Cluster, work in progress: open the rice – The Republic

Five days before the opening of Expo 2015 are still many construction sites where they continue the work in progress. Some halls, such as the EU, Cuba, Turkey, have not yet opened their doors to the public, because of delays, while others, such as Belgium and Nepal, are open but you continue to work to finish the facilities . And there then minor faults, such as an elevator that gets stuck. “But there are two thousand points out,” noted Commissioner Hall. The European Union pavilion will open on May 9, and for the occasion will intervene President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, with the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini. The resort overlooks the northern part of the Cardo in front of Palazzo Italy. And the construction site remains open: “We have been penalized by the delays of the work on the Cardo – says the commissioner general of the pavilion, Giancarlo Caratti – electricity there came just three days before the inauguration.” The pavilion develops the theme of Expo “in eight rooms with interactive technology and special effects, we could not open it in half. We are very sorry because these days we lose hundreds of groups of students who flock to the site.”

Problems for the nine clusters, which should be the real news of the Expo in terms of organization of countries, but are slow to take off. It ‘was inaugurated that of rice, but others are still closed or open but empty. “Within 10 days we will open them all – assured the commissioner Giuseppe Sala – the delays are partly due to the fact that countries far away and not rich do get delayed in some materials. Now we are helping them to do more quickly” .

With its architecture designed as a mirror to draw the landscape of rice paddies, the cluster is one of the most admired by visitors walking along the Decumanus. Entering seems to do it in a paddy rice true ground, Rice reflected on the mirrored walls surrounding the mini-rice fields. And once inside, a world of absolute simplicity: the products of local From Cambodia to Laos, from Sierra Leone to India, are shown in the name of the grain that is the source of life. Grain that feeds half the world’s population. Its origins are ancient and the world today there are more than 140,000 varieties. The cluster is designed deliberately “poor”: a rice paddy outside, a kind of ethnic market inside. Six countries protagonists: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and India, one of the world’s largest producers together with China, which coordinates the Basmati Pavilion with Amity University. Each country brings a specific theme but all together “represent the great work that is behind every variety to reduce energy costs, land use and the use of pesticides, for a more sustainable rice” explained one of the responsible, Massimo Labra, Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Milan Bicocca.

There is also the Italian experience in the cluster of rice, one of the oldest companies of Lomellina, Riso Scotti. In this area they are born some of the most valuable qualities, Carnaroli and Arborio. In the common space Scotti shows visitors how it has changed in 150 years the method of rice processing. In Italy it is produced only 0.25% of world rice, but our country has made quality a flag and research a trademark. The Ente Nazionale Risi, which deals with the protection in the industry, leading to the Expo experience for rice producers in Italian Expo, with a space inside the pavilion Federalimentare, ‘Cibus is Italy’. Are 52 companies that have joined the project and represent Italian excellence from

Lomellina, to areas of Vercelli up to Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Sardinia. Expo is also the protagonist in one of the signature dishes of Italian cuisine in the world, the risotto. The Michelin-starred chef Davide Oldani prepares one at Milan revisited for the occasion, with a quality of Lomellina Carnaroli, aged 18 months, and one saffron coming from a small producer. Every day the secrets of a perfect risotto you can discover a few steps from the pavilion Zero.

Arguments:

expo-2015

Expo

Expo 2015

expo-2015-cluster-rice

Cambodia

Bangladesh

sierra leone

Myanmar

laos

India

Starring:

Giancarlo Caratti

Giuseppe Sala