History of Rice Pudding
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
She’s perfectly well, and she hasn’t a pain,
And it’s lovely rice pudding for dinner again!—
What is the matter with Mary Jane?
— AA Milne, Rice Pudding
When we were kids, our grandparents live in a New Rochelle apartment building across the park near the high school. We would get wonderful deli rice pudding with meringue on top. The park was filled with weeping willow trees. My memory of the trees is ruined with the vision of the excessive trim they were given one time to prevent young couples from kissing hidden under the branches. But, that is a different story than today’s. I do recall that my mom’s, mom, Omi thought trimming the tress for that reason was ridiculous.
Anyway, the rice pudding was amazing. I made a copy cat Kozy shack pudding that was creamy and delicious. But, not quite the dry texture from my memory, that I was sought. The other day, I made egg bagels and have some eggs whites I must use. I figured I could make a healthy white omelet or rice pudding. Not much of a choice :-). While my pudding was baking, I got curious about the origins of rice pudding. That brings me to today’s post.
Wikipedia seems like as good a place as any to start the research. With all the “fake news” and “alternate truth” sites, it seems more reliable. That said, I cannot imagine that rice pudding could be controversial. According to Wikipedia, rice pudding may be made with rice and water or milk and seasoned with vanilla, cinnamon and raisins. I find some may use nutmeg or even cardamon. The pudding may be sweet or not depending if it is for a dessert or not. One of my mom’s cookbooks for example has a rice pudding and ham recipe. The pudding may be more custard-like with the addition of eggs. The pudding may be boiled (like Kozy shack appears to be) or baked (as I think the deli versino was). Wikipedia states that “Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world” and “can greatly vary even within a single country”. The entry continued that the “earliest rice pudding recipes were called whitepot and date from the Tudor period” with one of the earliest written recipes from 1615. Of course, rice pudding had earlier beginnings in England in the 14th century, was an expensive import and therefore, would have been only for the elite (kings & queens). Canadian and recipes in the United States, came from European immigrants initially. New England puddings use long grain rice is cooked partially on the stove in a double boiler and “finished” in the oven. Consensus is that the rice more likely came by way of India than China. Other references state that, “Rice pudding is the descendant of earlier rice pottages, which date back to the time of the Romans, who however used such a dish only as a medicine to settle upset stomachs”. One referenced an early Tudor recipe.
References
https://www.missfoodwise.com/2016/04/the-rise-of-rice-pudding-history.html/
https://writinginthekitchen.com/2017/10/08/a-brief-history-of-rice-pudding/
