Rice

The Spanish saw the lush tropical climate and many swamps of Ve-racruz as an opportunity to grow lucrative crops not suited to most of Spain. Rice was one of their earliest and most successful experiments. Just as the Levantine provinces of Spain are its only rice-producing area, Veracruz remains the only state of Mexico to grow rice on a large commercial scale. Perhaps this is also a link with the state’s African heritage, for the slaves brought their own rice-growing tradition from Africa to the New World plantations. Today rice is the basis of a dish that is almost synonymous with Veracruzan cuisine at its finest, arroz a la tumbada, a kind of cross between a soupy seafood paella and a risotto.