SC - Odd grains (was wheat vs. spelt)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

kat wrote:
> 
> Sitting on the shelf next to the rices, there was a small cellophane packet
> of *black* rice. 
<snip>
> Has anybody else heard of this?  Is this an actual Old World grain product,
> or is it a really fancy packaging idea?  It didn't look like wild rice; it
> *really* looked like a good long-grain rice, like a basmati, but it was
> coal-black.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was either treated in some way (sepia
ink comes to mind, which actually would probably be pretty yummy) or
actually was some black variety of rice. Rice does come in some rather
peculiar colors, not normally favored by Europeans who have long had a
fixation on white foods. Strains of rice whose endosperm is oddly
colored are occasonally available in a limited-market sort of sense,
often in the better Asian groceries. I have some red rice from Indonesia
in my cupboard, which must not be confused with the Chinese red rice
that looks like puffed rice dyed a sort of blood-red cochineal color,
which is actually a yeast culture (or possibly one of those
starch-converting molds) used for making wine from grains like sorghum,
and which (the puffy red rice, that is) tastes absolutely appalling. But
then it was never intended to be eaten... .

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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