Comoronian Rice Pudding with Pineapple

Comoros is a group of four islands off the east coast of Africa, north of Madagascar. They have bizarre animals. The coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct for millions of years, but still living in Comoros. The four-foot-long “flying fox” fruit bat. The islands were once a major supply stop for ships traveling around the tip of Africa, and their mixed African-Asian-European-Malagasy population reflects that. Most of the population farm bananas, rice, coconuts, ylang-ylang, and pineapples.

This recipe is from a UN book on rice recipes from around the world.

Comoronian Rice Pudding with Pineapple
Serves 6

4 1/4 cups milk
1 can pineapple slices (including juice)
3/4 cup rice
Pad of butter
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup cream
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the milk, add the rice and cook on very low heat for 1 hour. (Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan). Then stir in the cream, pineapple juice, and sugar. Pour into a baking dish, cover with pineapple slices, sprinkle with brown sugar, and add butter.

Bake for 30 minutes & serve warm.