• @carbonara
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    3
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    3 months ago

    In italy rice isn’t part of every meal, but we are the major producer in all Europe. We produce many types of rice by ourselves and they are really different by each other. We didn’t import ‘em and decided to give names…

    • Björn Tantau
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      fedilink
      03 months ago

      I didn’t mean that other countries don’t grow their own rice, but that rice arrived over many more ways over the millenia in western countries than in the eastern countries where it had been widespread already, which wouldn’t necessitate much exchange of different varieties.

      But by the time the old Greeks and Romans got introduced to rice they very likely already had the pick from many different locations, giving them much more variety to choose from and start growing their own crops.

      Reading over Wikipedia Africa and South America started cultivating rice much later than Asia. And if I read it correctly at least in the Americas the native rice was in competition with imported rice from Europe and Asia. So they as well had a wider variety of types to choose from.

      But all in all it’s just speculation on my part. No need to feel insulted.