rice as kitniyot

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

Rice is accepted to be "Orez" in the Talmud. Even if it isn't, it is not as clearcut as your statement. The following was copied from: http://utut.essortment.com/ricehistorywha_rgqv.htm What is the history of rice? Rice is a grain belonging to the grass family. The plant, which needs both warmth and moisture to grow, measures 2-6 feet tall and has long, flat, pointy leaves and stalk-bearing flowers which produce the grain known as rice. Rice is consumed by nearly one-half the entire world population and many countries, like Asia, are completely dependent on rice as a staple food. Rice is one of the few foods in the world which is entirely non-allergenic and gluten-free. HISTORY There are many unproven mythological tales as to how rice came to be, though historians hold little or no stock in any. Most believe the roots of rice come from 3000 BC India, where natives discovered the plant growing in the wild and began to experiment with it. Cultivation and cooking methods are thought to have spread to the west rapidly and by medieval times, southern Europe saw the introduction of rice as a hearty grain. The first cultivators of rice in America did so by accident after a storm damaged ship docked in the Charleston South Carolina harbor. The captain of the ship handed over a small bag of rice to a local planter as a gift, and by 1726, Charleston was exporting more than 4,000 tons of rice a year. AA