I met the wild ricer behind a ski lodge in the mountains above Lake Tahoe. We were both attending a writing workshop, and we took turns reading our work to each other.
My project was a passionate essay about the evils of Christmas tree farms that I’m embarrassed to even remember. The wild ricer, a rugged hunting guide from Northern Wisconsin named Nick Vander Puy, introduced me to the verb “ricing” as he read an unforgettable piece about an Ojibwe elder on a lake in Northern Minnesota.
Wild rice isn’t literally rice, but rather the grain of a large, aquatic grass native to the northern parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as a similar-sized region across the border with Canada. Other than being a type of grain and elongated in shape, wild rice doesn’t resemble the soft, starchy grains after which it’s named. It’s a rugged food, more interesting than its domesticated counterpart, with a nutty, tea-like flavor and a texture that pushes back when you chew down….