L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano S eptember is rice time in northern Italy: along the Po V a l l e y , b e t w e e n Vercelli, Novara, and Pavia, the combines roll through fields that only weeks earlier were shallow sheets of water. Production leads the story, but canals, mills, and the mondine dorms still give the season its context. Today, harvest runs from mid-Sep- tember into October, depend- ing on the variety and weath- e r , a n d i t i s a f a s t a n d mechanical affair, a far cry from the era when the mon- dine themselves stood bent in flooded paddies pulling grass by hand. Modern harvest is straight- f o r w a r d t o r e a d f r o m t h e roadside: once the panicles turn straw-gold and grain moisture drops to the target range, growers drain fields and bring in combines that cut, thresh, and clean in one pass. Then, the rough rice goes to dryers, where warm air lowers moisture further to make storage safe and pre- serve quality. What the travel- er sees is quick turnover: a levee opened here, a machine there, trailers heading to the farmyard. But what's more striking is that the underlying system is the same one that allowed r i c e t o t a k e h o l d i n t h e s e areas centuries ago: an orga- nized grid of canals and ditch- es that move water with pre- cision, including major works such as the Canale Cavour in Piedmont. In September, the geometry stands out, and you can follow it along small provincial roads with fre- quent pull-offs. L o m e l l i n a , i n t h e province of Pavia, is a good place to start our imaginary armchair journey; bounded by the Po, Ticino, and Sesia, this low plain has soils and water control that suit rice. The landscape is open and practical: long fields, poplar windbreaks, and farmsteads set on slightly higher ground. A short loop between Mortara and Vigevano gives a clear view of the season: early in September, you still catch some shallow water reflect- ing the sky, but by October, most parcels are dry, and you'll see rows of straw after the combines pass. From Lomellina, it is an easy move east to the Sesia plain and Vercelli, the city most closely tied to Italian rice. The stop that best links past and present is Tenuta Colombara, home of the famous Acquerello rice. The estate houses the Rice- Growing Conservatory, a p r e s e r v e d c o m p a n y t o w n w i t h w o r k s h o p s , a s m a l l school, and the dormitory w h e r e t h e m o n d i n e o n c e s l e p t . T h e r o o m s a r e arranged with the basic fur- niture and personal objects that set the tone of the peri- od: iron beds, shared sinks, work clothes, and the tools used in the fields. Visits are by reservation, and a guided walk through the buildings gives a clear idea of how the seasonal workforce lived and h o w t h e e n t e r p r i s e f u n c - tioned as a self-contained world. Outside, the modern farm continues to grow and process rice; inside, the dor- mitory fixes the social history t h a t s h a p e d t h e c r o p f o r decades. That history matters. The mondine were mostly y o u n g w o m e n h i r e d f o r weeding and transplanting; their work was hard, repeti- tive, and done in water for l o n g h o u r s . O r g a n i z i n g around pay and hours, they helped push labor reforms in the early twentieth century. S o n g s , p h o t o g r a p h s , a n d strike notices tell that story, but seeing the dormitory and s e r v i c e s p a c e s m a k e s t h e scale concrete. With that picture in mind, the modern harvest on the road back to Vercelli reads differently: machines have replaced the labor, yet the crop remains central to local identity. To widen the view, add the Ecomuseo Terre d'Acqua , a network that connects the infrastructure b e h i n d r i c e : i r r i g a t i o n intakes and canals, pumping stations, archives, and inter- pretive routes. Think of a c o o r d i n a t e d s e t o f s i t e s around the territory, with guided visits arranged locally and a very practical focus – to show how water is moved, divided, and measured. The Ecomuseo, in short, helps e x p l a i n w h y r i c e f i t s t h i s plain and how communities built and maintained the sys- tem over time. A working mill rounds out the trip. The Riseria di Asigliano, in Asigliano Vercellese, offers guided tours by booking, typ- ically from April through the end of September, and has an on-site shop. The last leg of our journey shifts east to the province of Verona, where the Veronese plain produces Riso Nano Vialone Veronese, pro- t e c t e d u n d e r a P G I . T h i s variety is characterized by its short and round grain, with a l o o s e p e a r l t h a t a b s o r b s broth well while holding a small core. Chefs in the area like it for seasonal risottos – fresh porcini in early fall, pumpkin as October pro- gresses – and the local mills maintain consistent stan- dards under the consortium rules. The best time to taste it is during the Fiera del Riso in Isola della Scala, a fair that returns in 2025 from Sep- t e m b e r 1 9 t o O c t o b e r 1 2 , when it'll run daily with a broad program: large tasting halls serving different styles of risotto, stands from grow- ers and mills, cooking events, and tours that touch on the local irrigation landscape. It is direct and popular, with rice at the heart of it all. V e r c e l l i a l s o h o s t s a timely event. Risò – Festi- val Internazionale del Riso is scheduled for Sep- tember 12–14, 2025, with free entry on reservation. Set i n t h e c i t y t h a t h a s l o n g called itself Italy's rice capi- tal, the festival brings pro- ducers, cooking demonstra- tions, and public tastings into one place ahead of the main harvest rush. For trav- elers who want a compact introduction without leaving town, it is an efficient option. If you fancy experiencing this trip for real, planning our route is simple. Aim for late September if you want to see harvesting in action, ear- lier if you prefer paddies with water. Keep to secondary r o a d s , w h i c h a r e s a f e f o r pull-overs and photos, and remember these are working farms: do not enter fields without permission. For vis- its to Tenuta Colombara, the Ecomuseum sites, and the A s i g l i a n o m i l l , a r r a n g e ahead: booking pages list current schedules and con- t a c t s . I f y o u a d d t h e Veronese leg, check the fair dates and consider a week- day visit for shorter lines. In all cases, expect a straightfor- ward experience: production sites, practical museums, and food served without showy extras. Rice season today is fast, organized, and technical, but the signs of the past are still visible if you know where to look. A morning among the fields shows how water and geometry make the crop pos- sible, while an afternoon at the Conservatory and the Ecomuseum explains who built and ran that system. A stop at the mill and a bowl of risotto in Verona bring the harvest to the table. Seen together, they tell a single story: how a northern plain learned to move water, how people worked it, and how S e p t e m b e r s t i l l s e t s , f o r many, the rhythm of life. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Tradition and modernity meet during Italy's rice season Mondine transplanting rice seedlings onto paddy fields in the countryside of Novara (Photo: Wikicommons/Archivio Storico Touring Club Italiano. CC-Share Alike 4.0 International) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE

• Cover