Although we've been selling it at Zingerman's for years, it's only in the last 12 months that wild rice really stirred my culinary passions. I started out to do a bit of research, hoping to add a small sidebar on the subject to Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating (my book in progress). But something in the first few articles I looked at got my energies up. Before I knew it, I'd spent a month reading everything I could get my hands on, calling all over the country, reading some more, checking out websites, and talking to everyone I could find who would tell me what they knew about it.
Those of you who know me won't be shocked that I found myself flying up to northern Minnesota to see a harvest first-hand at the end of August. I came back convinced that wild rice was one of the world's great under-appreciated foods or our era. Not surprisingly my originally insignificant sidebar has now become an entire chapter in the book. But rather than wait 'til the book comes out, here's a brief overview of what's got me going on the subject of wild rice.
Wild Rice--the Great Unknown
While we've all learned to eat risotto, pasta and polenta over the last 20 years, wild rice--perhaps the greatest native North American food--has somehow, sadly, been stuck off in an isolated culinary corner. Except in the state of Minnesota--where it's maintained a meaningful presence in everyday eating--wild rice has pretty much been relegated to:
- Cameos at holiday meals like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- The menus of historical American dinner retrospectives.
- Restaurant menus that want to exhibit their interest in the exotic.
- Commercially conceived boxes of "wild rice blend rice mixes."
While there's nothing inherently wrong with any of the above, the best that wild rice has to offer is kept out of the vast majority of American kitchens. Which is a shame, because the more I work with it, the more I eat it, the more I learn about it, the more I'm convinced that wild rice should again be an essential element in the upscale North American diet.
The Real Story on Wild Rice, OR Seven Surprising Truths about North America's Greatest Contribution to the Culinary World
Remember that all of the best known foods Columbus and crew carried back to Spain--corn, potatoes, chiles, cacao, vanilla, etc.--came from South and Central America. Of all the native American foods, only wild rice originated in our part of the world. So with that brief background in place, let me get to the crux of this culinary mini-crisis:
1. Wild Rice Isn't Really Rice
Despite its name this stuff isn't really rice. So where'd we get the name? In the same way that American Indians aren't from India and chile peppers aren't really related to true pepper, wild rice isn't rice. Unfortunately, early English and French explorers came across Indians eating this local specialty and related it to the grains they'd grown up with. The French called it "folle avoine," or "crazy oats." Since it grew in water much like the Asian rice they were eating at home the English went with the name "wild rice," which we're still stuck with today.
The Ojibway name for it--"Mahnomen," meaning literally "good berry"--is probably far more appropriate. Wild rice was the staple food for the native tribes of the Upper Midwest and central Canada. It was, and still is, essential to the cuisine and the culture of these tribes, the source of physical sustenance, playing much the same role in this part of the world as corn did further south. Politically, the fight to rule the rice beds was the cause of much conflict amongst native tribes, much as modern nations fight to control oil reserves.
Wild rice is in fact an aquatic grass that grows best in relatively cool climates, primarily in the in lakes and rivers of the Upper Midwest. It needs water roughly two and a half to three feet deep that moves at a steady, but moderate, clip. The rice won't grow in stagnant settings, nor can it survive in overly fast currents. The rice "fields" can be enormous, and also stunningly beautiful. Writing in 1836, pioneer author Catherine Traill reported that, ". . . seen from a distance, they look like low green islands on the lakes . . . when the rice is in flower, it has a beautiful appearance with its broad grassy leaves and light waving spikes, garnished with pale yellow green blossoms, delicately shaded with reddish purple, from beneath which fall three elegant straw-colored anthers, which move with every breath of air or slightest motion of the waters." (Recorded in Thomas Vennum Jr.'s Wild Rice and the Ojibway People.)
2. Not All "Wild Rice" is Really Wild
While no wild rice is really rice, I'm sorry to say that the majority of what's sold in America today isn't actually wild either. To the contrary, about 85 percent of the stuff consumers spy on store shelves is now grown in cultivated, man-managed, machine-harvested fields that are about as wild as a suburban subdivision. Unfortunately this "cultivated" or "paddy-grown" wild rice so readily accepted nowadays that most people don't even realize the oddity of calling a food "wild rice" when it isn't wild. The situation is so oddly out of whack that a recent article on the subject in a very fancy British food magazine implied that wild rice doesn't even grow in the wild anymore! Happily this revisionist history is completely inaccurate.
To compensate for this seeming absurdity, I'm intent on getting our language aligned with reality. For the purposes of this piece at least, let's call the authentic article really wild wild rice. The cultivated product, on the other hand, can go by its industry moniker, paddy rice.
From its beginnings in the late 1960s, paddy rice was bred to yield smaller, supposedly quicker cooking grains. Unlike the really wild wild rice, most paddy product is grown using conventional agricultural techniques, meaning it relies on commercial insecticides to control pests. Suffice it to say that after taste-testing literally dozens of samples over the last year, the big problem with the paddy rice is that, quite simply, it just doesn't taste very good. Despite my desire to find a spot for it in my pantry, I've found its flavor to be downright unpleasant. At best, it's out of balance, like badly mixed music. The paddy product has lots of earthiness that actually borders on being downright muddy. It lacks the light, natural nuttiness that makes the authentically untamed article so appealing. Ironically, it can also take five to ten times as long to cook--keep reading for more on this.
My main point here is stick to the real thing, which is by far the superior stuff: really wild wild rice from the river and lakebeds of the Upper Great Lakes of the U.S. and Canada--more specifically in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There, in its natural settings, wild rice is an annual; it reseeds itself each autumn when unharvested grains slip back into the lakes and rivers. The seeds have a specific gravity greater than water, hence they sink almost straight to the bottom where they may lay dormant for up to a decade, protecting the plant's future against poor crop years. Consequently, wild rice spreads very slowly, and almost always in a downstream direction. Seed growth starts when the weather warms in the spring. The first green shoots slice through the water's surface in June, and continue to grow until the stalks reach heights of three to eight feet above lake levels. When all goes well the harvest takes place sometime between mid-August and mid-September, depending on the latitude of the lake in which the rice is grown.
The wild plant is pretty sensitive to shifts in its environment. If water levels are low it won't grow well. Conversely, high water can cause problems as well, because sunlight can't penetrate to the sub-surface seedlings. And at any point in the season, storms can wreak havoc. Sudden rises in water level can pull up the plant's roots. People, though, are probably the biggest problem: dams, pollution, and powerboats are all serious obstacles to the success of the plant. 1999 was a particularly bad season--high levels of late summer rain dropped yields to very low levels. "The lakes looked like they'd been clear cut," one Minnesota native told me.
How can you tell when you're getting really wild wild rice?
For openers, anything that says "cultivated" or "paddy grown" isn't really wild. Of course, much of what's on the market just says, "wild rice" in which case you're sort of at the mercy of whomever you're buying it from. Cultivated paddy rice is now grown extensively in California, but there's no really wild wild rice there, so I'd turn down anything that originates in the Bear Flag state. Minnesota--the primary source of American really wild wild rice, also grows a good deal of paddy product, so there it's not as easy to distinguish merely by geographic origin.
Price can be a good indicator. If you see something for under $5, it's almost certainly cultivated. On the other hand, I've seen paddy rice selling for the same price as really wild wild rice, so it would be a mistake to assume that anything expensive is also authentic. Ultimately, you probably have to rely on the integrity of the source.
3. Wild Rice Doesn't Have to Be Dark in Color
Yeah, I know that we're all used to seeing wild rice that's steel gray to black. But the reality is that the best wild rice is consistently much lighter in color than that. So cast out those old images and make room for varied shades of gray, gold, brown and white. Almost everyone I've talked to that's spent a lot of time gathering, cooking and eating really wild wild rice comes right out and says that the lighter colored rice is what they like.
So how did the darker stuff become the norm? Well, pretty much all the paddy rice is very dark. And even with really wild wild rice--usually that from Canada--leaving on more of the outer husk adds weight to the rice. It does leave some of the nutrients intact that are removed when the husk is threshed off. But leaving the rice so dark also adds a lot of cooking time. And to my taste, it also detracts from the delicacy of the dish. If you haven't yet seen the really wild wild rice we've got from northern Minnesota, it's anything but dark--it's almost the color of well-worn driftwood. And more importantly, it's very, very good.
4. Cooking Really Wild Wild Rice is NOT Difficult
A lot of people I've talked to seem practically panicked when at the thought of cooking wild rice. Somehow someone has planted in their head an idea that to cook the stuff you've got to have your water to rice ratios and boiling times down to some sort of ultra-scientific T. But the truth of the matter is that few foods could be easier to cook than this one. It's one of the eight easiest meals I've made all year. Really, all you do is put some water in a pot, bring it to a boil, add the raw rice to the pot, put in a little salt and then cook it 'til the rice is al dente. When it's puffed open, fairly tender but still with a bit of firmness (how much firmness is up to you, just like when you're cooking pasta), just drain off any excess liquid and eat. Really, come on, what could be easier?
5. Wild Rice Is Native American Fast Food
Not only is it easy, the best really wild wild rice is also pretty darned quick to cook. So why does everyone think it takes so long? Well for openers, paddy rice can take forever. Literally 60 to 90 minutes. The fact that it doesn't even taste good makes it a marvel to me that anyone in the know would really even want it. It's true that the darker, husk on rices (even the really wild ones) do take longer, sometimes about 40 to 45 minutes. Happily though, when you're buying the lighter colored really wild wild rice, you'll be shocked to see that it's done in 20 minutes or less!
Which means that really wild wild rice--not McDonald's--is what Native American fast food is all about. If you've got time to cook pasta you've probably got time to cook good wild rice. Because there's so much less water needed, the time to bring your liquid to a boil is significantly shorter with wild rice than it is with water for pasta. Put together a salad while the rice is cooking, and in under half an hour from the time you first pull a pot out of the cupboard you can have an excellent, natural, and nutritious meal on the table.
6. Wild Rice isn't Just for Holidays
So now that you know that really wild wild rice is neither hard to cook nor requires hours of cooking time, you can stop serving it only on autumn holidays and make it the everyday food it once was. While it's true that the Native American tribes of the Great Lakes region traditionally served wild rice at almost every special occasion they never limited its use to festival meals. To the contrary, it was very much everyday food for everyday people. To limit ourselves to eating really wild wild rice to only two or three times a year makes about as much sense as having French Fries only on the Fourth of July. Why? Because no matter how I look at it--whether in terms of flavor, heritage or versatility--really wild wild rice deserves a regular spot on our tables.
Having done all this work on the subject, I've come to use wild rice in all sorts of dishes at almost every sort of meal. It's ideal in soups, as a side dish, in salads, omelets, and stuffings. It's superb with broiled salmon, with roasted wild game, chicken, turkey, or almost almost any other meat or fish dish. I regularly make a wild rice and tuna salad that's become a staple in our house. It's even great for breakfast in what is essentially the Native American equivalent of an Irishman's morning bowl of oatmeal--cook wild rice 'til done, put it in warm bowls topped with butter and maple sugar. So don't hold back--really wild wild rice is really meant for everyday eating, not for obscure holiday happenings.
7. Different Sources, Different Flavors
Although you'll almost never see it mentioned outside of the most specific texts on the subject (all of which are pretty obscure), the reality of really wild wild rice is there are significant variations in flavor from one to the next. Just as you'd expect from traditionally produced olive oils, wines, or cheeses, every source will yield a wild rice with its own unique flavor and texture.
Because the plant grows wild, we're not talking about the sort of varietal differences you'd get with different varieties of grapes or olives. But there are big differences, due primarily to three major factors. One is terroir, the influence of the soil--or in this case, the water--in which the plant grows. Another is the way the rice is harvested. And the third is how it's processed--i.e., the way the husks and the dark outer hulls are removed and the rice made ready for eating.
In the traditional wild rice regions any moderately aware Native American will be able to tell you where and when the rice in his cupboard was gathered. Aficionados will argue source quality the way French connoisseurs can go on about which wines are most desirable, or that Italians will tell you which region's olive oil is best (their own, of course). Remember, too, that rice from the same water source will vary from year to year, just as you'd expect with any other annual crop of naturally grown product. Old rice hands claim they can often tell you the source and vintage on blind rice samples you set in front of them. "Wild rice is like wine," one told me. "I can look at some samples of rice and tell you what year it came from."
With that in mind, we've put together a set of three rices, each with its own flavor, texture and cooking characteristics.
3 Different Really Wild Wild Rices from Zingerman's
Nett Lake Really Wild Wild Rice
This is the crème de la crème of wild rice. Some well respected food writers have called it "the caviar of wild rices." I can say that of all the wild rice I've tried, to me, it's the tastiest.
It's gathered by hand by ricers working in two person teams in canoes on the ----- Indian Reservation way up north in Minnesota, this rice is certified organic. And because no motorized boats are allowed on the lake (except for rescue emergencies), there's no residual diesel oil in the lake at all. While most wild rice--even most really wild wild rice--these days is machine dried, this is still hand-parched over open fires by two elderly gentlemen who pass the grain back and forth to each other with wooden paddles while it toasts. Later, the rice is threshed to thin its natural hull and then winnowed to separate out any remaining chaff. The wood fires leave a subtle but significant bit of smokiness in the flavor that's amazingly delicate and delicious. Texturally, it's slightly starchier than some other wild rices in a way that reminds me of roasted chestnuts. Some folks find this appealing and others don't--it's really just an issue of personal taste. It's good in almost any context but I like to use it to make stuffing, in salads or on the side with poultry or pork.
Interestingly, the hand parching process also speeds up the cook time--this stuff is ready to eat about 15 minutes after you put it into boiling water. So not only does this wild rice taste better, it's also easier to cook. You can also pop this wild rice like popcorn. Heat some oil in a heavy skillet and add a handful of raw rice and cook, shaking the pan now and again, 'til the grains puff up. Sprinkle with sea salt and eat it as is.
Cass Lake Really Wild Wild Rice
Gathered on lakes further to the south near the town of Bemidji, the Cass Lake really wild wild rice is also hand harvested in canoes. But instead of being parched by hand it's finished in wood-fired mechanical roasters. The Cass Lake rice is threshed to an even lighter color than that from up in Nett Lake--the longer the threshing the more of the dark hull is removed, the lighter in color will the rice (thing brown rice vs. white rice). The flavor is a bit more delicate and the texture is less starchy. The cooking time is longer, but not by much. It'll be ready in about 20 to 25 minutes from the time you add it to boiling water. The Cass Lake rice is great for breakfast with lots of butter and maple sugar or in light, brothy soups. It's also particularly good with delicately-flavored fish.
Canadian Really Wild Wild Rice
This is the least costly of the three, the darkest in color, and the longest cooking. It also has the strongest flavor, and is likely the most familiar to American wild rice eaters. Instead of working in canoes like the two Minnesota rices above, this one is harvested far more quickly with airboats, which will reduce its cost. But because they make only pass through the fields, the grains aren't always as uniformly ripe. (With the two rices above, on the other hand, the harvesters return day after day to gather newly ripened rice.) The bigger flavor is better suited to strongly flavored wild game, or full flavored wild mushroom dishes. Cooking time will be about 40 to 45 minutes.