Riz de Camargue

Appearance & taste

Riz de Camargue comes with round, medium and long grains of types A and B, from varieties of the Japonica and Indica subspecies. The list of approved varieties is revised every year; they should be adapted to the conditions of the Camargue and produce grains with similar characteristics. The rice is offered as brown or semi-milled rice, brown or coloured, as white rice, plain or with natural flavouring, and as parboiled rice, either as a single type or as a mixture of different processing stages.

According to the specification, it is a rice of very uniform characteristics: at most 5 % broken rice, at least 97 % of grains of the same shape, very few impurities and only a few spotted, amber or green grains. White and parboiled rice may contain at most 1 % red grains, brown rice at most 2 %.

Production

Growing, harvesting, drying and storage of the paddy rice and its processing take place in the area. The rice fields are small plots with their own water supply and drainage in a system of irrigation and drainage canals; pumping stations supply around 80 % of the land with fresh water from the Rhône. The water level is carefully controlled: it is drained when the rice is planted out to keep fungi in check, regulated during growth, and drained again at the end of the season so that the grains do not lie in the water if the stalks bend over.

After the harvest, the rice is taken straight to nearby drying facilities. According to the specification, the short distances reduce the risk of the grains heating up and turning yellow or amber.

Origin & history

The area comprises 15 municipalities, including Arles, Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône in the Bouches-du-Rhône department and Saint-Gilles, Aigues-Mortes and Le Grau-du-Roi in the Gard. It is flat and always lies less than 5 m above sea level. In places the groundwater is saltier than seawater. Little rain, plenty of sun with 1,750 hours a year and the mistral on more than 200 days cause a lot of water to evaporate, so that salt rises from the groundwater. Rice growing washes out the salt and is therefore, according to the specification, one of the few crops with which the area can be used and preserved. The mistral also reduces fungal attack.

According to the specification, there are references to rice in the Camargue since the 13th century. Cultivation proper began after the Rhône was embanked in 1855 and grew after 1945, when food was scarce: at that time rice fields covered 35,000 ha and reached as far as Perpignan. From 1965 cultivation declined; since a support plan in 1981 it has been growing again. In 2012, 100,000 t of paddy rice were produced on around 20,000 ha, a third of French consumption. The Centre Français du Riz advises the rice growers; festivals such as the “Prémices du Riz” and the “Féria du riz” keep the name well known.