Rice was originally native to India and Indo-China, but is now grown in many other areas including the Po river valley, in Italy, Valencia, in Spain, and California, Louisiana or Texas in the United States. There are now more than 800 varieties of rice.

Thailand, a country where a meal means rice accompanied by other dishes. Flavors of Thailand, a look at the traditional ingredients used in Thai cooking.

Once your pantry is full of Thai flavor, try those fresh tastes and aromas and the simplicity of their food with a Thai green chicken curry or chicken satay to accompany that fragrant Thai basmati rice.

To prepare a simple boiled rice all you need is a medium-sized saucepan with a well fitting lid, a sieve, a fork, a teaspoon, and measuring cups. Just in case, also tips about how to cook rice in the oven, microwave, steamer, or pressure cooker.

Really easy to prepare, and quick, around 20 minutes once you have got the hang of it. It is also the most liked white rice recipe in our repertoire. It is usually served as a side dish with meat, fish, pulses or eggs. Very versatile. For instance, serve this rice with fried bananas, fried eggs, bacon, and tomato sauce; now you have be Cuban rice on your plate.

Dou you have a recipe for pound cake without butter?

From: Casey, Montclair, NJ

We could have writen write a whole book about rice, another about Thai cuisine. Choosing what recipes to include was a difficult task. Extra recipes meant the newsletter wouldn't fit into your mail box. We did not want you to miss out, so expect to see published some more rice and Thai recipes in All Foods Natural cookbook over the next weeks.

In the next issue

What can you expect for next month? We are busy collecting and testing cold soup recipes. You will be able to give them the cold soup, cave in your passion for berries, and serve a five star salmon.