The writer Jack London had a very special recipe for cooking rice

American writer and social activist Jack London was one of the first American authors who was able to turn his writing ability into a substantial personal fortune. He did this in part by going places and doing things other writers were unwilling to risk, including repeated forays into remote Alaskan gold fields. He participated in and wrote about the Klondike Gold Rush, and his health was affected by the hardships he endured there. His inability to access housing, food, and medicine was reflected in his fiction, including the short story. to build a fire. He lost his four upper front teeth as a result of scurvy and a poor diet while in Alaska.

Less well known than his ability to “rough it” in and write about Alaska, and other frontier posts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is his very particular palate when it comes to how his rice was prepared. A staple of the goldfields, because it can be bagged and will stay fresh for months, Jack London was very familiar with rice and had very special requirements when it came to cooking it.

San Francisco socialite Sarah M. Williamson, who helped popularize canning and preserving food in the early years of the 20th century, reported in a 1916 newspaper article that she had obtained Jack London’s personal recipe for rice from London’s long-suffering second wife, Charmian Kittredge London.

Here is how Sarah Williamson recounts her discovery of Jack London’s rice recipe:

“Rice, cooked the way American housewives never cook it and can never learn to cook it, appeared on Martin’s table at least once a day.” So says Jack London in the forceful novel that is almost autobiographical. And this is how Jack London cooks his rice: I have the recipe please from Mrs. London, above her husband’s signature,” Williamson wrote.

“Well-cooked rice: First, the rice should be washed well, which will remove all stickiness from the grains when boiled. The ratio of rice should be one to two of cold water. The proper Chinese chef will let it sit for several hours before putting it on the stove. When the pan is finally placed on the stove, the heat should be hot and the rice should continue to boil until the rice has absorbed all the water and no water remains on the surface. Minutes to an hour for moderate measure. Just right before serving, gently and carefully stir with a fork, which loosens the dough into a light, flaky appearance. The kernels should be light, smooth and separate.”

Williamson claimed that rice was so difficult to cook because it came in so many different grains and subspecies. “The problem is not so much with the cook as with the rice itself,” she wrote. “There are about 49 varieties and no two cook the same way. Some are better parboiled and then drained and starting again in cold water. Getting the same type of rice every time would mean a reliable recipe. Since there’s Chinese rice, Japanese rice, Indian rice, Georgia rice, South Carolina rice, and now California rice, and a few dozen more, cooking rice is likely a problem that will never be solved.”

She also shared another of London’s favorite recipes for a rice dish, this one with onions and green peppers.

“In a steel skillet melt enough lard to fry to a seared brown color one cup of rice. Rice should be wiped clean with a napkin and not washed. Constant stirring is necessary to prevent rice from burning. Remove rice and drain. In lard put one or two large peppers, seeded and finely chopped, and juice of one medium onion (grated). Pinch of salt, pepper to taste. with three cups of well-mashed tomatoes. In a granite saucepan, bring a cup of boiling water. Pour the sauce from the pan into the saucepan, then pour in the rice. Boil slowly until the rice is cooked, place in the oven and bake. If this dish is well cooked, each grain separates and dries.”

Jack London died in November 1916, just a few months after Williamson published his rice recipes, still a relatively young man in his early 40s. Despite his very particular requirements for cooking rice to suit his palate, there is no doubt that the privations of the Arctic and the harsh conditions he endured to pursue his writing contributed to the decline in health that led to his early death.