Chinese records of rice cultivationgo back 4000 years ago. Most believe the rootsof rice come from 3000 BC in India, where natives discovered the plant growing inthe wild and began to experiment with it. Cultivation and cooking methods arethought to have spread to the west rapidly and by medieval times, southern Europesaw the introduction of rice as a heartygrain. In several Asian languages the wordsfor rice and food are identical. African rice has been cultivated for at least 3000 years.In the Middle East and MediterraneanEurope, it started around 800 BC. Ricespread throughout Italy and then France, after the middle of the 15thcentury, laterpropagating to all the continents during the great age ofEuropean exploration. In1694, rice arrived in South Carolina; it was probably originating from Madagascar.The Spanish brought rice to SouthAmerica at the beginning of the 18thcentury