Widely adapted to diverse environments, rice is an important part of culture, traditions, and subsistence in some countries, especially those in Asia. There is a wealth of literature on the rituals and traditions of rice consumption throughout the world (Virmani, 1991; Piper, 1993; Newman, 1999).

Languages and Symbolism

In Asian languages, daily or important events are expressed in terms of rice. In many Asian countries, such as Thailand (tarn kao), Bali (ngajengang), Laos PDR, and Bangladeshi, the phrase for eating rice is synonymous with eating food (Williams, 1996). More directly, Chinese and Japanese people refer to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as morning rice, afternoon rice or noon rice, and evening rice, respectively. Chinese say, in addition to "Happy New Year," "May your rice never burn!" at the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. A...