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mantuan vialone nano rice, vialone nano rice. Typical products
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Homepage > Farm products > Vialone Nano rice
Mantuan Vialone Nano rice
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In all probability the cultivation of rice was introduced to northern Italy in the second half of the fifteenth century. In the Mantuan countryside cultivation in the Gonzagas' dominions was already documented in the period of Federico II (1500-1540). On the left bank of the Mincio alone, around the middle of the eighteenth century, about 8300 "biolche", i.e. more than 2600 hectares, were cultivated with rice. (one "biolca" is 3138 sq metres).
It was only in the nineteenth century that different "races" or varieties began to be distinguished in Italy. Among these, the Ranghino which appeared in 1887, and from it in 1901 the De Vecchi brothers from Vialone, in the province of Pavia, selected the Vialone Nero, or more simply Vialone. The new variety was distinguished by its considerable size (plant height 135 cm), a characteristic particularly valuable at a time when threshing was still prevalently manual, and resistant to diseases. As well as in the provinces of Verona and Rovigo, Vialone Nano spread also in the Mantuan rice-fields, and was immediately appreciated in local gastronomic circles.
In 1925, the experimental Station for cereal growing in Vercelli began hybridisation tests on rice. One of the first and most successful results of this activity was the creation of a new variety obtained by cross-fertilization of Vialone with Nano (the latter has a notably reduced size, with a plant height inferior to 60 cm).
This cross-fertilization aimed at maintaining the valuable nutritional characteristics of Vialone in a smaller variety. The new grain, classified in the category of "semifini", was defined Vialone Nano.
Of the varieties of rice which are cultivated in Italy today, Vialone Nano is the veteran among those created by hybridisation and next to Balilla, is the oldest of all. "Virgilian" rice-growing has therefore concentrated on a single variety, which is indissolubly bonded to a classic niche product, cultivated and consumed only in defined areas of Italy.
The product of the threshing of rice is paddy rice, which undergoes a refining process after desiccation, in order to become edible. This process, called "pilatura", is carried out in rice-mills called "pile".
Given raw materials of equal quality, the "pilatura" of the rice has a notable effect on the final commercial characteristics of the product. Considerable, therefore, are the importance and prestige enjoyed in the past as well as nowadays by the "pilarini" or "piloti", those who run the "pila", and whose position in the local rice economy is comparable to that of dairymen in the dairy-farming production cycle.
The first "pile" appeared in the Mantua area at the beginning of the seventeenth century and among them we must mention those of Villagrossa (Castel d'Ario) and of Corte Carpaneta (Bigarello). In 1765 Francesco Galeotti, a wealthy landowner, obtained the right to use waters from the Tartagliona canal, in order to operate a "pila" situated between Stradella and Villa Garibaldi, and known as Pila del Galeotto. This is the oldest "pila" (still operating) in the province of Mantua.
Well-known are the astringent, refreshing and disintoxicating properties of rice, which are suitable for curing hypertension, heart and kidney disease ,as well as being appropriate for the feeding of babies.
For its ability to absorb sauces and for its resistance in cooking, Mantuan Vialone Nano rice is particularly suitable for risottos (among which the best known in the province of Mantua is undoubtedly the "risotto alla pilota".)
Consorzio del Riso Vialone Nano Mantovano
C/O Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori - Piazza S. Giovanni, 7 46100 Mantova
tel. 0376- 368865 fax 0376- 220753
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