While rice is said to have come to Italy either from the Orient or Arab nations, Italian rice and risotto is now an essential part of the Italian diet, especially in some northern regions where it is truly a pillar of Italian cooking.

Key rice growing regions in Italy have always been the Lomellina area in south-west Lombardy, around Candia Mortara and Robbio where, at the castle of Ludovico il Moro, cultivation began. Also at Grumolo in the province of Vincenza, rice growing has occured since the days of the Benedictine nuns, and even today the rice is shelled but not whitened.

Italian rice Carnaroli, Baldo, Vialone nano and Balilla and known as some of the best quality rice in Italy, often praised by names such as Mario Soldati, Dino Buzzati, Curzio Malaparte and Indro Montanelli, who considered it one of the pleasures of life along with a glass of good Italian wine and a cigar.

The best and most typical of Italian risottos? That’s a difficult question for anyone who loves Italian risotto dishes, but a purist would say “easy!” Milano style or risotto alla milanese: saffron rice with ossobuco (optional).

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