From the world of mythology to our tables. How did we define the rice dish?

In Ramadan there is hardly a table in the world without rice, whether it is the main course or the side. Rice is cooked in small huts as well as in luxury hotels, and apart from Ramadan it can be eaten more than once a day, as it is a healthy staple that provides many nutrients.

So what is the story of the rice dish? How did he appear and travel the world? And what are the most famous dishes made from it?

Tales and legends

There are many stories about the origins of rice. In his book The Story of Rice, Indian writer Ramesh Dot Sharma refers to a number of legends woven around the beginning of the discovery of rice.

Japanese legends say that a swan flying in the sky gave grains of rice to the sun goddess "Amatricho Omi Kami", who planted grains, germinated and flourished, and then the sun goddess presented that heavenly harvest to her grandson, Prince "Ninji", and ordered him to take those grains to the land of the eight great islands, in reference to Japan.

In the Philippines, another tale was woven about a young girl from a family of slaves owned by a cruel master, whose name was "Aghmai" and she was sitting sadly near a stream, crying as she thought about the fate of her family, and only then did she see a golden bundle sparkling near the stream, "Aghmay" picked up the bundle carrying gold grains and buried it in the mud near the stream.

The grain germinated and grew, and after a few years of planting and harvesting there was enough grain to fill her family's hut with rice, and Aghmay's father was able to pay a large sum of money to his owner and became a free man.

Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world's population (Pixaby)

In China, rice is the gift of animals, and legend has it that catastrophic floods occurred and destroyed all the plants and there was no food available, then one day a dog ran through the fields to people with rice seeds hanging from its tail, people planted seeds and rice grew and hunger disappeared.

Mythology aside, the tale is closer to reality than China, where rice was planted about 7700,8 to <>,<> years ago in Zhejiang province, near the Yangtze River, on the banks of which archaeological remains of rice were found, according to Geography.

How did it get to our tables?

After the domestication of the plant in China, rice cultivation spread east to Korea and Japan and west to India, rice was cultivated in northeastern India and Myanmar about 4,1400 years ago, and reached southern India about <> years ago.

According to the Indian writer Ramesh Dot Sharma, maritime traders, warriors and travelers transported rice all over the world, and Asian rice arrived in Africa with Javanese sailors and settled on its eastern shores, where it began to be cultivated in Madagascar.

Rice arrived in Europe in the 11th century by Arab merchants who transported it from India to Iran and then Egypt, and from there to Spain and Sicily, then moved from Spain to Portugal, and later reached Italy and from there to Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania, and Russia imported rice for the first time from Iran in the early 18th century AD.

In 1685, a ship from Africa docked in Charleston, South Carolina, to repair a malfunction, and upon departure, the captain left a bag for which the United States knew of growing rice.

Different types

Rice is the staple food of more than half of the world's population and is a vital part of nutrition in much of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, providing more than a fifth of the calories consumed by humans worldwide.

According to the World Economic Forum, only 10 countries are responsible for 85% of the world's rice production, one outside Asia, Brazil, and two of them, China and India, together producing more than half of global production.

There are more than 40,<> varieties of rice in the world, according to The Forkedspoon. Despite this huge number, the most common type of rice is Asian rice (Oryza sativa), which has two main subspecies, Indica and Japonica. They differ mainly in length and adhesion: indica is long-grained and non-sticky while japonica is short-grained and sticky, also known as sticky.

Indica rice includes basmati rice and jasmine rice, while japonica rice types include Italian Arborio rice and Calrose rice.

Rice is a rich source of carbohydrates that can keep the body active, and brown rice, a whole grain, in particular is an excellent source of many nutrients, such as fiber, manganese, selenium, magnesium and vitamin B. But even white rice contains nutrients, which is a good source of folic acid.

Rice provides more than a fifth of the calories consumed by humans worldwide (Pixaby)

In Ramadan

In the kitchen, rice is characterized by its ability to absorb any flavors in which it is served, so it is always present on the dining tables, especially in the month of Ramadan with multiple recipes in different cultures.

In the Arab Gulf countries, rice occupies a major space on the Ramadan table, along with meat of various kinds. One of the most famous dishes of the Gulf, specifically Saudi Arabia, is the dish "Kabsa" made of spiced rice, meat and nuts, which has spread in many countries with additions and changes consistent with the eating culture in each country.

In Yemen, the "Yemeni mandi" is the main dish in most of the Ramadan iftars, and consists of colored rice with meat.

At the table of the Iraqi Ramadan, the Iraqi Quzi is strongly present, a dish rich in rice, spices and meat, often served on occasions, using lamb or beef, in addition to a side sauce prepared from flour, butter, meat broth, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, and the dish is decorated with fried nuts such as pine nuts, almonds, and cashews.

In the Levant, some recipes rely on rice as the main dish on the Ramadan table, such as maqluba, which consists of rice spiced with maqluba spices, fried eggplant, potatoes, and meat. Rice can be prepared as a side dish on the Ramadan table alongside vegetable and meat dishes.

In Egypt, the Ramadan table is not without rice, and rice is served with all kinds of foods next to meat, vegetables, soup and lentils, and is used to make different types of stuffing, and a basic dish is made from it in the Ramadan, which is "perennial rice", which consists of rice boiled in milk and cream, to which pieces of meat, duck or pigeons are added.