Carlo and Carla

Off in the Marche there is a small field of rice growing on dry unirrigated land. The rice is part of an ongoing experiment by a dedicated pasta maker named Carlo Latini. He has come to rice growing from a continuing passionate interest in wheat, traditional wheat and wheat to make the best pasta. Now, after many years of working with wheats and perfecting his wonderful pasta, he has discovered that approximately a hundred and fifty years ago rice was also grown in the rolling hills and valleys of the Marche. It was cultivated with a dryland technique, not in classic Po Valley-style flooded paddy. Carlo is determined to make a go of dryland rice farming. “If they could do it then, I should be able to do it now, ” he says firmly. In his first three years of experimenting, he has grown some of all the major Italian varieties, including vialone nano, arborio, even carnaroli, which is notoriously difficult to grow.