Rice

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Perhaps the most curious use of rice in the wedding ceremony, was its use in some cultures not to unite the happy couple, but to feed the uninvited evil spirits who always attended the ceremony. The rationale behind this practice was to ward off evil, as well-fed evil spirits would bring no harm to the blissful couple.
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Varieties
From Bangladesh to Vietnamese varieties rice comes in all shapes, colors, flavors and sizes. With approximately 20 different varieties of rice each with their own varieties, rice is a highly consumed commodity worldwide. Rice is protected by a hull or rough outside layer when it is harvested. The bran layers are under the hull; under the bran is the starchy endosperm, easily recognized by the cook as a grain of white rice.

The most widely consumed and distributed varieties are Basmati, Jasmine, White, Brown, and Wild Rice (which is actually a grain and not a rice).

Basmati
A variety of long grain rice, famous for its fragrance and delicate flavour. Its name means "The Fragrant One" in Hindi, but it can also mean the "Soft Rice." Basmati Rice can only be cultivated in the Indian subcontinent at the Himalayan foothills. Pakistan and India are the largest cultivators of this rice.

Jasmine
A long-grain variety of rice that has a nutty aroma and subtle flavor. This rice should be rinsed before cooking to rid it of extra starch. The grains will cling when cooked, though having less amylopectin, it is less sticky than other rices. Most households in Thailand consume this type of rice and it is commonly found in supermarkets, this type of rice is mainly used for many types of rice dishes or plain white rice in Thailand.

White Rice
White rice is the name given to milled rice which has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain. After milling, the rice is polished, resulting in a seed with a bright, white, shiny appearance.

Long Grain
Long grain rice is just that, long and slender. When cooked, the grains remain separate and fluffy. Long grain rice is great when used as a side dish, main dish or in salad recipes.

Medium Grain
Medium grain rice is plumper and stouter than long grain. And, when cooked, the grains tend to be moister and more tender than long grain rice. Medium grain rice is great when used in desserts (rice pudding), casseroles and oriental stir-fry dishes.

Short Grain
Short grain rice is almost completely round in form. When cooked the grains usually stick together. This rice is best in puddings and in some stir-fry dishes.

Brown Rice
Brown rice is simply white rice that has not had the bran covering the rice grains removed. Removing the bran is done so that the rice is fluffier and cooks faster. Since brown rice still has the bran intact, it is a much better source of fiber. In fact a cup of brown rice has three and one-half grams of fiber while white rice has less than one gram of fiber.

Parboiled Rice
Parboiling is a process applied to rice to preserve some of the nutrients contained in the outer grain layers, which are normally lost during polishing (the bran and aleurone layers). After a short hot steam treatment part of the nutrients diffuse into the starchy endosperm, thus enhancing the nutritive qualities of the rice. The treatment results in rice that is slightly yellow, hence some parboiled rices carry the name "Golden Rice."

Wild Rice
Wild rice, grown in fresh water, is actually not a rice but rather strictly a grain. Cooked wild rice can stay fresh in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Texmati Rice
This is a hybrid rice; a cross between basmati and regular long grain white rice. It’s not quite as pungent as basmati and is light and fluffy when it’s cooked.

Wehani Rice
This is a brown rice from the same family as basmati. When it’s cooked, it looks like wild rice and some say it smells like popcorn!

Instant Rice
If you’ve ever needed to prepare rice in a hurry, you may have picked up this variety. This is, in fact, pre-cooked rice that has then been dehydrated and packaged. The consumer only need boil the instant rice for 5 – 10 minutes before it’s ready to eat. The dehydration process, unfortunately, removes a lot of the flavor from the rice, making this the least desirable form. It also tends to be rather costly as the consumer is paying for convenience.

How To
· Cooking Tips

Health Benefits
Rice is high in complex carbohydrates, contains almost no fat, is cholesterol free, and is low in sodium, unless you add salt to the cooking water. Generally all rice - both brown and white - is considered a good source of vitamins and minerals. Although almost all the nutrients are stripped from white rice when the bran layer is removed during milling, ninety percent of all American grown rice is enriched with thiamine, niacin and iron and in some instances riboflavin, Vitamin D and Calcium. White rice because it is enriched has more iron and thiamine than brown rice. Brown rice has five times more Vitamin E and three times more magnesium. Brown rice provides twice as much fiber as white rice, but it is not an especially rich source of fiber. On the other hand, rice bran alone is an excellent source of fiber. Rice is a fair source of protein containing all eight essential amino acids. It is low in the amino acid lysine, which is found in beans making the classic combination of rice and beans, popularly known as complimentary proteins, a particularly healthful dish. Rice is gluten free and easily digestible making it a good choice for infants and people with wheat allergies or digestive problems.

History
Rice is a grass, originating from semi-aquatic grass in Asia. It was first cultivated throughout Asia about 2800 BC when a Chinese emperor instituted a rice planting ordinance. It was entombed with the Pharaohs in Egypt and has been traded with Europe since the time of Marco Polo.

Rice first came to America in 1694. There was a sailing vessel on the way from Madagascar to Europe that was blown off course and landed in the colony of Charleston, South Carolina. The people helped with the repairs of the ship and so the captain gave them a handful of rough rice. They planted this rice and eventually it produced enough rice not only for their colony, but the neighboring colonies and for export to Europe as well.

From that beginning, American now produces 1% of the world's rice. The American rice production is centered in the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and California. America produces some 20 billion pounds of rice each year. If you were to put it in trucks, they would stretch bumper to bumper from Los Angeles to some thousand miles beyond New York City into the Atlantic Ocean.