Rice Pudding


Last week's random recipe from the Joy of Cooking was rice pudding. I had really only had rice pudding once before this so I didn't really know what I was in for. The Joy of Cooking presented two recipes: baked and a stovetop verison. I opted for the stovetop version because I was short on time. Turns out rice pudding is ridiculously easy to make. Cook rice, add milk and sugar and cook until thick, that's it. I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to mine, just to up the flavour a bit. We drink skim milk so that's what I used but I bet it would be a lot better with whole milk or with some cream added.

I mentioned I was short on time this week hence
this crappy picture

This entry seemed way too short so I thought I would google rice pudding and see what comes up. Turns out rice pudding is prevalent in almost every culture. Wikipedia lists several varieties from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America. The majority have the typical rice pudding backbone of rice cooked in milk, while some use ground rice to make more of a porridge then a pudding. The differences come in the form of the extra flavourings that are added. Cinnamon is an overwhelming favourite and shows up in rice pudding in almost every part of the world. I was hoping to see some really interesting ingredients added to rice pudding around the world but flavourings seem pretty standard. Besides cinnamon some other common additions are: nutmeg, ginger, raisins and orange zest. There are however some interesting Christmas rice pudding traditions in Scandinavia. An almond is hidden in a big bowl of rice pudding, whoever gets the almond in their portion has good luck for the year. Rice pudding shows up in so many places around the world because it is really easy and really delicious... so go and make some, you won't be disappointed.