Real Wild Rice with Tomatoes
“Wild rice” is one of those culinary misnomers that says what it doesn’t mean — the true plant grows wild rather than cultivated, and it isn’t rice. And actually, most of what we see labeled wild rice isn’t wild, either, because most of it is a cultivated cousin to the original wild rice. (“Buckwheat” is another misnomer: the plant has nothing to do with wheat and is in fact related to the rhubarb family. It’s also gluten-free.)
True wild rice is an aquatic plant that grows along the Great Lakes; it’s always been an important foodstuff to the Native Americans living in the area. It’s harvested by weaving through the marshy areas in a two-person canoe and knocking the loose chaff off of the tops of the tall grasses as you paddle along. One person steers, one person does the knocking, and the grains are sorted out once the harvest is back ashore.
Cultivated “wild” rice, on the other hand, is grown in paddies in California, where it’s possible to grow and harvest it on a much larger scale. The grains are much darker — almost black — are a bit shorter than the grains of true wild rice, and have a harder bran than their wilder cousin does.
Having finally gotten my hands on a bag of true wild rice (thank you, Zingerman’s!), I can say that both varieties of wild rice are delicious. They’re so different that you’d have the classic “apple-vs.-an-orange” scenario on your hands if you tried to directly compare them. The cultivated variety has more crunch, has a much more pronounced nutty flavor, and visually stands out in any dish — when fully cooked, its almost-black grains split to reveal an inner white core. The original wild rice, on the other hand, has a smoother, gentler flavor, has more elongated and elegant grains, and is a much lighter color. While still chewy, it doesn’t have quite as much crunch power as the California-grown variety. Either grain could be the perfect fit for your dish — it all depends on what you’re looking for.
So, there you have it! If you come across a bag of wild rice marked “grown in Minnesota” (or another Great Lakes region) that costs four times as much as the other wild rice on the shelf, now you know why — you’ve just found the WILD wild stuff. If you’d like to sample something different, bring it home and give it a whirl in grain salads, pilafs, soups, anything you’d use whole grains in. Just be sure to store it in the refrigerator to lengthen its life. Might as well make your walk on the wild side last as long as possible!
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Tags: food story, side dishes, wild rice
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