Perloo, also called pilau, perlau, plaw, pilaw, pilaf, or pilaff. The word comes from the Turkish pilaw, from the Persian pilaw, and from the Osmanli pilav, "rice porridge". Pronunciation is varied, as in PER-lo, PEELaf, per-LO, or PER-low.
English writers spoke of the dish in the seventeenth century, and by the eighteenth century it had taken hold in Britain, especially after the empire spread through the Middle East and into India. In America, the Southern rice crops and the influence of the spice trade made the dish popular. Pilau has been a popular dish in many Southern states for 300 years, particularly South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.
Perloo is a dish often featured in Walt Kelly's 'Pogo' comic series.
