Before I begin, I should state that I’m a fan of rice, and it’s something I can’t do without on a daily basis. I can do without potatoes for a few days, but I’d always miss rice. And besides, it’s so versatile and pliable that it can be anything from the first to the last dish in a meal, whether savoury or sweet. It’s the symbol of fertility and the food of the gods.

We are used to thinking of the origin of rice being in the Far East. In the 3rd century B.C. we hear of the extensive cultivation of rice in China. It is said that rice may have been brought to Greece at the time when Alexander the Great´s Empire dominated a large part of the known world. Nevertheless, its consumption was probably limited to Central Europe. According to Barbara Danusia, rice probably originated in India, a country where even today rice is the staple diet.

After a trip to the Indian subcontinent, famous Brazilian writer and sociologist Gilberto Freyre (1900- 1987) stated that he ate well in Goa as his daily diet consisted of two meals of rice, one of them with fish curry. In fact, in the East, rice is a symbol of nutrition and life, and for that reason it’s also a symbol of fertility. This of course is the reason why rice is thrown over the marriage procession as it leaves the ceremony that has united the couple.

There is also a reference to the existence of rice in the time of Darius when he ruled Persia and Mesopotamia in the 6th century B.C.  Much later, rice may have reached Europe during the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the Italian merchant republics.

Much like France and Italy, the Iberian Peninsula owes its consumption of rice to the Moors (7th/8th centuries), and for this reason the word for rice in Spain and Portugal- arroz- seems to have its origin in ar-ruz.  However, this word is not recorded in “Vestígios da Lingua Arábica em Portugal” (Portuguese Words with an Arabic Origin) by Frei João de Sousa.

The production of rice in Portugal was first recorded during the reign of King Dinis (1279-1325), who encouraged the cultivation of rice in conjunction with the drive to drain areas of marshy land.  From that time on, rice became the food of the masses, whereas previously it had been the food of the rich. Nevertheless, in the time of King Dinis, we have only one reference to rice in a mention of its flour, which was used in the preparation of the famous blancmange. This reference is attributed to the court physicist, Arnoldo de Vilanova. Blancmange had already been referred to in the monasteries of Reus in Catalonia in the 10th century, and the French also claim the origin of this dish in the monasteries of the Languedoc region. This dish, with rice flour, maintained its popularity and was mandatory in any medieval or Renaissance banquet.

Rice may have become more popular in the 16th century with the sale of rice pudding by women in the streets of Lisbon.

Meanwhile, we know that there were rice fields in the state of Bahia by 1587, and there are many more references from all parts of Brazil in the 18th century. There are records of the dispatch of barrels of rice directly from Brazil to the royal larders. The departure of the royal family to Brazil in 1808 permitted a direct supply and King João authorized distribution to the army.

Initially rice was probably regarded as a supplementary food like bread.  Only later did rice enter into the culinary art and be considered a versatile food and one capable of being the basis of a soup or starter, of a fish or meat dish, and even as a pudding.

Various different kinds of rice have been identified, but it would be pointless to define them all. However, the carolino is the one that has most adapted itself to Portuguese customs. There are also several methods of classification in Portugal, where the long-grain is abundant, and this can be subdivided, according to the Operative and Technological Rice Centre, into the “thin – sharp-ended” (the Indian type) and the “oblong – carolino” (the Japanese type). The first mention of rice in Portuguese culinary art is in the recipe book of the Infanta Maria (1538-1577). Right at the beginning of the “Notebook of Milk Delicacies” is blancmange. In this case, the rice is turned into flour to give consistency to the pudding. The next recipe is tigelada de leite (a bowl of milk), which presents a variation so as to make it “a bowl of rice boiled with milk”, and this could have been the origin of our present rice pudding. The third recipe is for rice pancakes (Beilhós de arroz), which is a recipe very similar to the fried rice cakes that are made in the north of Portugal during Christmas celebrations.

The Infanta married Alexander Farense, the 3rd Duke of Parma, and it’s possible that she wanted to take with her some of the recipes of the dishes she liked at the Portuguese court. In any case, the recipes did travel and today they are to be found in the Naples National Library, but we don’t know who read or used them. It is interesting to find a precious thing related to us in the manuscript “Il Panuto Toscano” (later turned into a book) written by Francesco Gaudenzio (1648-1733), who was born in Florence, where he did his novitiate in the Society of Jesus. After his novitiate, he left for Rome, passing though four of the most famous monasteries in that area, where he dedicated himself to cooking and presented a rice recipe Portuguese style (Per far il riso alla portughese), which is none other than our excellent rice pudding. It’s possible that Francesco Gaudenzio had access to the Infanta’s recipies or had eaten that rice pudding and worked out the recipe. Here is the recipe according to my free translation: For twenty people take a bowl of rice and a good jugful of milk, put the well-washed rice into the milk and boil and let it cook over a low flame stirring it until it thickens, and near the end of the boiling add a pound of sugar; when it is cooked mix in ten egg yokes well beaten in rose water and add them to the rice leaving it on the fire for a short time and served with cinnamon on top. I haven’t changed the original punctuation.

It’s fantastic how at that time and place a Portuguese specialty can be identified. The research on this manuscript was carried out by Guido Gianni, an erudite member of the Italian Academy of Cuisine, who has shared his research with me. It’s tempting to ask who would dare to use rose water again. It gives an aroma, of course, but this can be done with lemon peel, but the taste is different.

Let’s return to our ever-present rice. In the Portuguese culinary art we have learnt to use it in every way. In soups to begin with, and especially in chicken soup (canja). Although noodles would be added to chicken soup, I think that whenever this happens it should be called chicken soup with noodles because chicken soup was originally a thin rice soup. For this reason, tradition demands that this soup should be made with rice, but there’s nothing to stop chicken soup with noodles being a good and delightful dish.

But we have a lot of other soups that are topped off with rice. Even at the start of a meal, and especially in buffets, cold salads are served which include cold cooked rice.

But the Portuguese have also been skilful at preparing rice with garnishes, such as vegetables and greens. We have rice with tomatoes, with green beans, with a variety of mushrooms, with green peas and snow (sugar) peas, with spring greens, with the tops of greens, with green peppers, and with all kinds of beans, and even with chouriço and salpicão (Portguese pork sausages).

In the fish category, we shouldn’t forget our great tradition of malandrinho rice (dishes with rice and a variety of ingredients prepared as stews similar to paellas), which is typical of the north of Portugal and extending to the coast. Make sure it’s carolino rice. We are accustomed to eating rice with a variety of fish: bacalhau (dried salted codfish), cod cheeks, razor fish, octopus, lamprey, and various kinds of shellfish. Then of course, it’s obligatory to have rice with fried horse mackerel, whiting fillets, fried pieces of cod, and so many more.

As far as meat is concerned, the choice is just as wide. Apart from rice with duck, which has recently been much prepared, we have chicken giblets as our great success. I will never forget the excellent rice with veal that I once had in Marvão. But it can also be made with chicken and carqueja (a Portuguese plant used for flavouring rice dishes), with golada (pig’s tongue, heart, lungs and throat) with pig’s blood, with partridge, rabbit, and a lot more.

And let’s not forget the famous stomach linings stuffed with rice.

In the chapter on puddings, glory goes directly to rice pudding and its variations, with either more or fewer eggs, but always garnished with cinnamon.

With regards to specialties from other countries we have the example of Spanish paella that has become a global icon. And even Italian risottos which, while still bearing this name, have been adapted into other rice combinations which have abandoned the original Italian risotto recipe. This has happened because of the versatility in the use of rice. In Italy we find a dish identified as rice Milan style in 1574.

In Portugal we have a custom of combining rice and chips, almost an imposition from the north of the country concerning the garnishing of often simple dishes. Without wanting to appear a moralist on one’s pleasures, it seems to me that one should be selective and make a dish with either rice or chips and not with both.

Long live rice and all power to our carolino.

Bon Appetit

(C) Virgílio Nogueiro Gomes