Plain boiled rice makes an excellent border for stews, or any good hash, or rich mince - such as minced chicken - as well as for fruit. The rice border can be very much improved in appearance by pounding the soft boiled rice into a paste, mixing in some eggs, and shaping it either with a mould (a circular cake tin does very well for the purpose), or with the hands, into some ornamental shape, and then baking in an oven. Remember, however, if the rice is intended for meat, to boil the rice in stock. If the rice is intended for sweets, boil the rice in milk.

A very good method of shaping the rice is to get a strip of carrot and scoop it hollow, so as when it is pressed against the soft rice it will make it form a semicircular buttress. The mould can be fluted all the way round with one strip, and of course all the projections will be the same size.

The rice border can be washed over with a little oiled butter, and baked a light brown in the oven.

A rice border for meat can be ornamented with red chili, green gherkin, black pickled walnuts, or still better, sliced truffles, hard-boiled yolks, etc.

A rice border for sweets can be ornamented with red preserved cherries, some yellow candied fruit, and green angelica. (See No. 29.) All kinds of tinned fruits look very pretty served in an ornamented rice border.