The experience
Exclusive experience in the company of an expert Rice Sommelier dedicated to the discovery of this cereal and the ancient traditions that have made it a celebrity of Piedmontese gastronomy. You will learn about what lies inside the “grange,” the first agricultural companies dedicated to the cultivation and production of rice in the Po Valley, and stroll through the rice fields, the “checkerboard sea,” with incredible plays of light between sun and water.
You will also have the opportunity to learn about the figure of the “mondina” (from the verb “mondare,” meaning to clean), an inseparable protagonist from the work in the rice fields of the past. Their task involved spending entire days with water up to their knees, barefoot, and with a curved back to remove the invasive weeds that grew in the rice fields and disturbed the growth of rice seedlings. Also impactful are the social protests for the working conditions endured by these tireless workers. You may also discover that the women in your family were “mondine” themselves and be proud of the contribution they made to the lands dedicated to rice cultivation.
In the rice fields between Novara and Vercelli, in the 1990s, in addition to the many varieties already present, the black Venus rice was also born.
