By Jack Smith
Flavour of the month
Rice. It’s synonymous with the word for “food” in a dozen Asian countries, including China, where “chi fan le ma?” – “have you eaten (rice) yet?” is equivalent to asking someone how their day has been. The staple food of over half the world’s population, it is the predominant source of dietary energy in 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific, and much of Africa and South America.