Hold Onto Your Sombrero

A reader keeps telling me I should use Uncle Ben's Converted Rice to get the texture of restaurant congri. Isn't that ridiculous?

Sad thing is, he's probably right.

If you go to a Cuban restaurant in Miami and order a rice dish, chances are it was made with Uncle Ben's.

I know a guy whose family owns the well-known David's Cafe restaurants here in Miami, and he told me about it. One of the things they're proud of is their insistence on real rice.

The rice Val and I shoved in the pig the other day was from a restaurant, so it was probably converted. So much for technique.

But I still have to try. And the rice I made yesterday, while loaded with unwanted flavor, had an excellent consistency.

I'm too sleepy to cook. My dad took me to lunch at Las Vacas Gordas, one of Miami's better Argentinian grills. I'm totally stuffed with entrana and chimichurri.

Think I'll have a colada and then hit the grocery store. I'll be the wide-eyed, shaking guy on aisle 3.