October 9, 1997
Somewhere in Minnesota, there is probably a connoisseur of wild rice that can taste the subtle difference between wild rice grown on two different lakes in Minnesota, such as Lake Itasca as compared to Lake Winnibigoshish. Or, they may distinguish between rice of 1996 versus the 1997 vintage. Not having such an educated palate, I cannot begin to teach anyone to be such a discriminating snob. But, I can begin to instruct someone on becoming something of a minor league, wild rice snob. Some of this important knowledge was learned through the experience of eating wild rice in restaurants and part of talking with an expert. I faintly remember restaurant menus claiming that they were serving wild rice with fish, duck or something. Neither Pat nor I developed any particular taste for wild rice under such conditions, except that maybe it had a distinct flavor of duck fat. Pat has even gone so far as to suggest that wild rice has no particular succulence or even an interesting flavor and that it might not be worth the high price that we were paying for the meal. But then, we are just a couple of country folks without discriminating tastes - what do we know?
Now, after spending over three weeks in Minnesota, and sampling wild rice a couple of times, we are no longer complete novices - by now we are entitled to use the distinctive title of “advanced novices.” It was on Hawk Ridge in Duluth, MN where we had been chatting with one of the hawk experts for several days. On our last day there, he asked if we were interested in some wild rice. He explained that it had been hand-harvested, parched over a wood fire and would cost a paltry $4.00 a pound. Having no earthly idea of the going price for wild rice, I decided to buy it in part to show my appreciation for his patience at answering all my amateurish questions about hawks. Pat was unimpressed but was willing to try if I would cook it. We were both very impressed with the somewhat nutty flavor and wondered why we had never really liked it before. Entering a grocery store a few days later in Ely, MN we noticed that wild rice commanded several different prices. Rice growing naturally, harvested by hand, and parched commands the premium price of about $7.00 per pound. Add another dollar or two if it is grown organically. “Paddy rice” - planted every year, treated with chemicals, harvested mechanically, and dried on the pavement - sell in the $4.00 to $5.00 range or if cracked grains are present about $2.00 to $3.00. Identifying “paddy rice” to distinguish it from naturally grown wild rice is fairly easy. “Paddy rice” is fairly black with a relatively small grain. Natural rice is a lighter, tan color with a larger grain. To our taste, “paddy rice” has a strong and somewhat bitter taste.
At a roadside, vegetable-fruit stand, I was inspecting these various kinds of rice, when a voice instructed me to purchase only the native rice. He was neatly dressed, about 40 with light skin and a pony-tail. He identified himself as a member of an Indian co-op - “Northern Lakes Wild Rice” - that harvest and sell natural rice. Because we have admitted our bias in favor of the natural rice, I was interested in how they produce such a delectable product and why the “paddy rice” fails to titillate our taste buds. He explained that paddy rice is seeded every year and treated with insecticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals. Before mechanical harvesting, the paddy is drained and the chemical residues are allowed to enter the Mississippi and other rivers. In the harvesting process, the plants are cut and the grain is thrashed like white or brown rice. Naturally grown wild rice grows in the shallow parts of lakes and rivers and the Indian Co-op harvests only by canoe. The heads of rice are bent over a canoe and the grain is beaten out with a stick. Thus, the plant is not harmed and will produce another crop next year. The plant will continue to produce indefinitely as long as it is not harmed. Interestingly, the plant may not produce a crop each year if it is not harvested. To obtain the nutty flavor, the harvested grain is parched over a wood fire within four days of harvest. According to our expert, paddy rice is often left to dry while spread on some paved area. Often it becomes moldy before it dries completely. Paddy rice is a different cultivar of wild rice, bred to retain the seed in the husk so that it will not fall out before harvest. Partly because of mechanical harvesting, paddy rice can be produced much more cheaply and the savings passed on to consumers. Because restaurants can buy paddy rice much more cheaply than naturally grown rice, there is a strong incentive to buy the cheaper product and most restaurant customers probably don’t know the difference. However, knowledgeable customers demand the real thing, so it is served in “better” restaurants. But, by the time naturally grown wild rice is shipped to California, the price may increase to nearly $12.00 per pound.
As my expert was leaving the roadside stand, he approached me in a side room, thrust a copy of his “Northern Lakes Wild Rice” brochure into my hand and asked that I please stick it in my pocket. Trying to understand the need for such a clandestine approach, I guessed that the owners of the roadside stand might not look favorably at a competitor advertising on their premises. Noticing that his brochure did not offer “organic” wild rice, I quizzed him on the subject. He explained that to be able to certify his rice as organic, the crop and the water in the lake must be inspected by a State Inspector. There is a cost to the Indian Co-op for certification which would “add to the cost of the rice we sell. If the water becomes too acidic due to acid rain or something, the rice will not be certified and we will lose our investment in the certification process.” But - I pressed on with my questions - if you are not using any chemicals to produce the crop, it seems to me that it might be a good investment to certify the crop as organic and charge a higher price. He countered that because of the cheap paddy rice if they raise the price, sales will fall. Thus, charging a higher price to offset to cost of certification would not be profitable. Somehow I remained skeptical but pressed him no further with questions.
To enhance your reputation as a wild rice snob, ignore the following. Since we prefer and eat simple foods and usually shun restaurant food, it is obvious that we would never be accused of having gourmet or epicurean tastes. Our brief experience at cooking wild rice, allows us to provide examples of how we have cooked and used it for our own simple tastes. Place one cup of naturally grown rice in three cups of water, cook for 30 minutes and it will provide plenty for two aging gypsies for several meals. Save it in the fridge and eat as cereal for breakfast. Add a cup of the cooked rice to your pancake mix for a more chewy and flavorful pancake or mix with Granburger taco mix for dinner. The Chippewa Indians combine wild rice with almost anything to make soups or stews. My guess is that wild rice may be substituted for white or brown rice in practically any meal. However, I would be very cautious about substituting equal amounts of black paddy rice for white or brown rice because paddy rice has a stronger flavor. According to my Co-op expert, restaurants often add a little paddy rice with brown rice and advertise the meal as something (duck, chicken, steak, etc.) with wild rice. Beware of scallywags who would perpetrate such a hoax on an uninformed public. According to my expert, and I paraphrase, the wild rice police will ferret out these criminals and take their scalps.
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