SHORT AND SWEET FINDING AUTHENTICITY NORTHERN GEMS ...

Beras Laila, a variety of local rice,
is a product of one of the projects
undertaken by the Department of
Agriculture and Agrifood.
R ice is undeniably the most
important staple food for a large
part of the world’s population,
especially in East and South Asia, the Middle
East, Latin America, and the West Indies. First
domesticated in the region of the Yangtze River
valley, rice now provides more than one fi fth of the
calories consumed by people worldwide. Rice also
happens to be the most important cereal grain that
contributes to an individual’s nutritional intake.
In many countries, rice plays a signifi cant role
that go beyond being a staple food. Parts of the
rice plant are used anywhere from making fuel
to thatching roofs, as well as making industrial
rice starch and create artwork. Rice also features
dominantly in many cultures as beauty aids.
Pounded to fi ne powder, rice makes an excellent
face talc that minimises pores while rice husks are
sometimes used as body scrubs. Even companies
today attest to rice’s beauty benefi ts. The Body
Shop has a Rice Bran Scrub while The Face Shop
includes rice as ingredient in its cleanser. Studies
have also shown the many health benefi ts of rice,
including having anti-cancer properties and the
potential to treat conditions such as heart disease,
kidney stones and diabetes, although many of
these benefi cial compounds are absent from
white rice.
As a testament to how rice plays an integral
part in many countries’ diet, many cultures even
have their own sayings pertaining to the grain.
The expression for eating a meal in most Asian
countries alludes to rice. Burma’s htamin sar,
Thailand’s kin khao, Vietnam’s n c m all means
“to eat rice”. This is also seen in Korea’s bap,
Japan’s meshi and China’s fan, of which the latter
is used interchangeably for meals and rice.
While rice is not the most popular grain in the
Western diet, it still plays a prominent role in the
form of weddings. Guests toss rice at the bride
and groom during the ceremony to symbolically
wish them a lifetime of blessings. This is because
rice is thought to represent fertility and prosperity.
During early Roman times, wheat was the grain of
choice for weddings, though the practice became
less popular during the reign of England’s Queen
Elizabeth I, when wheat was instead baked into
a cake for guests to eat. And, as wheat became
costlier and the guests needed something to toss
to the bride, white rice was instead chosen. The
rest as they say, is history.
Rice cultivation itself is labour-intensive and
requires copious amounts of water. It takes 5,000
litres of water to produce one kilogramme of rice,
making the plant best suited to countries and
regions with high rates of rainfall; although it can
be grown practically anywhere – even on steep
hillsides and mountains. Rice fi elds on terraces are
themselves breathtaking, especially during sunsets.
The stunning view has also been one of the
reasons why people travel to Bali time and again,
to look at the island’s many stunning padi terraces
and fi elds.
MAY | JUNE 2011 39