top of page

History of Italy

Italy is the main rice-producing country in Europe. Rice cultivation is mostly located in Northern Italy - Piemonte, Lombardia, and Veneto regions - where water is relatively abundant and the rice crop can be raised in flooded fields.

 

Production in Italy began around the middle of the 15th century but was greatly enhanced by the creation in the mid-nineteenth century by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour who devised a canal, completed after his death, that brought water from the Po River and Lake Maggiore to support the production of rice and other crops irrigating 235 thousand hectares of fields.

 

The 85-kilometer artificial watercourse running between Po River and Ticino River is still a unique hydraulic system in Europe and feeds a network of ditches and small canals for a length of 10 thousand kilometers. The most famous Italian rice dish is the wondefully creamy Risotto.

RICE1.png

Italian Rice Variations

Originario
Arborio
  • Named after the town in Piedmont Italy.

  • Releases a lot of starch whilst cooking.

  • Has a high absortion capacity

  • Ideal for soups, rice pudding, oven cooked dishes and rice cakes.

Roma
  • Holds any type of cooking well.

  • Suitable both for soft and creamy risottos and for rice with sauce and timbales.

Maratelli
  • Medium grain round rice.

  • Recommended for the preparation of baked rice dishes such as rice porridge and soups.

Loto
  • It creates a risotto like finish when prepared.

  • Develops a nutty, rich taste and separated texture.

Thaibonnet
  • Long grain rice that remains firm after cooking.

  • Particularly suitable for rice salads or pilaf.

Baldo
  • Its grain is crystalline, similar to Roma rice

  • Excellent ability to hold the cooking.

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Vialone
  • From the province of Verona,

  • A popular risotto variety.

Carnaroli
  • King of risotto!

  • A medium -grained rice grown in the Pavia, Novara and Vercelli.

Selenio
  • Similar to the Japonica rice that is used to make sushi in Japan.

  • Can be compacted easily for shaping perfect maki and onigiri!

Venere
  • A natural black colour cultivated in the Po Valley.

  • benefical minerals such as, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium.

Ribe
  • A versatile rice suitable for soups, minestrones and for steaming such as Pilaf.

Sant'Andrea
  • Compact structure.

  • Suitable for preparation of risottos, soups, and desserts.

Frequently asked questions
bottom of page