№ 54[Auksta zupa 7: rīsi ar vīnu]

Chilled rice soup with wine Serves 4 · 35 minutes, plus chilling · Adapted from the 1796 recipe; not yet tested.

The book gives no quantities beyond one piece of lemon peel; the amounts below are ours.

Ingredients

• 125 g rice, short-grain (pudding) or long-grain (see Notes)
• 500 ml water
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 1 strip of lemon peel, without the white pith
• 40 g sugar
• To pour over: 400 ml dry white wine and 400 ml water, both chilled
• To serve: 1 tbsp sugar mixed with ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Pick over the rice, then rinse it in cold water until the water runs clear. 2. Put it in a saucepan with the water, wine, lemon peel and sugar. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 18–20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the rice is soft and has absorbed most of the liquid. 3. Take out the lemon peel. Spread the rice out on a tray or wide dish so it cools quickly, then cover and chill in the fridge within an hour of cooking. 4. Put the rice in a serving bowl, pour over the wine and water and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Notes

• What the book says vs. what we added: the book picks the rice over well and boils it with water, a little wine, a piece of lemon peel and sugar. Once cool, it goes into a bowl with wine and water poured over and cinnamon sugar on top. Rinsing, the quick cooling, the fridge and all the amounts are ours.
• Food safety: cooked rice can carry bacteria (Bacillus cereus) whose spores survive cooking, so cool it quickly, keep it chilled and eat the soup within a day.
• Rice: the book doesn't say which kind. Short-grain rice gives a softer, creamier soup; long-grain keeps the grains separate.
• Alcohol: the wine poured over isn't cooked, so the soup isn't for children.