Emiko, what a lovely tribute to rice in all its dimensions!
And thanks so much for mentioning the podcast as a spark for some of your ideas today as well - that was a big surprise!
I totally agree with you: food is so much more than strict nutritional stats or isolated nutritional details, it can represent a whole culture (or many cultures!) in many ways and that’s why I used that Burrell quote - it’s a jumping off point for conversations, but not representative of the world view presented by the podcast (because I’d definitely never tell people to remove white rice forever from their diets, given that I grew up literally surrounded by it at home)!
I love the work of the dietitian you quoted and Dr Evangeline Mantzioris makes similar points in the podcast - you never eat rice in isolation really, and what you eat it with (like lemon) can affect the GI levels in a good way. And she mentioned how rice can be a good source of resistant starch, too, and cited staples around the world (from sushi to arancini) that celebrate cooked-then-cooled grains (we probably didn’t even realise these were examples of good-for-you resistant starch as we enjoyed them)!
But as Dr Evangeline says, we just have to keep an eye out on how long we leave them out for, as no one wants things to get into food-poisoning territory.
And yes, I love how rice is used in so many ways in Japanese culture - even down to the tatami mats (I love how Palisa would describe how hers would change colour during the seasons in Japan, how it would start fragrant and green and settle into a gold straw colour). I hope when Palisa does the event with you, she talks about the Thai rice she mentions in the podcast, the one that’s apparently so good it makes you forget your husband!
Excited for the launch of your book in Australia, as I’ve loved following its progress on your newsletter. Only another week to go!!
I'm with you. I greatly dislike the click-baity grand proclamations from journalists or writers about any form of sustenance being labeled as "bad". It's disingenuous and extremely problematic. I deal with the damage it does to people like my father-in-law who falls for all that foolishness, and then has to take pills and other "potions" to remedy the issues caused by eliminating whole categories from his diet because those categories were deemed "bad".
Thanks Emiko - a beautifully written, well rounded (unlike the article that provoked your response!) article. I hope it gets a wide readership and that people get to see there are many sides to most stories!
Thanks for including my thoughts Emiko - I'm also curious to hear Anjali's perspective.
This is such a beautiful love letter to rice and Japan. I had no idea meat was banned. Would love to learn more about that history.
Also you'll appreciate this - Avery asked me the other day if we can go to Japan on holiday next year. I'm not sure where this idea came from exactly - maybe Totoro - but now I need to figure out a way to make it happen at some point 🤣
I love this article so mucy! I am a person who has had to modify so much of my diet for my health so I read so much on nutrition. I also used to the think whole grain rice was a healthier option. I am on a high fiber diet for Crohn's diease, and it has worked mostly because of strachy foods like rice or pasta. Very good point about healthfood information being Eurocentric, which I found laughable because the European/AngloAmerican diets are the most problematic and unhealthy. The China Study is one the the largest studies on the connection of disease and diet and the people they found were the longest lived and had lower rates of cancer and cardiovascular diseases were in fact people who eat a shit ton of white rice with the addition of lots of vegetables, legumes, and fruit. Hope you'll be in Rome for a presentation. Can't wait to get the book!
I'd like to add that my first boyfriend in high school was in a band called Rice. He also had this deep cultural connection to rice and it wasn't until years later that I understood how having that band and talking about Rice helped him connect to his own culture that he left.
This is gorgeous. Such a beautiful tribute to the world's most loved comfort food. Born and raised in India, I have similar sentiments towards rice. I couldn't live without it!
So well said! Love this column--learned so much! And I love Japanese sticky rice!
Emiko, what a lovely tribute to rice in all its dimensions!
And thanks so much for mentioning the podcast as a spark for some of your ideas today as well - that was a big surprise!
I totally agree with you: food is so much more than strict nutritional stats or isolated nutritional details, it can represent a whole culture (or many cultures!) in many ways and that’s why I used that Burrell quote - it’s a jumping off point for conversations, but not representative of the world view presented by the podcast (because I’d definitely never tell people to remove white rice forever from their diets, given that I grew up literally surrounded by it at home)!
I love the work of the dietitian you quoted and Dr Evangeline Mantzioris makes similar points in the podcast - you never eat rice in isolation really, and what you eat it with (like lemon) can affect the GI levels in a good way. And she mentioned how rice can be a good source of resistant starch, too, and cited staples around the world (from sushi to arancini) that celebrate cooked-then-cooled grains (we probably didn’t even realise these were examples of good-for-you resistant starch as we enjoyed them)!
But as Dr Evangeline says, we just have to keep an eye out on how long we leave them out for, as no one wants things to get into food-poisoning territory.
And yes, I love how rice is used in so many ways in Japanese culture - even down to the tatami mats (I love how Palisa would describe how hers would change colour during the seasons in Japan, how it would start fragrant and green and settle into a gold straw colour). I hope when Palisa does the event with you, she talks about the Thai rice she mentions in the podcast, the one that’s apparently so good it makes you forget your husband!
Excited for the launch of your book in Australia, as I’ve loved following its progress on your newsletter. Only another week to go!!
I'm with you. I greatly dislike the click-baity grand proclamations from journalists or writers about any form of sustenance being labeled as "bad". It's disingenuous and extremely problematic. I deal with the damage it does to people like my father-in-law who falls for all that foolishness, and then has to take pills and other "potions" to remedy the issues caused by eliminating whole categories from his diet because those categories were deemed "bad".
Thanks Emiko - a beautifully written, well rounded (unlike the article that provoked your response!) article. I hope it gets a wide readership and that people get to see there are many sides to most stories!
Thanks for including my thoughts Emiko - I'm also curious to hear Anjali's perspective.
This is such a beautiful love letter to rice and Japan. I had no idea meat was banned. Would love to learn more about that history.
Also you'll appreciate this - Avery asked me the other day if we can go to Japan on holiday next year. I'm not sure where this idea came from exactly - maybe Totoro - but now I need to figure out a way to make it happen at some point 🤣
I love this article so mucy! I am a person who has had to modify so much of my diet for my health so I read so much on nutrition. I also used to the think whole grain rice was a healthier option. I am on a high fiber diet for Crohn's diease, and it has worked mostly because of strachy foods like rice or pasta. Very good point about healthfood information being Eurocentric, which I found laughable because the European/AngloAmerican diets are the most problematic and unhealthy. The China Study is one the the largest studies on the connection of disease and diet and the people they found were the longest lived and had lower rates of cancer and cardiovascular diseases were in fact people who eat a shit ton of white rice with the addition of lots of vegetables, legumes, and fruit. Hope you'll be in Rome for a presentation. Can't wait to get the book!
I'd like to add that my first boyfriend in high school was in a band called Rice. He also had this deep cultural connection to rice and it wasn't until years later that I understood how having that band and talking about Rice helped him connect to his own culture that he left.
This is gorgeous. Such a beautiful tribute to the world's most loved comfort food. Born and raised in India, I have similar sentiments towards rice. I couldn't live without it!
I loved this column! Many cultures cook and enjoy rice differently. The quote from the dietician was very interesting.