Mr. Goudas Par Boiled Rice

Obviously, there is a first time for any new chef to undertake cooking rice.

Sometimes, a person can get very annoyed when, after purchasing a bag of rice, only to realize that once at home – there are no cooking instructions. And, being a novice at cooking, one is stuck. On the other hand, sometimes there are cooking instructions that one follows right down to the last detail and the rice still does not come out right.

The reason for that is sometimes the instructions tell you to put 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Bring water to boil then put the rice in the pot, cover with the lid, reduce the heat for 18-1/2 minutes or 20 minutes and 18.5 seconds, so let us synchronize our watches, and hope that the water has already evaporated and the rice cooked. If you hit the jackpot, maybe you end up with good tasting rice.

Obviously, different varieties of rice have different cooking time periods and with each stove being different – electric stoves give off different heat proportions to gas stoves, therefore, the instructions on the bags can be way off from reality. You may end up with very soft rice, which is yucky, and right off the bat you hate the taste. Or, it is so hard, some people call them bullets and your dentist will love you.

The fact is you do not need a Masters Degree, or a Ph. D. to figure it out. We still, did, however, ask the top expert in the rice business, the master in rice cooking, the Man for all Seasonings according to the Business Journal Magazine; to solve our problem and give us his opinion on this matter: which is very serious.

Mr. Goudas told us that there are people who cook rice very well and he always learns from them. But for people who have no idea and they want to experiment with the grain, he states: Irregardless of the variety, brand or country of origin, a beginner should do the following:

• 1 cup of rice (enough for one person)
• 4 or more parts water
• salt to taste

This is all you require as far as the list of ingredients. And, of course – a pot.

Put the pot on the stove. Add the water. Turn the stove on. Bring the water to a boil. When the water begins to bubble – it is boiling. Add that cup of rice and salt to taste. Let the rice boil until it is tender to your taste.

Every so often taste one grain. It is also quite entertaining to watch the rice boiling, jumping up and down and, since you do not cover the pot, use the lid as your steel drum instrument, a fork as the drumstick and get into the rhythm as you watch the grains bubbling; all the while singing the song with the words similar to:

Goudas Rice is very nice. Goudas Rice is very nice. It is good for pelau^* or Chinese fried rice. So take my advice and buy Goudas Rice.

You must repeat the song again and again until the rice is tender to your taste.

You then remove it from the stove and empty into in a colander/strainer. When all the water is gone, return the rice to the pot, place a slice or two of butter on the top. Cover the pot with your steel drum (lid) for a few minutes to allow the butter to melt into and penetrate the rice. If you do not like butter, put a little bit of oil.

Now you are the chef! If you like the rice, and we hope you do, stick to Mr. Goudas rice.

·Pelau is one of the national dishes of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of rice and green pigeon peas cooked together in the same pot with your meat (chicken or beef). Of course you use Mr. Goudas Rice and Mr. Goudas Green Pigeon Peas.