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Max Rocha, the owner of the London hotspot Cecilia Coffee in Hackney, he started buying tins of Ambrosia rice pudding from his local shop five years ago; He sought solace in it when he was stressed about opening his restaurant in 2021. For him, rice pudding is a warm hug. “It’s the ultimate comfort dessert,” she says. “I love it so much, especially topped with jam ice cream.” Rocha’s homemade rice pudding is a staple on the restaurant’s winter menu, and the recipe appears in her recently published cookbook about Cecilia’s signature dishes. Unlike the canned stuff, the restaurant’s version is baked with whole milk, sweetened with brown sugar and aromatically flavored with a bay leaf; This last tip he learned while working at St John Bread and Wine. Farokh Talati, head chef at St John, says it is “good food for [kitchen staff] because it is fuel and sustaining.” He likes to add nutmeg and rum-soaked raisins. “Rice pudding has never disappointed me.”
Increasingly, it’s back on menus. In NormanThe new age version of the classic British coffee from North London, served with a large dollop of raspberry jam. Others offer more innovative variations. American chef Flynn McGarry, owner of Jewel wine in New York, add a passion fruit dressing. Frederik Bille Brahe from Denmark tops it with apple and pistachio jam, while Anna Hedworth from cook house in Newcastle upon Tyne he finishes it with roasted blackberries. Mexican chef Santiago Lastra likes to infuse his with mezcal, while supper club founder Rahel Stephanie SpoonsHe cooks his Indonesian style, using coconut cream and pandan. “It’s delicious, light, creamy and fragrant,” he says.
In Britain, the dish has struggled to distance itself from memories of the 20th-century school cafeteria staple, where the flavor and heavy texture were more aligned with beige sludge. Many resist dairy puddings, including semolina, which often comes with a thick skin on top. Rocha insists that good ingredients are redeemers. “If it is made with better cream, better sugar, better rice and better eggs than [a pudding hater has] I’ve had it before, it’s a completely different experience,” he says. The bay leaves also add an earthy touch.
Rice cultivation is at least 7,000 years old and its origins are in the Yangtze River basin in China. Imported via the Silk Road from the end of the first millennium BC. C., the grain spread throughout the world through trade agreements between Asia and Europe, and in the 15th century it was commonly consumed as a dessert in England. Therefore, almost every country, on every continent, has its own version of rice pudding. In China, it is known as “eight treasure”: it is covered with eight types of fruits and nuts preserved with red bean paste and serves as a symbol of good luck. In the Philippines, one version is called Biko, made with coconut milk; In Japan it is usually served cold with bananas. In Cuba they use condensed milk and sprinkle it with cinnamon. “It came to Mexico through the Spanish centuries ago,” says Lastra, adding that it is a popular dish “because it is low in complex carbohydrates.”
“If it’s done right, you always know what you’re getting,” says Talati, who calls it “totally simple, very reliable” and “loved” by St John’s diners. “It’s consistent; we only give you a seasonal wardrobe [of fruit toppings] as the climate changes.” In Talati’s cookbook, Parsi: from Persia to Bombayis a recipe for a fragrant Persian version, scented with rose water, cardamom and palm sugar. “It really has flavor,” says Roberto Nitti, head baker at Pophams in London, who recently stuffed rice pudding into a puff pastry along with a fig and Earl Gray compote. “The smooth, creamy texture contrasts starkly with the crispy, flaky layers,” he adds. And chef Douglas McMaster, owner of Silo, makes his own amazake pudding with fermented rice and uses it as the base for dairy-free ice cream.
It’s also a great, easy, and unexpected dinner option, according to Rocha and Stephanie; Both recommend placing a large bowl in the center, with several toppings to act as a “conversation starter.” “It is a good diffuser if the conversation revolves around politics,” says Rocha. St John’s Talati advises “cooking rice in milk only…add everything else [egg yolks, sugar and cream] once it is no longer chewy.” Also do it slowly, he warns, and stir the pot every few minutes so it doesn’t stick to the pan. “Simplicity is the new meaning of luxury,” says Lastra. “In such a distant world, being able to unite people with feelings, traditions and memories is increasingly special.”