Rice Is Life

Rice Is Life: Recipes and Stories Celebrating the World’s Most Essential Grain

by Caryl Levine and Ken Lee with Kristin Donnelly

I was a bit skeptical about a rice cookbook written by the two founders of a rice company—but this turns out to be a wonderful single subject cookbook celebrating the rich history and present of rice—a food eaten every day by so many of the earth’s inhabitants. It’s clear that Levine and Lee are passionate about what they do—they brought and trademarked Forbidden Rice (a black variety) into the US, and they have not stopped finding ways to introduce Americans to the biodiversity that exists in the rice world. The book is filled with recipes that celebrate so many of the cultures where rice is a staple and offers history and context for how it is grown and how it makes its way to us.

Chronicle Books -  October 11, 2022