BBC Food has thousands of easy and delicious recipes to choose rice pilaf. Bring the flavours of the sea and the holiday vibes to your table with this arroz verde recipe inspired by Rick Stein’s trip to Cadiz.

It’s packed with shellfish and garlic – perfect for an early autumn dinner party as the clams come back in season. There are tens of thousands of varieties of rice. The grains hold together, making them easy to mould into sushi and pick up with chopsticks. Fragrant rices, such as Thai fragrant rice, have a mouthwatering scent and are popular throughout Asia. While it’s tempting to leave it in the packet you bought it in, rice, like other grain products, should be transferred to an airtight container and kept in a cool, dark place to optimise its shelf-life and prevent infestation.

Since consumers are not told the date of harvest, it’s best to use rice within one year of purchase, and ideally within three to six months. For this reason, it’s preferable to buy it little and often rather than in bulk. Cooked rice that’s left standing around can cause food poisoning because the large surface area of each grain acts as a breeding ground for bacteria. Store cooked rice in a sealed container in the fridge for a maximum of one day. The cooking time of rice varies according to the specific shape and variety, the age of the grain, the degree of processing, and the type of dish in which it is being used. The best advice is to follow recipe instructions, or the method on the packet – in which case test whether the rice is done a few minutes before the time specified, as its cooking time will often be overestimated.

Cold, cooked rice can be thrown into salads or soups, or used to stuff vegetables such as peppers and aubergines. Rice is a grain that is cultivated in more than 100 countries and is one of the world’s staple foods. It can be grown on hillsides, in soil, or in irrigated waters, either deep or shallow. While many people in the West think of rice as a simple side dish, it’s exciting when cooked as a meal in its own right and readily absorbs other flavours.