Food & drink · Vigevano

Risotto alla Lomellina at Ristorante I Tigli in Theoria

The flat plains surrounding Vigevano are Italy's most productive rice-growing district, and the local risotto tradition is distinct from its Milanese cousin — richer with lard, sometimes finished with frogs from the irrigation canals, and always made with Carnaroli from fields you can see from the restaurant window. I Tigli in Theoria, a few kilometres outside town in Gambolò, is the benchmark.

Why this risotto is different

Lomellina risotto is cooked longer and looser than the Milanese standard, finished with a mantecatura of local butter and Grana Padano rather than Parmigiano, and often incorporates rane (frogs), a protein source that sustained generations of rice-paddy workers. If the idea of frogs puts you off, the kitchen also does a superb version with local sausage and red wine that is equally rooted in tradition.

The restaurant sources its Carnaroli from a single producer in Robbio, 15 km north, and the difference in texture — firm, slightly nutty, holding its shape through the long cook — is immediately apparent compared with supermarket rice.

The broader food scene in Vigevano

Back in town, the trattorie along Via Merula and around Corso Vittorio Emanuele II serve simpler, cheaper versions of the same dishes. Look for brasato al Barbera (beef braised in Barbera wine) and rane fritte (fried frogs' legs) on autumn menus — both are quintessentially Lomellina and rarely found outside the region.

For a quick lunch, the alimentari on the porticoed streets sell panini filled with local salami and pickled vegetables; pair one with a glass of Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda from the wine shop on Via Cavallotti, a slightly sparkling red that cuts through the richness of cured meat perfectly.

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