Rice

Rice production originated in prehistoric Asia but during the fifteenth century the North Italian plains were growing much of the rice imported into England by the Venetian and Genoese spice-ships. For this reason the short-grained ‘pudding’ varieties should be used, these presumably being in their polished rather than brown forms, since this was a high quality food, in which whiteness and purity were of some importance. A number of recipes closely follow those for frumenty, the grain being rinsed three or four times and blanched by being covered with cold water, brought to the boil and then drained. This would effectively remove all dust and dirt used to adulterate the grain, but may be omitted when using today’s cleanly-processed rice. The following recipes represent the four main varieties of rice pottages.