Rice in European food

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Rice has played an important role in European culinary habits for a long time. Risotto has been part of North-Western Italian cuisine since the 14th century, while rice was used in Spain to make dishes such as paella since its introduction by the Arabs in the 8th century. South-Eastern Europeans (Bosnians, Romanians, Greeks, Turks...) eat rice in a variety of dishes, such as pilaf.

Rice thus predates potatoes, which only arrived in 1537 in Europe, but not widespread before the 17th century. Nowadays, naturally, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian food have all become so popular that rice is eaten more than potatoes, especially among younger generations of Europeans, and especially in Britain and Latin countries.

But rice has been used in traditional dishes in many European countries, and not just Mediterranean ones. One of the most popular desserts in France is named riz au lait (rice pudding), i.e. rice cooked in sweeten milk, and often eaten with brown sugar. All big dairy product makers, like Danone, Yoplait or Nestle, have their riz au lait, which fill the shelves of any supermarket in France, Switzerland or Belgium. Families often make their own at home, as it is one of the easiest dessert to prepare (just cook rice 45min in milk, maybe some vanilla sweetener and/or an egg, then serve in a bowl and add some brown sugar).

In Belgium, one of the local specialities is the tarte au riz (rice tart), which originally comes from the town of Verviers, between Liege, Maastricht (in the Netherlands) and Aachen (in Germany). You can find it in virtually any Belgian bakery.

There are many other traditional dishes in France and Belgium served with rice (e.g. with a Provencal sauce), and rice is indeed eaten a lot, as the quantities of rice boxes and bags in these countries' supermarkets confirm.

With the emergence of fusion cuisines, with strong Asian influences, rice has a assured future in Europe.
 
Rice pudding is popular here too - Muller is the main shop-bought one. There is a dish called kedgeree, which is rice and fish - it's named after an Indian dish, but is quite different.
 
Umm paella and risotto, those are some of my favorite dishes.

I heard that in Northen Italy, rice is more consumed than pasta. They even have pasta shaped almost like rice called "orzo" which is often used in soups and salads.

The variety of rice dishes from Europe seems more popular than their food with plain rice in Japan among young generation.

Are there any well-known German dishes with rice?
 
There is a german souffle with rice raisins, apple, egg, rhum and honey but I don't remenber the name...
 
misa.j said:
Are there any well-known German dishes with rice?

Not necessarily German, but rather Austrian (originally Hungarian and Serbian):

Reisfleisch (rice meat)

pikantes_reisfleisch.jpg


There's also Reisauflauf (rice casserole, usually sweet).

:)
 
Thanks Lacan and thomas!

I did a quick search and found out that rice pudding was pretty common in Scandinavian region as well.

Hashed beef(Hayashi rice) they have in Japan is originated in Europe, but it's been Japanized to suit their taste. It is nothing like the hash browns with corned beef & potatos you get in the US.
 
Oh yeah, a sausage on top of fake rice baby!

A good German beer helps chow down everthing!
 
I know in my family that we always cook rice with something to give it flavor. Usually its a meaty product to let the juice sink in the rice and give it taste... one of those square flavor paked concentrated things also works... in french i think it's called bouillon. I don't know in other nations but in Albanian and Turkey we at times mix rice with beans. Rice itself in a cooked manner is no longer called just simple rice but Pilaf, and the beans cooked in the soup manner are called fasule. So usually one puts rice on the plate and then pours the beans and their souplike, but thicker, juice into the rice and you can either mix it or make a kind of volcano arrangament with the beans and juice simmering in themiddle of the rice formation :p It's actually quite tasty and full of nutrient goods. It's also refered to as the poor man's meal because rice and beans are among the cheapest food commodities to buy.
 
The traditional Finnish foods that include rice are casseroles (e.g. carrot casserole), sausages, carelian pies and rice porridge. I guess there are other foods, too, but I think rice has been more of a supplement in foods in order to make up for meat... I don't know if it's always been so, but the traditional rice-including foods are nowadays eaten on Christmas, so maybe this is because rice was more expensive than other ingredients so it was used once a year to make foods that will fill you up really well.
 
The Dutch eat more rice since we, from the former Dutch East Indies, came to settle down in the Netherlands. Also the many Chinese restaurants brought rice to the Dutch. And today many Turks an Moroccans eat rice by their meals. So in the Supermarkets you will now find all type of rice.
I love the Pandan and the Basmati rice. But I love the Italian risotto as well.
But sorry I cann't eat sweet rice. That's a matter of taste.
 
miu said:
The traditional Finnish foods that include rice are casseroles (e.g. carrot casserole), sausages, carelian pies and rice porridge. I guess there are other foods, too, but I think rice has been more of a supplement in foods in order to make up for meat... I don't know if it's always been so, but the traditional rice-including foods are nowadays eaten on Christmas, so maybe this is because rice was more expensive than other ingredients so it was used once a year to make foods that will fill you up really well.
Interesting, as Finland is such a cold country I didn't expect people over there would eat rice traditionally. I am interested to go to Finland for Xmas. I heard Santa clause lives there.:p
 
I am an Australian and I am currently living in Strasbourg, France. In this province people eat potatoes traditionally rather than the French bread baguette. I have been invited quite a few times by French families for dinners at their homes; but I have never been served rice before during those invites.
Yes there are a lot of varieties of rice sold in supermarkets but in Australia there are more varieties. For example I never able to find brown rice sold here.:gohan:
 
Last edited:
Hi Minty,

I think that speaking about brown rice is what we call unpolished rice in the Netherlands? Yes you can buy this rice in Holland, it is rich of vitamine B.
But I never see it in restaurants, the white rice looks better on the table.
 
Elizabeth van Kampen said:
Hi Minty,
I think that speaking about brown rice is what we call unpolished rice in the Netherlands? Yes you can buy this rice in Holland, it is rich of vitamine B.
But I never see it in restaurants, the white rice looks better on the table.


Hi there, Elizabeth!:p

Thanks for the information about brown rice. Unfortunately I would not go all the way to the Netherlands just to purchase brown rice. Honestly I never saw any sold here.

Japanese rice is easy to find, for Chinese food I prefer Jasmine rice by sun rice which is an Australian brand, but I am told here by a supplier that Jasmine rice do not exists, yet I have been eating it in Australia for years. Since I can?ft find Jasmine rice, I try a few varieties of other rice like basmati which is Indian rice and rice from Vietnam and Thailand. In the end I decided the Thai rice tastes the best out of the three for me, Vietnamese rice is too hard and Indian rice is too dry.

Yes white rice look better on table I don't really have a problem with eating white rice, sushi one of my favourite food needs to made with white rice otherwise it won't stick.

:)
 
Well we also do not eat much rice ...more pasta and pizza as all know
in the noth of Italy there are differt plates with rice...
we eat a first dish than meat or fish and saled....with bread
not like in oriente that they eat with meat or fish as we eat salad.
Unfortanly we eat too much....each italian region (19) has her gatronomy and particular local dishes...there is a big difference
of what you eat in Venice and Palermo in Sicily.
bye
 
In Portugal, when I go to the local supermarket, I have 4-5 varieties of rice available. And as for traditional recipes there are several popular dishes like "arroz de marisco" (seafood cooked with rice) or "arroz doce" (sweet rice, roughly translated but it is simlar to a rice pudding).
paella-marisco1.jpg

er... never seen it with so many shrimp, but it is basically it.
arrozdoce.jpg

traditionally it is decorated with patterns made of cinnamon.
 
Wow, "arroz de marisco" looks really good! It looks a lot like paella.

I love rice dish with seafood in it, but I can never seem to cook it well. The seafood always gets over-cooked before the rice is done.:(
 
You are right Duo, I should put seafood right at the end, or I should just read the recipe. :p

Duo said:
I don't know in other nations but in Albanian and Turkey we at times mix rice with beans.
Hmm, beans & rice! Those are great. They are good by themselves, or I often use them as stuffing for my wraps with spiced chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatos and salsa.
They are very cheap and come in a bag with seasoning already in it, but I'm sure your family tradition dish is much better than that.

Oh man! I love learning about foods around the world. Can we please have the food forum in Eupedia too?
 

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