Budirto di Riso al Latte

The sultanas and pine nuts in this dish indicate a Middle Eastern influence. Venice, where this dish is almost an obsession, was the first Christian state to trade with the Ottoman Empire, continuing centuries of lucratively being the gateway to western Europe for spices, sugar, dye and other expensive exotica. This bears a clear resemblance to British rice pudding and to a similar dish served in Bruges (Bruges and Venice were trading partners, the former the principal outlet for Venetian t