On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 899

themsoftandmalleable,thenpressedbetween
rollers to make them thin and quick to
reabsorb water during cooking or simple
soaking (as for muesli). The thinner the oats
are rolled, the faster they rehydrate: regular
oatsareabout0.8mmthick,“quick-cooking”
oats are around 0.4 mm, and “instant” even
thinner.
Rice

Riceistheprincipalfoodforabouthalfofthe
world’spopulation,andinsuchcountriesas
BangladeshandCambodiaprovidesnearly
three-quartersofthedailyenergyintake.
Oryzasativaisanativeofthetropicaland
semitropicalIndiansubcontinent,northern
Indochina,andsouthernChina,andwas
probablydomesticatedinseveralplaces
independently,theshort-graintypesaround
7000BCEintheYangtzeRivervalleyof
south-centralChina,andlong-graintypesin


SoutheastAsiasomewhatlater.Asister
specieswithadistinctiveflavorandredbran,
Oryzaglaberrima,hasbeengrowninwest
Africaforatleast1,500years.
RicefounditswayfromAsiatoEuropevia
Persia,wheretheArabslearnedtogrowand
cookit.TheMoorsfirstgrewlargequantities
inSpaininthe8thcentury,thensomewhat

laterinSicily.ThevalleyofthePoRiverand
theLombardyplaininnorthernItaly,the
homeofrisotto,firstproducedriceinthe15th
century.TheSpanishandPortuguese
introducedricethroughouttheAmericasin
the16thand17thcenturies.SouthCarolina
wasthelocationofthefirstcommercial
Americanplantingin1685,wherethericegrowingexpertiseofAfricanslaveswas
important;todaymostU.S.ricecomesfrom
ArkansasandthelowerMississippiregion,
Texas,andCalifornia.
Kinds of Rice There are thought to be more