When is National Rice Pudding Day?
National Rice Pudding Day is always August 9th!
What is this Holiday for?
This holiday is for honoring and enjoying the great taste of homemade rice pudding! Todays the day to look over the many rice pudding recipes and find one that looks delicious to you. You can find recipes for baked rice pudding that's full of butter and you can find recipes for cold rice pudding that's great on a hot day. So get out that bag of rice and get ready for a dish that's popular all over the world. Let today be the day you make a homemade rice pudding for your family. Why not have a dessert party to celebrate this food holiday. Don't forget to invite everyone with fun Internet Invitations too. Go for it! Plan a party!
Origin of this Holiday?
"Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day. We did however find that this holiday has been celebrated for years. There is plenty of documentation to support that this holiday does indeed exist.
We are wondering if this holiday was created by a food organization- but, our research couldn't find the answer to this question-
This holiday is referred to as a "National" day., as all food & drink holidays are. However, we did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though we didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate.
So have fun with it and celebrate it!
What is Rice Pudding?
"Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and sometimes other ingredients. Different variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener."
"Originally used to aid the malnourished, rice pudding was first made in Asia. Over thousands of years, various pudding recipes have developed in Eastern Asia. Some include jam, cinnamon, fruit and honey, while others are far simpler consisting of only rice, water and sugar or rice and milk and cinnamon and sugar and raisins."
"For the west, rice pudding originated in the Middle East or Persia. The dessert gained popularity during the Middle Ages. Firni, one of the oldest of these Middle Eastern puddings, is made with rice flour and was introduced to India by the Moghuls. Records of an Indian sweet milk pudding occur in the 14th century. Shola, flavored with rose water, was introduced to Persia by the 13th century Mongols and is now eaten in much of west Asia. However the Indian Kheer has an independent history, as it is older than 2000 years."
"In Europe, rice pudding with goat's milk was first used by the Romans for medicinal purposes. For this reason, the first written records of rice pudding occur in medical texts. Medieval European sweet boiled rice pudding often was made with almond or cow's milk. Rice pudding appears in 1542 in the then Danish town of Malmø. However, rice was an imported luxury item reserved for the rich. Baked rice puddings featuring elaborate spices and other ingredients appeared in the 17th century. In the 18th century, rice pudding began to replace rye porridge and barley porridge at festivities in Scandinavia. Over centuries, the European recipe has been simplified, resulting in the modern dish often criticized for its blandness."
Rice pudding around the world
"Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. Recipes can greatly vary even within a single country. The dessert can be boiled or baked. Different types of pudding vary depending on preparation methods and the ingredients selected. The following ingredients are regularly found in rice puddings."
- rice; long or short grain white rice, brown rice, black rice, basmati, or jasmine rice
- milk; (whole milk, coconut milk, cream or evaporated)
- spices; (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger etc.),
- flavorings; (vanilla, orange, lemon, pistachio, rose water etc.),
- sweetener; (sugar, brown sugar, honey, sweetened condensed milk, fruit or syrups)
"In Canada and the United States, most recipes have descended from European immigrants. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American recipes have become more common. In the New England region of the United States, the most popular pudding made with long grain rice, milk, sugar, or in Vermont, maple syrup. This is combined with nutmeg, cinnamon, and raisins. The pudding is usually partially cooked on top of the stove in a double boiler, and then "finished" in an oven."
"In the United Kingdom, rice pudding is a traditional dessert, and is very popular. Rice pudding is traditionally made with pudding rice, milk, cream, sugar and is often, but not always, flavoured with vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon. It can be made in two ways, in a saucepan or by baking in the oven. In a saucepan, it is made by gently simmering the milk and rice until tender and then the sugar is carefully mixed in. Finally, the cream is mixed in and it can either be left to cool and be served at room temperature, or it can be heated and served hot, it should have a very creamy consistency. When made in the oven, the pudding rice is placed into a baking dish and the milk, cream and sugar are mixed in. The dish is then placed in the oven and baked at a low temperature for a few hours, until the rice is tender and the pudding has a creamy consistency. Whilst cooking, the pudding may develop a thick crust which adds an interesting texture to the pudding. An alternative recipe, frequently used in the North of England, uses butter instead of cream, adds a small pinch of salt and requires the pudding mixture to stand for an hour or so prior to being cooked. Such puddings tend to set firmly when cooled, enabling slices to be cut and eaten like cake. If eaten hot, the pudding was traditionally served with cream poured on top in wealthy households, and with full fat milk where cream was not available. Ready-made rice pudding, which is pre-cooked and ready to eat, is sold in tin cans or pots and is very widely available and found in most supermarkets and shops. Because it is canned, it has a very long shelf life."
The Nordic countries
"In the Nordic countries, rice porridge is a common dinner. It is made as a warm dish from rice cooked in milk and occasionally mixed with raisins. When served, it is commonly sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar or with an 'eye' of butter in the middle. In Iceland it is sometimes served with cold slátur (English: Slaughter, a type of blood sausage, see þorramatur). In the different languages it is called risengrød (Danish), risengrynsgrøt (Norwegian), risgrynsgröt (Swedish), riisipuuro (Finnish), Grjónagrautur (Icelandic), hrísgrjónagrautur (Icelandic)"
"The rice porridge dinner is used as a basis for rice cream dessert. There are many different variants of this dessert but the basis is the same. Cold rice porridge (the dinner variant) is mixed with whipped cream and something sweet. In Sweden it is sometimes mixed with oranges and is then called apelsinris. Ris á l'amande (Danish, after French: Riz à l'amande, rice with almonds) is the cold risengrød with whipped cream, vanilla, and chopped almonds, often served with hot or chilled cherry (or strawberry) sauce. In Norwegian, the dessert is called riskrem and sometimes served with red sauce (usually made from strawberries or raspberries). Rice cream dessert is called ris à la Malta in Sweden, while what is referred to as risgrynspudding is made with eggs instead of cream."
"In Scandinavia, rice pudding has long Christmas traditions. It sometimes goes by the names julegröt/julegrøt/julegrød (Yule porridge), or tomtegröt/nissegrød (see tomte). The latter name is due to the old tradition of sharing the meal with the guardian of the homestead, called tomte or nisse (see also blót)."
"A particular tradition that is often associated with eating rice pudding or porridge in the Christmas time is hiding a whole almond in the porridge. In Sweden and Finland, popular belief has it that the one who eats the almond will be married the following year, whereas in Norway, Denmark and Iceland the one who finds it will get a prize, the almondgift. In Denmark and Norway the almond tradition is usually done with Ris á l'amande served as dessert at Julefrokost (Christmas lunch) or on Christmas Eve, while in Sweden and Finland it is more commonly done with a rice porridge dinner, sometimes a few days before Christmas Eve."