Rice Book

Rice must be the most widely distributed staple in the world. From China to Peru and beyond, hundreds of varieties are prepared and consumed in thousands of different ways. In Rice: From Risotto to Sushi, Clare Ferguson has assembled 50 of the world's best rice dishes: the selection is a wide-ranging and imaginative testimony to this wonderful grain. She seems to have managed to include recipes from just about everywhere rice is eaten. From Persia, vegetables stuffed with a rice mixture spiced with pepper, cinnamon, mint, turmeric, cumin and sumak... From Italy, a classic saffron risotto... From Korea, a fried rice-flour pancake studded with oysters, served with a dipping sauce of chilli and sesame... Sometimes the rice is centre-stage, as with the risotto or the deliciously exotic Honey Rice Ice Cream (which is really a kind of frozen rice pudding mage with honey and orange juice); sometimes it plays more of a character part, as in Blinis, where rice flour tempers the flavour of the buckwheat basis. There are soups, there are stews, there are sausages and stuffed vegetables, noodles of every description, cakes and desserts. There is even a pie (from New Zealand). Clare Ferguson's writing is vigorous and uncluttered; the recipes are clear and easy to follow, and each is beautifully illustrated by Jeremy Hopley's photographs. What more can one say? A treat of a book. --Robin DavidsonRead More