RECIPE - Drayman's/Maria-Isabel's Rice (Arroz de Carreteiro/Maria-Isabel)

We'll leave it up to the cook how he or she wants to baptize this dish when presenting it at the dinner table or on the buffet. As mentioned in yesterday's post on Flavors of Brazil, in the south of Brazil the dish has one name and in the northeast an entirely different one. The choice is yours. Either name, though, will yield the same delicious result.

More than a traditional side dish (because of the presence of the dried/salted meat) and less than a main course, arroz de carreteiro/arroz Maria-Isabel is nonetheless considered to be a side dish in Brazil, where meals tend to be large and dependent on abundant quantities of protein. If you want to serve it Brazilian style but don't want overkill, it pairs well with a small, thin grilled steak of any kind and a green salad.

The dish requires carne de sol, which is Brazil's traditional salt-preserved beef. It's available in butcher shops and supermarkets everywhere in Brazil, but normally not outside the country. Click here for an earlier article on Flavors of Brazil on how to make a good version of carne de sol in your freezer.

This recipe is for a very traditional, basic dish - very similar to how it might have originally been served. Some modern versions add sausage, other meats and additional seasonings, but this recipe is the stripped-down original.
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RECIPE - Drayman's/Maria-Isabel's Rice (Arroz de Carreteiro/Maria-Isabel)
Serves 6

2 lbs (1 kg) carne de sol (or charque)
4 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves, garlic
2 cups long-grain white rice
boiling water
3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

24 hours befor cooking, cut the meat into small cubes, place in a bowl or ban, cover with cold water at soak in the refrigerator, changing the water at least 3 or 4 times, to desalt the meat. When ready to cook, drain and reserve.

In a heavy deep pan, heat the oil, and then fry the onion and garlic until the onion just begins to brown. Add the meat and continue to cook, stirring very frequently, until the meat is nicely browned.

Add the rice and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until all the rice is coated with the oil and is turning transparent. Pour in boiling water to cover the rice and to reach two fingers' height above the top of the rice. Reduce heat, tightly cover the pan and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the water and is tender. This dish shouldn't be too dry, so if it seems to be so, add a small amount of water at the end of the cooking process, just enough to moisten the grains. Remove from the heat and let stand for ten minutes before serving.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

One Dish, Two Names - Drayman's or Maria-Isabel's Rice

Gauchos with drayman's cart

From the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Uruguay and Argentina, all the way to Brazil's semi-arid northeast is a distance of around 2000 miles (3200 km) as the crow flies and significantly farther by road. So it's not entirely unreasonable that there are large differences between the two regions - economic, racial, meteorological and cultural differences among others.

But there are also similarities shared by these regions at opposite ends of the country. They are united by language, by religion, by politics and by the media. Although they are miles apart, Rio Grande do Sul and the northeast are in many ways more similar than Rio Grande do Sul and either of its next-door neighbors, Uruguay or Argentina.

The proof of this is in the pudding. Or at least, if not in the pudding itself, somewhere in the kitchen. Many dishes, foodstuffs and techniques can be found both in Brazil's south and in its north, yet are absent just across the border in neighboring countries. Sometimes this is evident - a dish is known and loved across Brazil but totally unknown in neighbouring countries - but sometimes it's not. Although Brazilians in different regions might be sitting down to identical dishes at the family dinner table, they might not be aware of that, as they each call the dish something different.

arroz carreteiro

An prime example of this is a very traditional Brazilian dish of rice cooked with salted-dried meat. In southern Brazil it's known as Drayman's Rice (arroz de carreteiro) but in the northeast it's called Maria-Isabel's Rice (arroz Maria-Isabel). Same dish, different names. In fact, even the regional name for the salted-dried meat that is essential to this dish varies - in the south it's called charque (a Portuguese word related to English jerky) and in the north carne de sol (meat of the sun).

History makes it easy to see how southern Brazilians came to call the dish Drayman's Rice or Carter's Rice. This region was originally settled by ranchers who raised vast herds of cattle on the open plains of the region. The cowherds who tended the cattle often spent months out on the plains, far from the nearest ranch. A network of draymen, using ox-driven carts, serviced these remote locations, carrying anything that the cowherds needed that wasn't available locally. These draymen spent months on the trail following the herds, and they needed to be self-sufficient in everything, including food. Charque doesn't require refrigeration, nor does rice. All that's needed to prepare these ingredients is water and heat. Combining the two ingredients into one dish made sense, and once the practice of cooking rice and charque together became established, the dish was baptized Drayman's Rice.

In colonial times, the dry interior or northeast Brazil was also an area of cattle ranching, with the same settlement patterns as in the south. Here, presumably, draymen also travelled the trails of the backland bringing goods to the cowboys and ranchers, and presumably they ate the same dish of rice and dried meat. But for some unkown reason, in this region they chose to honor a certain, unknown Maria-Isabel when it came to naming the dish, ignoring drayman entirely. Who Maria-Isabel was, or what her association with the dish was, is lost to history and likely will never be known. But her name lingers on in the kitchens of northeastern Brazil.

Call it Drayman's Rice or Maria-Isabel's, Brazilians love the dish and it's a standard of traditional Brazilian gastronomy. Not fancy, but filling, nutritionally balanced, and comforting, it's an essential dish in the Brazilian culinary pantheon.

Next post, we'll provide a recipe for the dish.

RECIPE - Rice Pudding with Caramel and Fleur du Sel (Arroz Doce ao Caramelo com Flor de Sal)

Lucas Corazza

Yesterday's recipe for Brazilian rice pudding was the homemade original - today's is the downtown, day-after-tomorrow chef's showcase recipe. It is the creation of São Paulo chef/patissier Lucas Corazza, chef-in-command of the kitchen at the city's Bar.bar Gastronomia. In an article in May's issue of Brazilian food and wine magazine Prazeres da Mesa, Corazza advocates for the inclusion of rice as a legitimate ingredient in the sweet kitchen, and explains how he finds the grain useful in the creation of new pastries, desserts and sweets.

His recipe for rice pudding combines a fairly standard rice pudding preparation with a refined salty-sweet topping of cream-caramel and fleur du sel. Best served in a tumbler, or even better, a stemless wine glass this sophisticated dessert dresses up sometimes-dull rice pudding for a night on the town, São Paulo-style.
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RECIPE - Rice Pudding with Caramel and Fleur du Sel (Arroz Doce ao Caramelo com Flor de Sal)
Serves 10

For the rice pudding:
4 cups water
2 cups long-grain white rice
2 cups whole milk
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 vanilla beans
powdered cinnamon to taste

For the topping:
1 cup creme de leite (see note above)
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp fleur du sel

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Rice pudding:
Combine the rice, the water, the vanilla beans, opened with seeds scraped out, and the whole milk in a pressure cooker. Seal the pressure cooker, heat over medium high heat and cook for six minutes from the time the cooker takes pressure. Remove from heat, let cool to release pressure, then pour the mixture into a mixing bowl.

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, the cover the mixture with plastic film and refrigerate.

Caramel:
Heat the creme de leite over low heat, but do not let it boil. Put half of the sugar into a heavy saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until it caramelizes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the creme de leite very slowly, stirring all the while, until you have a homogenous mixture. Return the pan to the heat and bring it briefly to the boil. Remove from heat, stir in the fleur du sel, let cool to room temperature and reserve.

Mounting the dish:
Using cups or glasses as above, fill them half full with the chilled rice pudding. With a spoon, carefully pour a layer of caramel on top, then serve immediately.

RECIPE - Traditional Rice Pudding (Arroz Doce Tradicional)

Contemporary chefs around the world, no matter how avant-garde they may be, are also rooted in time and place to the culture which they inhabit. Ferran Adrià , considered by many to be the demi-god of molecular gastronomy, is intensely Catalonian and his dishes, no matter how unworldly they may appear, exhibit influences, ingredients and techniques that have been part of Catalan cuisine for more than a thousand years. Brazil's most inventive present-day chefs, at the same time that they are looking at food in entirely new ways and through 21st century lenses, still want their cuisine to be Brazilian - not European, not Asian, not even South American. Brazilian.

It's interesting and instructive, therefore, to "compare and contrast" (as our 7th grade English teacher loved to ask us to do) traditional Brazilian recipes with their contemporary re-imaginings. To see what's remained and what's been left behind. And to see what's been added, and how it's used.

To this end, we're going to publish today a very simple, very traditional and utterly lovely Brazilian rice pudding (arroz doce) recipe. Back in October of 2011, we posted a regional rice pudding recipe from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul (click here to go to that page) and in that post we discussed Brazilian rice pudding and its relationship to egg and milk based sweets from the Portuguese culinary repertory. That recipe, however, varied from the most basic recipe with the addition of lime peels and the absence of egg. The recipe below, taken from the website of Deli Art Cake Creations, a São Paulo sweet shop and caterer, is simplicity itself - nothing but rice, milk, sugar and egg yolks, spiced with a  cinnamon stick.

Tomorrow, we'll head to the other end of the Brazilian culinary spectrum with a recipe for rice pudding that could only come from the 21st century.
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RECIPE - Traditional Rice Pudding (Arroz Doce Tradicional)
Serves 4

1 cup long-grain white rice
4 cups whole milk
1 cup granulated white sugar
4 egg yolks - free-range if possible - lightly beaten
2 inch stick of cinnamon
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The day before cooking, combine the rice with 2 cups of the milk in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Before beginning to cook, combine the remaining 2 cups of rice and the beaten egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Reserve.

Put the rice and the milk in which it soaked into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently. When the milk reaches the boiling point, reduce the heat and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the rice absorbs most of the liquid. When the rice is almost dry add the additional milk/egg yolk mixture, mix thoroughly, then add the sugar and the stick of cinnamon. Bring to the boil again, then reduce heat and cook, stirring constantly until the milk has thickened and the rice is just beginning to dry out - the rice should have the consistency of risotto. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard.

Remove from the heat and let cool. You can serve it once it reaches room temperature, or refrigerate at that point and serve cold.

RECIPE - Shrimp and Rice, Espirito Santo Style (Arroz com Camarão Capixaba)

This wonderfully flavorful dish of rice and shrimp - halfway between risotto and paella - comes from the coastal state of Espírito Santo and is a perfect examply of how Brazilian cooks make use of clay cooking pots, something we've been featuring recently on this blog.

Espírito Santo lies along Brazil's southeastern coastline, bordered on the south by Rio de Janeiro state and on the north by Bahia. The coast has miles and miles of wonderful beaches, backed by the same spectacularly beautiful granite domes and mountains that famously frame Rio de Janeiro's landscape. Because of the long coastline, Espírito Santo's gastronomy is dominated by fish and seafood and the state is famous for its unique way of making fish and seafood moquecas - highly seasoned stews. Espírito Santo and Bahia are both famous for moquecas, but each has its own tradition. Bahian moquecas use coconut milk seasoned with dendê oil to provide the base for the stew; in Espírito Santo the broth is based on coconut milk, tomatoes and onions.

Espírito Santo's coastal cuisine isn't all about moquecas though - equally loved are rich and hearty main course dishes combining rice and any number of varieties of seafood. In Portuguese these dishes are rather prosaically called simply "rice and...". For example, rice and shrimp or rice and mixed seafood. In English they'd more likely be called risotto or paella, though technically they are neither. The rice used in regular long grain, so they really aren't risottos, which require Italian short grain rice. And they aren't really paellas either as they lack the essential saffron color and flavor and never mix seafood with chicken or sausages.

What does make these rice dishes special is that they are always cooked in clay pots. In Espírito Santo there is even a particular locally-based type of clay cookware known as Goiaberas, manufactured artisanally in Vítoria, the capital of the state. (Click here to read more about this type of cookware). The pots from Goiaberas are of a perfect shape and form to make this recipe, though it can easily be made in any type of pot or pan that you normally use for stovetop cooking. The resulting dish might not have the charm and Brazilian-ness that cooking in Goiaberas wear does, but those two whom you serve it will not complain, guaranteed. It's a wonderful dish for a casual supper with guests - informal, beautiful and tasty.
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RECIPE - Shrimp and Rice, Espirito Santo Style (Arroz com Camarão  Capixaba)
Serves 4

4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp annatto, ground or paste (can substitute sweet paprika)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
9 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes
2 medium onions, chopped, not too finely
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste
2 lbs (1 kg) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup green or black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
6 cups cooked long grain white rice
2 stalks hearts of palm, halved horizontally (optional)
1/2 small tomato, cut into four wedges
grated parmesan to taste
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In a large, low clay pot (or other pot or pan, like a large skillet or saucepan) heat the oil, then add the annatto or paprike and crushed garlic. Cook for a minute or two then add the chopped tomatoes, the onions, the cilantro and salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes, or until the tomato begins to break up. Add the shrimps, the coconut milk, the peas and corn and half of the olives and mix thorough. Lower the heat, cover the pot or pan and cook for ten minutes.

Uncover the pot or pan, stir in the cooked rice and continue cooking, stirring regularly, until the rice is heated through and has absorbed the liquid.

Serve at table in the cooking dish or other decorative serving dish. Garnish the surface with the tomato wedges, the palm hearts and the other half of the olives. Serve with grated parmesan on the side.

RECIPE - Broccoli Rice (Arroz de Brócolis)

Rice is the universal side dish on a Brazilian dinner plate. Often accompanied by cooked dried beans, but not always so, rice is served daily to an overwhelming percentage of the almost 200 million Brazilians. A meal without rice is almost unthinkable for many Brazilians, and when Brazilians travel overseas, it's commonly the scoop of rice that they miss most on non-Brazilian plates.

Even when there are other carbohydrates served at the same meal, rice doesn't relinquish its obligatory status. It's common to see rice and potatoes served on the same plate, or rice and pasta. Sometimes, in fact, all three appear on the same plate - apparently Brazilians haven't heard of the one-starch-per-meal concept.

Often Brazilian rice, though, isn't the plain unadorned, unseasoned white rice that is associated with most Asian cuisines. Many times rice in Brazil is closer in concept to what Asians and Middle Easterners call a pilau or pilaf - rice cooked in a seasoned broth, often with small quantities of meats, vegetables, nuts or dried fruits.

One of the most popular such dishes in Brazil is rice with broccoli (Portuguese: arroz de brócolis). Broccoli served on its own as a side dish is not common in Brazil, perhaps due to its relative priciness, but rice with broccoli is a common sight on buffet tables or lunch or dinner plates. A small quantity of broccoli, chopped up and mixed in with white long-grain rice, adds color and flavor to the rice, adding both to its visual appeal and its flavor.

Broccoli rice is very quick and easy to make and doesn't take much longer to make than plain boiled rice. Try it as a side dish with grilled fish or chicken, or with beef or lamb stews. It's also a particularly good way to get kids who are fussy eater to eat their greens too.
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RECIPE - Broccoli Rice (Arroz de Brócolis)
Serves 4

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely minced
1 medium bunch broccoli, crown only (reserve the stem for another use), finely chopped
salt to taste
3 cups cooked white long-grain rice, hot

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In a nmedium saucepan, heat the oil, then add the onion and garlic. Saute the vegetables until soft but not browned. Add the chopped broccoli, cover the pan, and sweat the vegetables for about 3 minutes, or until the chopped broccoli is tender. Add the rice and stir vigorously to combine all the ingredients and heat the rice thoroughly. Taste and season for salt, then serve immediately.

RECIPE - Red Rice with Eggpland and Miso (Arroz Vermelho ao Miso de Beringela)

A few months ago, the Brazilian food magazine Prazeres da Mesa held a gastronomic tradeshow and exhibition in Recife, Brazil. (See this post for a report on the Fortaleza edition of the tradeshow). In this month's print and online versions of the magazine, the Recife show is covered in detail, with stories and recipes provided by the many chefs who presented there.

One of the chefs featured during the event was chef Joca Pontes, of Recife's well-known Ponte Nova restaurant. A fierce advocate of local and sustainable food, Pontes was one of the first new-generation chefs in Brazil to work with red rice, and is an important part in the story of its renaissance.

At the Recife show, chef Pontes demonstrated the following dish, which in best 21st century tradition combines local ingredients and foreign inspiration, in this case Japan.

(As previously mentioned, Brazilian red rice is currently not exported from Brazil, but this dish works well with Wehani rice , available in North America and Europe.)

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RECIPE - Red Rice with Eggpland and Miso (Arroz Vermelho ao Miso de Beringela)
Serves 8

For the rice:
2 cups (400 gr) red rice
6 cups (1.5l) vegetable stock
3 Tbsp. (40 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
2 bay leaves
1 pinch ground cumin
1 pinch annatto powder (sweet paprika may be substituted)

For the eggplant:

1/4 cup (50 gr) granulated white sugar
1/4 cup (50 gr) white miso
1/4 cup (50 ml) sake
1/4 cup ginger liqueur
1/4 cup (50 ml) light soya sauce
1 Tbsp. (20 ml) light sesame oil
1 Tbsp. (20 ml) neutral vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. green onion, chopped
8 medium-sized okra pods, cut into rounds
1 Japanese long eggplant, cubed
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into julienne strips
1 small red or green chili pepper, seeded and cut in half
1 small red onion, sliced

For the ginger vinaigrette:
1/3 cup (100 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup (100 ml) neutral vegetable oil
1/4 cup (50 ml) light soya sauce
1/4 cup (50 ml) fresh-squeezed lime juice
4 tsp. (20 gr) granulated white sugar
1.5 Tbsp. ginger, freshly grated
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
mixed baby greens
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Rice:
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic and saute, but do not let brown. Add the red rice, plus the salt, bay leaves, cumin and annatto powder, stirring well to combine. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover the pan and let cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, then allow the rice to rest in the pan for an additionaly 10 minutes. Remove the rice to a serving platter, fluffing it with a fork, and reserve, keeping warm.

Eggplant:
Im a small saucepan, add together the sake, the ginger liqueur, the soy sauce and the sugar. Bring quickly to a boil, then turn off heat and stir in the miso to dissolve. Reserve. In a non-stick frying pan, combine the sesame and vegetable oils, and briefly fry the chili pepper. Add the okra, eggplant and green pepper and stir-fry until vegetables begin to brown. Reduce heat, then add the miso mixture, stir well to combine and cook for 2 minutes. Reserve, keeping warm.


Vinaigrette:
In a blender, combine the soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, grated ginger and mustard. Combine the two oils in a measuring cup with a spout. Blend with lowest speed, adding oils in a slow stream to create an emulsion.

Assembly:
In a mixing bowl, combine the baby greens with the vinaigrette, tossing to coat all the leaves. In a large non-stick frying pan, reheat the rice with a small amount of olive oil. Add the eggplant mixture, and correct the seasoning, adding salt if required. Using 8 salad plates, divide the rice, then cover each plate with the dressed greens. Serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Prazeres da Mesa

Red Rice (Arroz Vermelho) - The Plot Thickens

In this post from a few days back, Flavors of Brazil discussed the history of the cultivation of red rice (arroz vermelho or arroz-da-terra) in Brazil. In a nutshell the story was that this super-nutritious and delectable whole-grain rice, which had been disdained for centuries, was being rediscovered by the newest generation of Brazilian chefs. In subsequent posts, I provided two recipes for this grain, one traditional and one of-the-moment.

The day after those posts appeared, the newest issue of a Brazilian gastronomic magazine called Prazeres da Mesa appeared on my local newsstand, and I picked up a copy. One of the main editorial pieces turned out to be entitled A Volta do Arroz Vermelho (in English - The Return of Red Rice). It covered much of the history that I had posted on Flavors of Brazil, but adding something that wasn't in the sources I had previously read, and which I found very interesting. Around the middle of the Eighteenth Century, the Portuguese Crown outlawed the cultivation of red rice in its Brazilian colonies - for purely commercial reasons, as there was a royal monopoly on white rice. In compliance with that royal decree, the governor of the colony of Maranhão, Joaquim de Melo e Póvoas, decreed the following penalties for those caught growing red rice:

Free men - One year of imprisonment and payment of a fine of 100,000 réis of which half will be spent on public works and half given to the person who had denounced him;

Slaves - two years in chains with floggings from time to time;

Indian - two years in chains, only

They certainly took agricultural crime seriously in those days! It's no wonder, then, that red rice almost disappeared from Brazil, and that it was only semi-clandestine production in the semi-arid backcountry of northeastern Brazil that kept red rice cultivation alive.

In the post to follow here on Flavors of Brazil, I'll include one more red rice recipe, this time from the pages of Prazeres da Mesa.

RECIPE - Duo of Red Rice and Minted White Rice

In this recipe the humble grain red rice, which some call a weed, is elevated to stardom by well-known Brazilian chef Mané Young. Mané is chef de cuisine at Casa Jordão restaurant in the mountain resort city of Campos do Jordão, Brazil. Campos do Jordão, if it were in India, would be known as a "hill station"; that is, a resort in the mountains where tourists can go to enjoy a respite from the intense summer heat of the cities in the lowlands. The yearly average daily high temperature in the resort is 20C (68F) and at night the yearly average daily low is 9C (48F). These temperatures are unusual in Brazil, and throughout the year tourists come to Campos do Jordão for a breath of fresh, cool air.

Chef Young is an innovative chef, and has been one of Brazil's strongest proponents of using local and traditional ingredients to create a contemporary Brazilian gastronomy. He has created several dishes combining the formerly-disparaged red rice (arroz-da-terra, arroz vermelho) and other ingredients to lift what might be a pedestrian grain to a best-supporting-side-dish role on his guests plates. This recipe employs red rice and minted white rice to make a dish that has both visual and gustatory appeal.

(As Brazilian red rice is not available outside the country, you can substitute Wehani rice very successfully elsewhere.)

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RECIPE - Duo of Red Rice and Minted White Rice
Serves 4

3 Tbsp. (50 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp. (50 gr) butter
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup red rice
1 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup mint, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. creme fraiche
2 Tbsp. whole milk
Salt to taste
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Cook the red rice in 4 cups water by the absorption method. Remove from heat and reserve.

Cook the white rice in 1.5 cups water by the absorption method. Remove from heat and reserve.

In two separate frying pans, heat the olive oil and the butter over medium heat, until the oil is hot and the butter is melted, but not browning or smoking. In the frying pan with olive oil, add the chopped onion and saute until golden brown. Then add the cooked red rice and the milk. Salt to taste, stir to mix, remove from heat and reserve. In the frying pan with butter, add the chopped parsley, green onion and mint and immediatley add the cooked white rice and creme fraiche. Stir and cook very briefly, then remove from heat and reserve.

In a serving bowl or platter, or in a mold, combine the two rices decoratively (see photo for an example). Serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Gula magazine

RECIPE - Red Rice With Milk (Arroz-da-terra de Leite)

The natural variation of white rice which is called arroz-da-terra (rice of the earth) or arroz vermelho (red rice) in Brazil has always been a part of the traditional cuisine in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil known as the Sertão. This harsh land, where it rains infrequently and which suffers periodic droughts of catastrophic proportions, has a place in Brazilian mythology and culture similar to the "Far West" in American culture - an unforgiving, violent land where only the strongest survive. Literature, music, films and television have all influenced the way this region is seen in the rest of Brazil, but the reality is often different, particularly now that irrigation and water-control projects have reduced the social costs of the area's aridity.

The cuisine of the Sertão reflects the character of the land and of its inhabitants. There is a limited range of ingredients, and cooking techniques are restricted to those which were available in historic times, primarily cooking over a wood fire, either on a stove or in a campfire.

This simple rice dish, which in the Sertão is a traditional accompaniment to carne de sol, is surprisingly delicious and satisfying, and would go well with any grilled or barbequed meat. The Brazilian red rice used in the original recipe is not available outside Brazil, but other red rices, such as Wehani rice can very successfully be substituted.
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RECIPE - Red Rice With Milk (Arroz-da-terra de Leite)
Serves 4

1 cup red rice (arroz-da-terra)
4 cups water
salt to taste
2 cups whole milk, hot
2 Tbsp. whipping cream
Italian parsley, finely minced, to taste
1 sprig Italian parsley, to decorate
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In a large saucepan add the rice and water. Salt the water to taste. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring regularly to avoid sticking. When the water is almost totally absorbed, add the milk and cream and continue to cook, stirring more frequently, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Remove from heat. Mound the rice in a serving bowl or platter. Sprinkle with the minced parsley and add the sprig to decorate the dish. Serve immediately.

Recipe translated and adapted from Cozinha Regional Brazileira by Abril Editora

Red Rice (Arroz Vermelho) - A Weed Becomes a Star

Considered a weed in the world of rice cultivation, the red-husked variety of rice is leaving its sketchy background behind and becoming an object of culinary desire here in Brazil. Red rice has a long history in this country, and has always been appreciated for its flavor in the semi-arid regions of northeastern Brazil. Outside of that region, however, it's only recently begun to show up on diner's plates in high-end, chef-driven restaurants.

Red rice (called arroz vermelho in Portuguese, and also known in Brazil as arroz-da-terra and arroz de Veneza) first arrived in Brazil in 1535, in the state of Bahia. White rice arrived more than two centuries later in 1765. It's reddish coloration is a naturally spontaneous mutation of white rice, and a certain percentage of any crop of white rice will show this trait. In recent years, however, cultivators have been working to find a cultivar of rice that will produce a reliable crop of red rice every time. Just as they have always done with white rice, trying to find a cultivar that won't display the red variation.

Red rice has a more crunchy texture than white rice, as it is a whole-grain rice and has not been polished. It's flavor is a bit nutty, with hints of almond. Traditional northeastern Brazilian cooking has always known how to cook this rice to its best advantage, and now chefs in other parts of the country, notably São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and in the state of Minas Gerais, are adding red rice to their larders and creating inventive dishes that highlight its very attractive qualities.

In the next two posts on Flavors of Brazil, I'll provide two recipes for this rice, one a traditional recipe from the northeast, and the other a chef's creation from a mountain resort in southeastern Brazil.