[Sca-cooks] Partly OP: Brown vs. white rice?

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Adamantius wrote:
>I don't recall saying that there was no difference, or that I smelled
>none. I believe I said that both had an aroma, and that Carolina was
>pleasant in its own way.

I apologize for my misinterpretation. I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

I had written:
>  >  I was not prejudiced against American rices until after i returned
>  >from Indonesia. On a few occasions, especially when financially
>  >strapped, i purchased American rice, thinking there couldn't be a
>  >big difference. However, upon cooking and eating it, i found i
>  >really could taste and smell a difference.

And by taste and smell a difference, i meant that i found the flavor 
and odor of American rice less pleasant.

>I'm sure there is one, and when your personal preferences are attuned
>in a particular direction, they sometimes aren't met when a staple
>changes brands suddenly. But I question whether personal preference
>really has much to do with any kind of empirical quality standards. I
>think that, basically, you started out in life expecting "rice" to
>taste like American rice, and then moved outside of the US, where
>your expectations changed. When you returned to the US, rice just
>wasn't the same for you, but it was actually you that changed.

I am sure you are right. In fact, growing up, all we ate at home was 
Uncle Ben's Rice.

>My lady wife is also rather particular about her rice, but she's
>inclined, all other things being equal, to prefer American rice
>because of higher (yes, I can hear you all laughing) hygienic
>standards in American factories and warehouses than in most
>Chinese ones, if not elsewhere in Asia.

I'm not laughing.

While i would say that in Indonesia most people have an urge to 
cleanliness, the physical environment, infrastructure, and lack of 
good education work against that urge. For example, the rice i was 
buying was in open baskets, the road was unpaved so the pedestrians 
kicked up dust and other stuff as they walked by, people put their 
hands into the rice to scoop up some to smell, etc. Of course, i'm 
not mentioning tropical insects and the various rodentia.

Anahita