The chequered sea in spring
Between Vercelli, Novara and Lomellina, in the plain between the Sesia, the Ticino and the Po, lies the largest rice-growing area in Europe: Italy is the leading rice producer in the European Union, and about half of its rice comes from Piedmont, mainly from the provinces of Vercelli and Novara. In spring, between April and May, the fields are flooded, and the countryside turns into an immense mirror of water divided by embankments, the "mare a quadretti", the chequered sea, which reflects the sky, the clouds, the farmhouses and, on clear days, the snowy peaks of Monte Rosa. Then, in summer, the fields turn bright green, and in autumn golden with ripe ears.
The landscape is dotted with "grange", large fortified farmhouses that were once small villages, with the owner's house, the workers' lodgings, the stables and the drying yards. The most famous is the Principato di Lucedio, near Trino, an ancient Cistercian abbey founded in 1123, whose monks were among the first to grow rice in the area, in the fifteenth century; today it is a farm producing rice that can be visited. This was the world of the "mondine", the women who every summer came from all over northern Italy to weed the rice fields, standing for hours with their legs in the water, celebrated by the 1949 film "Riso amaro" with Silvana Mangano, shot in the area. The typical dish is the panissa, a risotto with beans, lard and salami.
Tip: the best time is late April and May, at sunrise or sunset; the Lame del Sesia park and the cycle paths along the canals allow you to explore the area.
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