Silvija Davidson, a friend who is also an excellent cook, developed this recipe for me after a visit to the Camargue, the wetlands near the mouth of the Rhône where rice has long been grown as a marginal crop but is now becoming a major industry.

This is a sophisticated and delicious first course, or a complete lunch accompanied by a newly baked baguette and some more salad on the side. If you cannot buy red rice locally, use wild rice instead. The dried sea lettuce can be replaced by young spinach leaves. But the squid must be very fresh.