PILAF, RISOTTO, AND OTHER WAYS WITH RICE

Offers international-style recipes featuring rice, including rice pilaf, paella, rice noodles, fried rice, and rice main dishes

Rice is one of the world's staples, feeding about half the world's population, though few Americans may realize its versatility. And while Asia consumes 90% of the world's rice crop, writes Fretz (Going Vegetarian), one can find rice dishes indigenous to the Middle East, West Africa, South America and throughout the Caribbean, and in the American South, particularly South Carolina. Her second chapter discusses how to add flavor to rice's nutty, fragrant but basically bland taste. For those who agree with Louis Armstrong, whose salutation was "red beans and ricely yours," there are outstanding recipes for rice and beans. But Fretz ranges far beyond the basic to Persian lentils and rice with fried onions to Puerto Rican "Arroz con Gandulez" and other incarnations that are unusual and tempting. Paella and risotto are lumped together, since both are Mediterranean in origin, and pilaf is well covered. Asian classics, such as "Sizzling Rice Soup" (here dubbed "a tempest in a soup pot"), are presented with little modification of traditional methods. Though not geared exclusively to vegetarians, most recipes use very little meat, making the book a good reference for the health-conscious.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Traditional cooking in Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East generally involves different types of rice and varied preparation methods. Regardless of how widely known this fact might be, Fretz sets the record straight, first by describing the attributes associated with special varieties--basmati (from India), popcorn (grown in Louisiana), long-and medium-grain rices--and then by thoroughly explaining the appropriate ways to cook rice. Recipes include pilafs, Spanish-and Italian-style dishes, and Asian delicacies. With high-carbohydrate diets being touted by many nutritionists, the myriad rice meals Fretz has gathered together--including entre{‚}es and side dishes, toppings, and sauces--may well prove interesting to a good number of cooks. Alice Joyce