Cook and stir until the rice is light golden and each grain is coated with oil.

NPR: Recipes: 'Screen Doors and Sweet Tea'

Other times, though, the pigeon had to tap a tiresome 20 pecks before the light turned green and the grain was delivered.

ECONOMIST: Puritanical pigeons

The breadfruit was Mau's favourite tree anyway: tall and light, with a twisty grain excellent for boat-building, sticky latex for caulking, and big starchy fruit which, fermented, made the ideal food for an ocean voyage.

ECONOMIST: Mau Piailug

Visually these boards have a washboard effect-and as the varied grain intersects the wood surface and light at different angles, a hologram-type depth emerges.

NPR: Excerpt: 'A Splintered History Of Wood'