"arroz lavado de la cazuela" means..?

Question

Part of a chapter in a novel I'm translating to English from its original Spanish. In context: "La vieja entró del patio con una cazuela plana en la mano; fue hasta el fogón y echó el arroz lavado de la cazuela en un caldero donde hervía el agua a borbotones."

What I have is "The old woman came into the courtyard carrying a casserole pan, went to the stove and threw washed rice from the pan into a pot where water boiled furiously."

But not totally sure how to break down "arroz lavado de la cazuela" - i'm assuming the woman washed the rice in the casserole pan and then transferred it to the pot, but could "lavado de la cazuela" be a way to cook rice that I don't know?

Thanks for the help

Also, cazuela vs caldero: seems to me that they both generally mean "a pot" - what is the difference between them?

Great question, by the way. And welcome to the forum! - francobollo, Nov 15, 2012

Dictionary says "caldero" is a small boiler by comparison with a big one "caldera" which is also the crater of a volcano. In general a "cazuela" is lower (like a casserole) while a caldero is taller to contain the spitting hot water and steam. - geofc, Nov 15, 2012

Answer 1

From the context, there is no certainty she used the same saucepan or casserole to wash the rice. What's sure is that the rice she poured into the boiling water was in the saucepan or casserole and it had been previously washed. So your translation is fine.

The gist here is that the rice was washed beforehand and that the old woman's cooking method was hygienic.

A cazuela is a saucepan or casserole. A cazuela can be made of clay or metal. If referring to a clay pot, you may see cazuela de barro and it would translate to "casserole." Clay pots are very traditional and come in many sizes. They are used for cooking all kinds of dishes.

A caldero is a cauldron (or caldron) -- a large metal pot (kettle) for cooking and/or boiling over an open fire, with a large mouth and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger.

thank you so much! - Sharstar25, Nov 15, 2012

You're quite welcome! - francobollo, Nov 15, 2012

Franco: ¿No debería decir ""The old woman came from the courtyard" en lugar de "into the courtyard" ya que en español es "entró del patio" y no "entró al patio"? Sé que esa no era la pregunta, pero me pareció un detalle importante. - -cae-, Nov 15, 2012

Importante el detalle y tienes razón. She came from the courtyard into the kitchen or wherever the stove was located. - francobollo, Nov 16, 2012

Answer 2

I'd love to know what exactly is a "cazuela plana" I never met nor used one, they were all pan or casserole shaped.

Can I point out that "arroz lavado de la cazuela" is not a connected phrase. The meaning is that she flang the washed rice and where from did she fling it; well! from the casserole of course.

A variant which I believe to be correct and which makes this clearer would be "y de la cazuela echó el arroz lavado" etc.