Wild Rice Cooking: History, Natural History, Harvesting, and Lore
Wild rice, the upper Midwest's gift to gastronomy, used to be considered too rare, too exotic, and too expensive to cook in homes outside its native habitat. Today the grain is almost universally available, found in supermarkets in its pure state or mixed with white rice. Wild rice's crunchy texture and nutty flavor make it a gourmet's delight, far removed from its prehistoric role as the sustenance crop of the Ojibwa tribes, who harvested it from the lakes of what is now Minnesota. Hauser describes the different grades of wild rice available in stores and explains the best ways to cook each. Her recipes reflect elaborations that Minnesota home cooks and professional chefs have brought to wild rice, combining it with their European heritage to produce quiches, jambalayas, meat loaves, pilafs, risotti, and casseroles. Along the way, Hauser outlines wild rice's history and cultivation.Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.