Story of Rice

It is the most important food stuff in the world and the basic staple of possible half of the world's population. There are thousands of different varieties and nearly as many different ways of cooking it - I am of course referring to RICE

What has always been uncertain is just where and when man first decided to cultivate it. It has long been agreed that there are 2 sub-species of rice with one being predominant in China with the other in India but until very recently it has been thought that the domestication of rice occurred in a number of different locations over thousands of years

In a recent study in the Philippines broke down the genome to its most basic levels to determine just where it came from and it would appear that all rice is the same at this lowest of levels.

This means that it all comes from a single source and that has been determined as being from China with the first domestication taking place about 8,000 years ago and then transported to India about 4,000 years ago

Some burnt rice remnants were found in South Korea a few years ago and carbon dating seems to place these back over 15,000 years ago but there is still a lot of controversy over these findings and accuracy of the data

There are fundamental differences in length, consistency and taste between the 2 sub species which could be explained by accidental cross fertilization with local wild rice in India but they are still cooked and prepared in the same way, most of the time anyway

Everyone has their preference as to which rice is the best but personally I think it depends on what you are eating. On the whole I think that the longer Jasmine rice is better as an accompaniment to curries and dry cooked or tandoori chicken whilst the shorter rice goes better with the Chinese style stir fry dishes.

Another particular favorite and something I had not had before is sticky rice which is very popular in Thailand and is part of one of the regional dishes served with grilled chicken and som tum, a very spicy green papaya salad.

In the east, rice becomes a main ingredient in kitchen, on traditional dish in Costa Rican cuisine. A combination of rice and beans called 'Gallo Pinto', serve with vary of 'mariscos', fresh seafood, direct from Costa Rica coast.

In the west rice is seen as something to be had when dining out at the local Chinese or Indian restaurants but for many people it is the only source of sustenance that they enjoy, and not every day either.