Rice Book
One of the Guardian's best food books of 2023
Winner of the André Simon Award
One of OFM’s 50 Best Cookbooks of All Time
The Rice Book became an instant classic when it was published thirty years ago, and to this day remains the definitive book on the subject.
Rice is the staple food for more than half the world, and the creativity with which people approach this humble grain knows no bounds. From renowned food writer Sri Owen’s extensive travels and years of research come recipes for biryanis, risottos, pilafs and paellas from Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Spain, Italy, Brazil and beyond.
In a gorgeous new livery, with a new foreword by Bee Wilson and an updated introduction on the nutrition, history and culture surrounding rice, more than 160 delicious, foolproof recipes (20 of them new) and beautiful illustrations and food photography throughout, this is an essential book for every kitchen and every cook.
Sri Owen was born in West Sumatra in 1935, the eldest of six daughters, to parents who were both teachers. After secondary school, she attended Gadjah Mada University at Yogyakarta, where in 1961 she met Roger Owen, a young Englishman arrived fresh from Oxford University, with a three-year contract from the British Council as a lecturer. And he was recruited to teach Western History and English Language & Literature. When his contract ended, Sri accompanied him back to London, where she worked for some twenty years as a translator, broadcaster and producer with the Indonesian Section of BBC Far Eastern Service.
Sri and Roger spent two years travelling the world researching The Rice Book, which was first published in 1993 and won the prestigious André Simon Memorial Award, was shortlisted for the James Beard Award, and a year later, was listed in the Observer, among the twenty best food books published in English.
In total, Sri wrote twelve successful cookbooks, most recently Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food, which chronicles her life and details the social history and cooking styles of the islands she loves. Sri was a popular international lecturer on Asian cuisine and ran cookery demonstrations, workshops and courses across the globe. Her unrivalled expertise saw her win the Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.