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Enticing Rice

Mexico's Integral Grain

From the cool highlands of the Sierra Madre to the warm coastal beach resorts, rice is an integral element of nearly every Mexican meal. It is most often the sopa seca ("dry soup" course) that follows the sopa aguada ("wet soup" course) as part of the traditional comida. But this is not the grain's only place in Mexican cuisine.

Versatile and inexpensive, rice plays a major role in soups, main courses and desserts. Its mild flavor is the perfect foil for stronger ones, spicy or sweet. The rich broths of the Valley of Mexico, the seafood dishes of Veracruz, and several creamy dessert puddings all use rice to delicious advantage, as does the refreshing drink called horchata.

Photo courtesy of USA Rice Federation

Rice originated in Asia between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago, and Mexico played a crucial role in its world-wide journey which started when members of Alexander the Great's expedition to India in the third century B.C. brought rice from the subcontinent to Greece and Sicily. From Sicily it spread to the Moors of North Africa, who brought it to Spain.

There they taught the inhabitants how to grow rice, and shared their Arabic name for it: ar-ruzz, which became the Spanish arroz. The next leg of rice's journey was from Spain to Mexico, where the most abundant indigenous ingredients were customers can learn how to make arroz papanteco, red rice made richer and more savory with roasted red bell peppers.

Rice is also used in the hearty soups of Central Mexico, where caldo tlalpeño and caldo de indianilla — both made with chicken, garbanzo beans and broth — are served in restaurants and fondas throughout the cool winter months. The Latin American favorite arroz con pollo is also commonly served in this region.

In Mexico's more upscale restaurants, rice has begun to appear on menus in the form of risotto, such as the camarones gruyere con risotto featured at Mexico City's Les Moustaches. Wild mushrooms are also incorporated into risotto dishes, like the risotto con champiñones at the Casa Encantada resort in Ixtapa.

Countrywide, rice is partnered with another Mexican staple, beans — pinto beans in the north, black beans in the south, frijol de mayo and garbanzos in the central areas. Moros con cristianos (black beans with rice) originated along the Gulf Coast and are enjoyed throughout the southern states, especially Oaxaca and Guerrero.

Local and regional herbs are also cooked with rice. Chepil in the south, epazote in the central states, and cilantro and parsley in several regions add flavor to the grain, which is rarely cooked in savory dishes without the oil, onion, garlic and broth that make Mexican rice so flavorful.

Sautéing rice in oil before adding liquid was an Arab cooking technique the Spaniards adopted for the preparation of rice dishes, especially paella. This classic dish of the Valencia region was brought to Mexico and was the basis for countless variations served today throughout Latin America.

Versions of paella are popular in Mexico's restaurants, which often advertise one day of the week as "paella day." At Mexico City's Hacienda de los Morales in Mexico City, Saturday is the day customers can enjoy seafood paella, and at D.F.'s Parador de Manolo, five paellas are offered so that diners get only their favorite ingredients.

Savory dishes are not the only ones that use rice to absorb the flavors of the other ingredients. The sweet, creamy arroz con leche is flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, plus lime peel, the extra touch that sets Mexico's version of this dish apart from others. In Oaxaca, where the pre-Hispanic grain amaranth is produced, arroz con amaranto combines the two grains to make a pudding with a delicious, nut-like taste. Arroz con coco, a coconut rice pudding, is found in coastal areas, especially Veracruz, where the short-grain Valencia rice used in Mexico grows well.

Mexico's rainy season follows a pattern similar to that of rice's original Southeast Asian home. This makes two yearly rice crops possible in the state of Campeche, which borders Veracruz and shares the same warm, humid climate and tropical produce as the oryza (rice) family's birthplace. Rice desserts here are similar to Thai and Burmese confections.

In the tropics, the rice beverage horchata is refreshing year-round. In Mexico's higher, cooler central regions, it is especially appreciated in the spring, usually the hottest season of year. During Semana Santa (Holy Week), aguas frescas stands are set up in the plazas in front of the churches, and horchata is a big seller.

For more information and recipes, visit www.menurice.com.