The high quality of Nett Lake Wild Rice® is the result of both the natural quality of the rice and the method used to process it. Soon after the green rice is harvested it is parched (roasted) to remove moisture. Nett Lake Premium Hand-Parched Wild Rice is processed in the traditional way, by hand, using wooden paddles to gently stir the green rice in parching pans over a wood fire. These methods reduce the cooking time for finished rice and preserve the distinctively robust natural flavor that sets it apart from the inferior paddy-grown, machine-harvested products that dominate supermarket shelves. After the rice is parched, it is winnowed to remove the dry outer hull, called Mazan in the original Ojibwe language.