Wild Rice

Wild rice plants are tall annual grasses that grow 1 to 3 metres from shallow water, with long flat leaves and feathery seed heads that bend in late summer. The grains are slender, up to about 1.5 centimetres long, and range from dark brown to nearly black. After cooking they split open slightly, with a chewy bite and a nutty, earthy, slightly smoky flavour. Plants grow in clear water one to two metres deep, and the grain ripens unevenly, so traditional harvest involves several passes through a stand.

The main species, Zizania palustris, is native to the northern Great Lakes region of North America, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario, while Z. aquatica grows along the Atlantic coast and in the southeast. A related species, Z. latifolia, grows in East Asia, where its swollen stems are eaten as a vegetable. In the Ojibwe language the plant is called manoomin, meaning good berry, and the harvest is central to their culture and spiritual life. It grows in lakes and rivers, with quality depending on water cleanliness and stable water levels.

For Anishinaabe peoples including the Ojibwe and for the Menominee, whose name means wild rice people, the harvest has been a major food and ceremonial event for centuries, carried out from canoes with push poles and ricing sticks, knocking the ripe seeds into the boat. The grain is then dried, parched over a fire, hulled by treading or pounding, and winnowed in the wind.

European traders and settlers also relied on the grain, and in the twentieth century harvesting from natural lakes was regulated in several states and provinces, with tribal harvest rights an important legal and cultural issue. In the 1950s and 1960s, growers in Minnesota and later California developed cultivated paddy-grown wild rice, which now supplies most of the market, although lake-harvested wild rice is still sold as a premium product. Wild rice habitats face threats from pollution, water level changes and invasive species.

Wild rice is simmered in water or stock until the grains split, then used in pilafs, soups, stuffings, salads and casseroles, and blended with white or brown rice. In the Great Lakes it is made into traditional dishes with maple sugar, venison and berries, and into the Minnesota dish wild rice soup. Popped or puffed, it can be eaten as a snack, and the flour is used in pancakes and breads. Cooked rice is firm and takes 40 to 60 minutes to prepare.

Wild rice is a whole grain with more protein than most true rice varieties, as well as fibre, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and manganese. It is gluten-free and relatively low in fat. Eaten as a whole grain it fits well into diets emphasising fibre. Cooked wild rice contains more lysine than many cereals. Nutrient levels vary between wild-harvested and paddy-grown grain. Environmental contaminants can accumulate in some aquatic grains, which is another reason to buy from reputable suppliers.