On Rice

September 27, 2011.  Rice is a big deal here.  I've read that if you haven't eaten rice yet, then it's considered that you have not yet eaten for the day.  I had some excellent rice when we were in Bali.  It was called red rice.  I have since figured out that red rice is the same as brown rice.  There are many different varieties of rice with varying degrees of quality although I'm not sure if I would be able to tell if I was eating top quality rice or not. 

There are also several words in Bahasa Indonesia for rice.  The Life of Rice is as follows:
padi (rice plant)
gabah (rice still in husk)
beras (unhusked, uncooked rice)
nasi (cooked rice). 

Here is a picture of beras hitam (black rice) and beras merah (red/brown rice).  Much more common, of course, is beras putih (white rice). 

Beras Hitam and Beras Merah

Bahasa Indonesia WOD:  Beras/Nasi = uncooked rice/cooked rice

Saya suka makan nasi hitam dan nasi merah, tapi tidak suka makan beras hitam dan beras merah. 
(I like to eat cooked black rice and cooked red rice, but I don't like to eat uncooked black rice and uncooked red rice).