Orange Rice - Appelsiiniriisi

In the 60ties the health wave and low fat movement had not yet kicked in. Many “luxury” ingredients like rice and oranges were now affordable to the general population. This kind of desert was served for example at Christmas. The large movement from the countryside to the cities took off and with that people were buying their food from shops and were no longe producing a large part of their food themselves. The recipe below is from Riitta Mustonen “food memories” and it was her favourite. It was published in the Yhtyneiden Kuvalehti in 1956. In noted, that with todays porridge rice, you need more liquid, so pay attention to the amount of liquid you need for “your” rice, the rice should be soft.

Ingredients:

2 dl Porridge rice

5 dl Water (you might need more!)

1 Pinch of salt

2 dl Full fat cream

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla sugar

3-4 Oranges

1 Tbsp Grand Manier or other Orange Liqueur (optional)

Instructions:

Wash the rice and cook it in salted water. Put the lid on tightly and let the rice absorb the water on medium heat. Let the rice cool down.

If you want some orange peel for decoration, cut off stripes of the peel (but only if you have a organic orange!). Cut the orange into small pieces and marinate with the Orange Liqueur. Whip the cream stiffly together with the sugar. Lift the cream carefully under the cold rice.

Take a fancy glass, stack in the rice and put on top the orange. If your oranges were large, you could also add a middle layer of oranges. Decorate with orange peel or some mint twig.

The desert does not store well, I suggest you eat all the same day you prepare it.