ladder sometime soon...