Orzo

Carbohydrates Anatomy™ →Go uptown Some grainy stuff that is not rice, yesterday Part of the JC’s occasional series on carbohydrates Pasta | rice | questioning | bread | fruit Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

So that rice you get with kebabs in Mediterranean cooking (orzo in Italian, κριθαράκι in Greek; arpa şehriye in Turkish and and لسان العصفور in Arabic) isn't rice at all, but is tiny bits of pasta. Orzo’s fluid identity has lead to some controversy in the metaphor department, and of the incident and the Carbohydrate Olympics, the less said the better.

Interesting: the traditional Israeli פתיתים‎, is similar, but not the same, being typically spheroid rather than grain-shaped.

See also

Some nice BBC recipes using orzo