RICE RETURNS TO MENU AT WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 64, 3 July 1950, Page 5

RICE RETURNS TO MENU AT WHAKATANE

“Grease with butter the bottom and sides of a porcelain or enamel dish. Take half a cup of rice, wash repeatedly until the water is clear, and place in dish. Add half a cup of water, a tablespoon of sugar, and enough milk to fill the dish one inch from the top. Add a small nut of butter and bake in a moderate oven.”

This almost-forgotten recipe for pudding is now being widely used by housewives who have welcomed with delight the re-appearance at Whakatane of modest quantities of rice.

It is eight years since the outbreak of the Pacific war broke down the old-time supply route from Western Pacific and put rice on the list of unavailable foods. Many children in the Bay of Plenty made their first acquaintance with this cereal when it appeared at Whakatane recently. Throughout the district grocers have felt the demand for rice but have been able to satisfy most customers. However retailers have only been given small allocations and d’e not sure whether their supplies will be increased later. In the meantime there has been enough to go round.

Throughout the years since the Japanese made iheir surprise at tack on Pearl Harbour and followed that exploit with a succession of victories leading to the occupation of almost the whole of the Western Pacific, there hv. been a dribble of rice supplies reaching New Zealand. The public raw little or nothing of the cereal, however, for the Government reserved the limited stocks primarily for the use of Chinese families whose normal diet is largely based on rice. Hospitals received small supplies from time to time also. The shortage continued c fter the war because of the unsettled conditions in China and Indonesia, principal sources of production. Rice cultivation has been developed in sub-tropical, dislricts of Queensland, but the output from this source has been absorbed in the Australian Commonwealth.

The prospect of regular shipments from East Asia is indicative of more settled conditions following the conclusion of negotiations for the establishment of the Indonesian Republic.