Its two main ingredients are rice and milk. With plenty variations rizogalo is actually served in many parts of the world. It is served as a dessert, as a snack and as part of a hearty breakfast.
By adding to this base, milk boiled rice, citrus zest, Aegina pistachio, rose water, mastic or even Kozani’s saffron, we can create wonderful and delicious variations of this creamy pastry that has many lovers. But the main spice that comes with it is cinnamon. Either by adding cinnamon sticks when boiling the rice, or sprinkling with grated cinnamon on the surface of the cream, the result always justifies our taste.
But if there is one thing that perfectly describes the feeling that rizogalo gives us is its texture. On the one hand it is creamy and at the same time the slightly crunchy rice grains give the palate a wonderful feel to anyone who tastes it.
Rizogalo is said to have been extremely popular with Greeks during the Turkish occupation. Others insist that it arrived in Greece with the National Revolution of 1821 along with other sweets of French origin. Others still argue that rice is rooted in the East, and in Asia Minor in particular, and came to Greece with the refugees that arrived in 1922. It may not matter much. Rice pudding is an easy to make sweet, as the ingredients it requires are easily found in an average kitchen. Wherever it comes from, it never disappoints us, while there are always other ways to try it and other flavors to add and make it even better.