Greek Recipes

Rizogalo... my Greek rice pudding recipe in all its glory Rice has been known and consumed in Greece since ancient times. The first mention I could find in the historiography is a reference to one of Sophocles ’ lost (to us) plays. The Poet is quoted as mentioning a type of bread made with rice called « ορύνδου » (O-REEND-thoo). The noun « ορύζης » (O-REE-zis) in ancient Greek is the root of our modern English word “rice” ( Oryza sativa … not to be confused with other types of sativa... ;-). Then, as now, rice was mostly imported to Greece from climes that were better suited to the intensive wet-paddy agricultural environment required for its cultivation. For the ancients, rice was considered a rare luxury and it fetched a handsome price in the markets when it was available. It was not until Alexander the Great’s conquest of the East that rice became a relatively more common element in Greek gastronomy. Thus, although both the ancient Greeks and later the Romans were familia...