The Story of CAL RISO

Find latitude 40º north in your atlas or on the globe and trace its path around the world. This parallel passes through the great rice growing regions of Italy, Spain, Turkey, northern China, and Japan, and then crosses the Pacific Ocean and landfalls in the Sacramento valley of California. This explains why the Bayliss Ranch is releasing CAL RISO under the Latitude 40º brand. California CAL RISO is the newest rice grown in the oldest rice growing parallel around the world.

Created with the technological expertise of the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, California, CAL RISO is the first Mediterranean rice born in the new world. A product of the careful crossing of Italian and Californian rice varieties, CAL RISO carries all the best properties of its parentage.

The strains of Italian rice traditionally used for risotto are arborio, carnaroli and vialone nano. These unique grains have the ability to absorb large amounts of liquid while remaining firm and retaining their shape. CAL RISO most closely resembles the carnaroli strain, the premium choice of Italian chefs. It behaves like traditional varieties in terms of absorption but saves one-third the cooking time to produce a memorable “al dente” risotto.

CAL RISO is a whiter grain than imported Italian rice and has a distinctive white belly. (Milled brown CAL RISO is also available upon request.) The grain is similar in length to carnaroli and slightly shorter than an arborio. The grains are all high in starch, which they release during the cooking and stirring, producing a thick and creamy risotto. In a controlled laboratory test of more than 20 brands of risotto rice, CAL RISO had the highest starch index. This means creamier risotto in one-third less the time.

CAL RISO is the freshest rice available. Freshly milled in limited quantities just before shipping, CAL RISO arrives in the kitchen moist and full of flavor. And because it is grown domestically and shipped directly from northern California, the price is lower than most risotto rice.