Around 1500, the nuns from the Benedictine convent of San Pietro in Vicenza introduced the cultivation of rice in Grumolo delle Abbadesse. A prestigious production which has been handed down with great success over the centuries mainly due to the local land owners, who built some of the most beautiful Villas of the Veneto region, magnificent architectural jewels which can still be admired today, in this particular area east of Vicenza. Two main types of rice are produced here, amidst a crowded network of canals and waterways: a semifine rice called Vialone Nano, having incredible capacity to absorb condiments, and Carnaroli, the pride of the Italian culinary tradition. It is no wonder, therefore, that rice is the basic ingredient in some of the area's most popular dishes: from the incomparable rice with peas (another traditional locally-produced product) to risottos made with local delicacies such as radicchio rosso (red radicchio), mushrooms, black truffle, tasty cheeses …
