What is Wild Rice?
One of the biggest misconceptions about Wild Rice is due to its name. Not belonging to the rice family at all, it is actually the seed of an annual aquatic grass (botanical name: Zizania Palustris). In Minnesota and Canada it naturally reseeds itself each year in the soft, muddy bottoms of shallow lakes and rivers where the water is no more than three-to-four feet deep. The plants have a natural seed-shattering mechanism, which allows much of the ripe grain to fall from heads for reseeding, ensuring the survival of the stand. The highly nutritious characteristics of the grain are consistent throughout the kernel, rather than being contained only in the outer layer of bran. After processing, wild rice boasts its own unique, nut-like flavor.
Wild Rice is a Versatile Food
- Wild Rice may be served as a cereal with cream and sugar or fruit.
- Wild Rice may be served as a savory side with butter, gravy or mushroom sauce.
- Wild Rice may be blended with a variety of diced or minced fowl or other meat.
- Wild Rice may be added to soups, stews, mulligans or casseroles.
- Wild Rice may be used to create a variety of tantalizing desserts, delicious salads, breads and stuffings, and to enhance almost any recipe.
- Wherever and whenever wild rice is served, it is associated with gourmet cuisine.
