Wild Rice: Heaven in a Prairie Grain

When the quaking aspens are weeping gold, and the grains of wild rice blacken in their ruddy husk, prairie harvest has arrived. Here in Alberta, we think first and foremost of wheat when we think of harvest, but on the prairie, wild rice is the original North American grain crop. Not a rice, but a tall grass, this elongated black kernel is elegant and eloquent. Even its name sings. Zizania aquatica grows where the Precambrian Shield wraps its rocky arms around the grassland, where lakes are encased in the sleeve of glacial rock. Walk to the edge of a lake rich in wild rice, and you may not even see the water’s edge until your boot toes nudge the mud.

In Canada, most wild rice flourishes in Saskatchewan, followed by Manitoba and Alberta, although this past June, scientists affiliated with the University of British Columbia reported finding Zizania aquatica growing in a slough near Pitt Meadows in southwest BC. In the eastern part of the country, it grows along the east coast, along the Great Lakes and in the marshes that drain off the St. Lawrence.

Wild rice is an annual that reseeds itself. Each fall, the grain falls from its shoulder-high stalk to the shallow lake floor, and lies dormant there until the spring, when it germinates and grows. Some harvesters re-seed it, so it may not be as wild as it once was. In Canada, wild rice growers have banded together, labeling their rice as Canadian Lake Wild Rice to differentiate it from the so-called “paddy” rice cultivated in the USA, often another variety of wild rice, Zizania palustris.

On a recent trip to Winnipeg to celebrate regional food with Cuisine Canada, we bussed northeast of the city to the Interlake district, to Du Bois Wild Rice Ltd. (formerly Williams Wild Rice Company) on the shores of Lac du Bois northeast of Winnipeg. This business harvests wild rice from Canada’s largest natural wild rice field. The rice that flourishes in this lake of 1260 acres was initially harvested by the First Nations people, for whom wild rice was a staple; they called it “manomin” meaning “good berry”. In 1915, two generations of the Williams family stumbled across the lake and its foragers, and found their way into the business.

As a grass that grows in water, wild rice poses different challenges than a crop that grows on land. The plant prefers stable water levels, and gets stressed when water levels fluctuate due to drought or flood. When gathering wild rice by canoe in the traditional fashion, hand-held wooden winnowing sticks are used to fold the stalks across the canoe and tap the plants so the grains drop into the canoe’s bottom. But the rice does not all ripen at once, so it takes multiple trips in the autumn, through the shoulder-high grasses, to collect the rice as it darkens from green to near-black inside its rust-coloured husk. Modernization has led to air boats that hover above the water surface like oversized hovering dragonflies gathering food. The boats speed the process, but do not eliminate the need for multiple trips around the lake.

After gathering, the rice is scooped into sacks and hauled to a shelter, where it is spread out to cure and finish ripening, hand-turned for each of six days. Next, the rice is parched in slowly revolving tubs, reminiscent of the business end of a cement truck, over a wood fire to dry and flavour the grain as the husk crisps and crackles. By this point, the rice has lost about half its weight, and the moistsure content is one-tenth of what it was at harvest. Next, the desiccated husk is removed and the grains are graded by their diameter before being packaged.

In the kitchen, wild rice is often overlooked, its nutritional benefits in the long shadow of its relatively high cost. It is a healthful grain, high in protein and fiber than other rices, and it is a good source of b-vitamins. Careful cooks should know that it quadruples in volume when cooked, and purchase long unbroken kernels of similar size for even cooking. Darker coloured wild rice tastes nuttier than green kernels, which taste like its provenance of grass.

I prefer to cook wild rice separately, eschewing rice blends: some rices, like basmati, cook in 15 minutes, while wild rice takes up to 45 minutes in simmering water to crack open and soften.

Wild rice is often relegated to stuffing turkeys when its rich and nutty taste shines in other dishes to equally glorious effect. While in Winnipeg, we enjoyed wild rice in unexpected guises—in ice cream, turkey cream soup, salad with cranberries and mint, fine-textured crusty bread baked at Tall Grass Prairie Bakery, puffed like popcorn, and in fritters topped with smoky trout.

This North American staple’s annual appearance marks the end of summer on the prairie. Winter is coming again.