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Rice, Border Of
Sweet and savoury preparations of all kinds are very good served in a border of rice instead of with pastry. This border may be made in a mould, which may be easily procured, as moulds are made on purpose for rice borders, or it may be formed with the hand. The latter is the more difficult process of the two. The rice should be boiled in stock or water, with a seasoning of pepper and salt; or it should be boiled in milk, sweetened and flavoured according to the nature of the preparation which is to accompany it. For a border of rice served with a fricassee or savoury stew of any kind, wash and drain a pound of rice, and simmer it gently with two ounces of butter, three pints of water, and a little salt, till it is quite tender, and has absorbed the liquor. A little onion or a slice of fat bacon may be added if liked. When the rice is done enough, pound it in a mortar to a smooth paste, cover the bottom and sides of a buttered mould with this, being careful to leave a thick and compact crust in every part, place a piece of bread in the centre, and cover it with rice. Press it with a spoon, and smooth it, then let it remain until cold. Dip the mould in cold water and turn the rice upon a dish, and mark the lid on the top about an inch from the edge. Brush the rice over with clarified butter, and bake in a very hot oven until it is brightly browned all over. Take off the cover, now become an upper crust, remove the bread very carefully, fill the hollow with the preparation destined for it, lay on the cover, glaze the rice, put it in the oven a minute or two, and serve very hot. Filleted fish, lamb's and sheep's trotters, stewed oysters, sweetbreads, game puree, ragouts of cold meat or fowl, may all be served in this way. For rice which is to be served with jam or fruit of any kind, boil the rice with milk, and when it is tender, beat it up with butter, sugar, and yolks of eggs, then proceed precisely as above. When no mould is used, boil the rice as above, pound it in a mortar, then gather it into a ball: wash the hands in cold water, and mould the rice into a round shape, about four inches high and seven wide. Mark the cover an inch from the end, ornament the outside in any fanciful way, brush over with clarified butter, and bake in a hot oven. When done enough, lift off the cover, and scoop out as much rice from the centre as will leave the requisite vacant space, taking care to leave the walls firm and compact. Time, about an hour and a half to simmer the rice; half to simmer the rice; half to three-quarters of an hour to colour the border.
This is a technique entry rather than a single dish: an edible rice case that stands in for a pastry crust. Everything depends on getting the rice starchy enough to hold a wall.
- Use a starchy short-grain riceLong-grain or basmati will never bind into a paste that holds its shape. Pudding rice, Arborio or Japanese short-grain gives the sticky, high-amylopectin body the method needs.
- The hinge: pound it while hotThe rice must be reduced to a smooth, cohesive paste before it cools, or it will crack when moulded and collapse when baked. A mortar works; short pulses in a food processor work faster, but stop as soon as the grains break down and the mass pulls together.
- Liquid and timeA pound of rice to three pints of liquid is roughly 2 cups rice to 7 1/2 cups (reckoning imperial pints), which is far more than modern rice absorbs. Expect to cook it covered over low heat, adding liquid only as needed, until it is soft and glutinous. The stated hour and a half may reflect the rice and stoves of the period; either way, judge by texture, not the clock.
- Oven heat"A very hot oven" here means 425-450F. The border is already cooked; the oven's only job is to set the outside and colour it, which takes 30-45 minutes for a large border.
- The bread coreA block of stale bread is the mould that keeps the cavity open while the rice sets. Cut it to the shape of the hollow you want and leave at least half an inch of rice over and around it. A foil-wrapped block or a small ovenproof bowl does the same job and comes out more cleanly.
- Clarified butter, not plainThe milk solids in whole butter scorch at this heat and mottle the crust. Clarify it, or use ghee, and brush again before the final minute in the oven for gloss.
- Turning it outButter the mould generously and dip the base in cold water before inverting, as directed. A plain charlotte mould or deep cake tin substitutes for the vanished purpose-made rice border moulds.
- Filling temperatureThe border is a serving vessel, not a cooking vessel. The fricassee, ragout or stewed fruit must be fully cooked and hot when it goes in, since the two minutes back in the oven will not heat a cold filling through.
- YieldA pound of raw rice should make a border for roughly six to eight; the recipe gives no yield, and the capacity of the hollow depends entirely on how thick you leave the walls.
Borders of rice belong to the nineteenth-century kitchen's fondness for edible architecture: food presented in a case, a wall or a socle rather than simply spooned onto a plate. The French repertoire called these constructions bordures, and rice was the cheap, obliging version of the same idea that produced pastry vol-au-vents and moulded semolina cases. Cassell's recommends it as a substitute for pastry, which tells you something about the economics of a Victorian household: rice cost a fraction of butter and flour, and it let a small quantity of sweetbreads, oysters or a ragout of cold meat or fowl be served as a formal centrepiece. The list of suggested fillings runs from filleted fish and lamb's and sheep's trotters to stewed oysters, sweetbreads and game puree, with ragouts of cold meat or fowl the one frankly thrifty entry. Purpose-made rice border moulds were, the book assumes, easily procured; they disappeared along with the elaborate moulded service that justified them.