Rice With Milk Well Sugared

Although France received rice through trade with Turkey and Brazil, Nouvelle France received rice from the Carolinas and Brazil through the triangle trade in ships bound for France with sugar, rum and molasses that also stopped off in Louisbourg to pick up cod. From Louisbourg, rice reached the interior up the St. Lawrence River

Here is my recipe for rice with milk well sugared from La Varenne's Cuisinier françois, 1653.

Make a caramel of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook until a medium, rich brown. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 more tablespoons of water (be careful! It splashes). Pour the caramel into a mold and swirl the caramel to cover the bottom and sides of the mold. Set aside to cool.

Cover 1 1/4 cups of rice with cold water and bring to a boil. Remove and drain rice. Bring 1 1/2 quarts of milk to a boil with one vanilla bean. Add rice and simmer gently for 35 minutes or until the milk is mostly absorbed. Remove the vanilla bean.

Whisk 9 egg yolks and 1 1/4 cups sugar until thick and lemon colored; then stir into the rice and milk. Pour rice mixture into caramel-lined mold and set mold in a baking pan with an inch of water. Bake in a moderate oven until a straw inserted in the middle of the pudding comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then turn out onto a plate with a rim. Chill. Serve with cream or custard sauce.