After landing in Sicily in 827, the Moors went on to rule the island for 300 years.
Because of their enlightened rule and advanced agricultural systems, it was a prosperous time for the island. They introduced citrus fruits and sugar cane to the fields where they uprooted the vines (as a Muslim people it was already against their religion to drink).
They planted the first cotton and installed sophisticated irrigation techniques which improved productivity and enabled the growth of rice. Prior to this, rice had been known to the Romans but only as an expensive medicinal import from India and after the fall of the Moorish regime rice was no longer cultivated until the Middle Ages.
By the 18C it had become so precious a crop that it was made illegal to export the seed outside of Italy. Today Italy grows about 60% of the total European rice crop.
Go to our rice section |
