For Julian.

Recipe and Photos by Sandshoe.

I wash rice first before cooking it. I swirl it in enough cold water to cover it, usually in the saucepan I am going to cook it in, and just incline the saucepan so most of the water drains and trickles out of the rice.

No drama and sparing with the water.

I add cold water and bring it to the boil on the stove element or a gas flame at high heat.

Leave the heat on high and boil the rice until the water has almost all evaporated and holes appear in the rice. Turn your heat down to the lowest possible, which is easy with a gas flame and if cooking on a wood stove or slow combustion just move the saucepan to the coolest part of the stove top.

If you only have solid elements as I do, that retain heat, you will simply turn off the element as soon as you see the holes begin to form. Best timing is just before (you will learn when just as a lover learns the skill of loving.)

Set a lid on the saucepan to finish with a tea towel under the lid to create a tight seal for 20 minutes.

The first time I ever cooked this, its original recipe, I followed the instructions by scientific measure. The saucepan was a specific volume or depth or something, the rice was weighed or spooned into a chef’s measuring cup, and the cold water was a precise amount in relation to the number of cups of rice. That’s alright if you have a choice of saucepans and a measure cup.

Your rice will vary between sticky and dry and fluffy until you establish the proportions yourself of rice and water depending on what sort of rice you use, the dimensions of the saucepan you have or can choose, your source of heat but importantly, ‘the feel’ you develop for cooking rice this way. As well, the recipe was for Basmati rice. You can make a particularly light and dry dish of rice by this method if you use Basmati.

I prefer brown rice for its nutty flavour and beautiful colour.

I use a lot of water to start with. Brown rice is better for being boiled a little longer, but whatever sort of rice I use, I’m watching from time to time for the holes to appear.

You find you have a saucepan full of froth and cannot see and fear you are burning the rice?

You might burn the rice.

More likely you will see the froth suddenly disappear if you are courageous.

You will see your rice has holes appearing on its surface. Otherwise if the anxiety is too much, slide the saucepan sideways to reduce the amount of heat at its base and voila, the froth subsides and you will see the rice is glistening and appears sticky. Cook it a matter of seconds longer on high heat and proceed to finish it as I have described, 20 minutes, tightly covered, on the lowest heat possible.

Experience teaches. I don’t always jam the lid tight on the saucepan by using a tea towel. It depends.

The rice is the nicest and sweetest when its base is a pleasant amber colour or mottled with a golden look contrasting with the luscious grains of the main body of the rice, yet every time rice is cooked by this method, central to its mystery and delight is its flavour is subtly different. John Downes refers to the crunchy rice at its base as a complete food or wording to the effect. He describes it-and who knows but it’s a nice idea-as both the yin and the yang (Natural Tucker-Traditional Eastern and Wholefood Cooking for Australians. pub. 1978).

The process of the cooking once daunting and fearful even is a living friend with characteristics I know as well as I do any. I can hear what stage the rice is at. What I put in, that I do not detract from, is evident in the quality of the dish. I don’t tamper with the rice and water as it is coming to the boil or stir it and upset its natural evolution. I don’t add water or drain any off before cooking is finished. I am patient and watchful.

I read the original recipe that inspired this plain method of cooking rice in Elizabeth David (Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. pub. 1970). It was elaborate and required me to first brown some ingredients I do not completely recall and spices. In the years since of cooking and through the natural adaptation of recipes I once followed to their letter I have followed this method sometimes but create my own blends and you can add in the style of Miss David eg a bay leaf to the water or a flake or more of a cinnamon stick, some celery leaf perhaps.

I like the presentation of food as an art form. An aspect of watching television chefs I really do not enjoy is their abandon handling food to the purpose of decoration and that has put me off enjoying dining in restaurants, or ‘eating out’ as we call it. It alienates me to see these highly trained and professional people even licking their fingers as they demonstrate their skill.

When you are serving your creations, if you have splashed a little on the side of your plate (on a rare occasion) wipe it clean with a small and freshly clean muslin square cloth you keep for the purpose. I like the cheerful red and check ones I keep a supply of in my tea towel drawer.

Decorate your meal using the food to speak for itself and set it down gently on its serving plate with love for what you have made and kind respect for yourself.

Serve the rice with a variety of dishes as you choose, especially including leafy green vegetables. A favourite of mine is plain lentils with if anything added to their cooking a little diced carrot for its sweet and nutty flavour.

Image of cookbook: http://www.leurabooks.com.au/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=80152