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Rice Puddings, Savoury
No. 1.--Boil half a pound of rice in a quart of milk till it is tender without being broken. Pour it into a bowl, and mix with it a pinch of salt, a tea-spoonful of white pepper, a tea-spoonful of dry mustard, three table-spoonfuls of grated cheese, and three eggs. Beat the pudding well, turn it into a buttered dish, and bake in a well-heated oven. Probable cost, 1s. 3d. Sufficient for five or six persons. Time to bake, about one hour. No. 2.--Boil half a pound of rice in a quart of milk till it is tender and has absorbed the liquor. Turn it into a bowl, and when cool mix with it a tea-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of white pepper, a dessert-spoonful of shredded parsley, and two moderate-sized onions which have been boiled till tender and pounded with a slice of fresh butter. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, and add three well-beaten eggs. Turn the pudding into a buttered dish, and bake in a well-heated oven. Time to bake, three-quarters to one hour. Probable cost, 1s. Sufficient for five or six persons.
Two baked savoury rice puddings, essentially a rice custard seasoned as a supper dish rather than a sweet. Both are straightforward once the units are translated.
- QuantitiesHalf a pound of rice is about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of raw short or medium grain; a quart of milk is 4 cups (the imperial quart of the original is closer to 5 cups, but 4 is ample). A dessert-spoonful is about 2 teaspoons.
- "A well-heated oven"The book gives no temperature. For an egg-set pudding, 350-375F is a safe modern reading: too hot and the custard curdles at the edges before the centre sets.
- The hinge: cool the rice firstNo. 2 says to cool the rice before adding eggs, and No. 1 should be treated the same way. Beating eggs into hot rice scrambles them and you lose the custard set entirely. Let it drop to warm-not-hot, then temper the beaten eggs in.
- Cooking the riceSimmer gently and stir occasionally so the milk does not catch on the base. "Tender without being broken" means about 20-25 minutes; No. 2 wants it cooked drier, until the milk is absorbed, which takes longer over very low heat.
- Pepper and mustardA full teaspoon of white pepper is assertive by modern palates. Start with half and adjust. The dry mustard in No. 1 is there to lift the cheese, and English mustard powder is the intended article.
- The cheeseThree tablespoons of grated cheese is modest. A firm dry cheese such as aged Cheddar or Parmesan gives the savour the recipe is aiming at; add more if you want it to read as a cheese pudding.
- Onions in No. 2Boiling then pounding with butter is a mash. Simmer the peeled onions 20-25 minutes until quite soft, drain well, and crush with a fork and a knob of butter, or the extra water will slacken the pudding.
- ServingFive to six as a light supper or a meat course accompaniment. Bake until just set and lightly browned, with only a slight wobble in the centre; the pudding firms as it stands. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Savoury rice puddings belong to a Victorian household economy in which rice was cheap, keepable and endlessly adaptable, and in which the word "pudding" described a method rather than a course. Cassell's costs No. 2 at a shilling for five or six people. The pairing of rice with milk, eggs and cheese also reflects the period's interest in digestible food, where a soft, bland, well-cooked grain bound with egg was thought especially easy on the stomach. The seasoning of the first, with dry mustard sharpening the cheese, is a distinctly English touch that survives today in Welsh rarebit and macaroni cheese.