Made a stew the other night. Well, more collected up the Bombay Mix from the bottom of the freezer, a couple of old potatoes, remains of packs of peas, carrots and whatever. Found a pack of chopped onions and a pack of mushrooms. Pop ‘em all in the microwave to thaw and warm up. A stockpot capsule and some seasoning. Found some bits of dead meat in the freezer, thawed in the microwave and chucked them in. Found a tin of ratatouille – where dat from?

Casserole in the oven and leave it.

Looked quite good, but a bit watery.

No cornflour to thicken, but found a handful of rice. That thickened it up nicely. Rice does that. It absorbs a whole load of water.

Quite good.

Apparently,  this effect may have sunk a few ships in its time.

You don’t have to boil rice for it to expand in water, it can manage quite well on its own – though it takes longer.

Wooden ships have a bilge sump at the bottom. Ironically, they need a bit of water to stay watertight. Wood swells when wet, sealing up any seams that may have started. No matter how well-built the ship, she will flex a little. That means the planks will work against each other, rubbing away any protective coating and caulking. Water, swelling the wood up, helps close up any tiny passageways in the wood.

The first thing you might notice is the bilge becomes dry. This might seem good news, but it’s not. It means the water is going into the rice cargo, not the wood of the ship. The rice will expand and, eventually, start to force open the planking of the ship. This is not good.