Remember Rice Pudding?

Do you remember having rice pudding at school - the sloppy version with a waxy skin and a dollop of jam? You either loved it or hated it. My mum made great home-made rice pudding - cooked in the oven for hours and arriving at the table with a thick brown skin on top, that we would fight over. It was so delicious. And then there was Ambrosia - conveniently in a tin and amazingly sweet, you could eat it cold and straight from the tin. I did! Whether you have good or bad memories of rice pudding, it is back on the menu in top restaurants and 'posh' supermarkets. However, it is a far cry from the thick school dinner version.

  

The latest incarnations of rice pudding come with tropical flavours and dairy-free milks. Sales are up according to top retailer, Waitrose, with exotic sounding versions such as stem ginger and orange or kiwi and coconut proving popular. And it even gets a billing a the Michelin-starred restaurant, Gymkhana in London, where a strawberry and cardamon Indian rice pudding (below) is £7 (as oppose to a tin of Ambrosia at 40p).  

So next time you are out for that 'special' restaurant meal, look out for rice pudding on the menu - you can bet it will be nothing like school dinners!