he first scene in Giuseppe De Santis’ 1949 film Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice) is at Turin train station. Waves of women, of all ages, make their way across the tracks to board a train for Vercelli and 40 days of work as seasonal rice paddy workers known as mondine. Also in the throng is petty thief Walter (Vittorio Gassman) and his accomplice, Francesca (Doris Dowling), who are on the run from the police after stealing a necklace. Having tracked the waves of women, the camera chases the couple as they try to escape and infiltrate the mondine, then glides through the packed train before focusing back on the platform and a young mondina called Silvana (played by the magnificent and indolent Silvana Mangano), who is dancing. The film goes on to chart the intrigue between Silvana, Walter, Francesca and a soldier (played by Raf Vallone and featuring his hairy chest). However, the most arresting aspect of the film is the wider setting: the rice paddies that have existed in the Po valley (and in Emilia and parts of Tuscany) since the 15th century, and the world of the mondine in the 1940s, a time of rice evolution and profusion of varieties – bertone, vialone, Chinese originario, roma and bologna, when arborio and carnaroli were being developed. The mondine (the name is derived from the verb mondare, to clean or take away impurities) were employed from April to June to weed the rice fields, usually while standing knee-high in water riddled with insects and bent over for hours for little pay. It was onerous work in onerous conditions, which De Santis captures (thanks, in great part, to the presence of real mondine), alongside the camaraderie and social message. While the women weren’t meant to talk while working, they could sing. There is one scene in particular: having returned to work in torrential rain, so as not to lose a day’s pay, the mondine’s songs are desperate, defiant and haunting, all the more so for the fact that we know different versions of this reality are still true for many. In another scene, treacherous Walter meets Silvana, then his reluctant accomplice Francesca in a warehouse, where he shares in her meal of rice before lounging back on dunes of white riso (meaning rice, but also laughter, making us wonder what is amaro, or bitter – the rice or his laughter, or both?). And we keep wondering until, without giving away the ending, the women are paid in part with rice, before returning to their homes all over Italy. And please forgive the clumsily choreographed chase into today’s recipe, which is sweet little tarts filled with rice pudding, and scented with orange and lemon zest, making them slightly bitter. Little rice pudding tarts – budini di riso fiorentini Makes 12 30g butter 150g short-grain pudding or arborio rice 50ml vin santo (optional) 500ml whole milk 100g caster sugar 1 egg Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Zest of 1 unwaxed orange For the pastry 125g butter, diced 250g all-purpose flour A pinch of salt Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon 75g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting 2 egg yolks First, make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles crumbs, then add the salt, lemon zest and icing sugar and stir. Add the yolks and, working with cold hands, bring the dough into a ball, wrap and chill for an hour. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4. Butter 12 x 7.5cm tart tins (really any jam tart tin or small muffin tin will do). On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 3mm thick, cut into circles and press into the tins. Weigh down with beans and blind bake for 20 minutes, until firm and pale gold. While the tart cases bake, make the filling. In a pan, melt the butter, then add the rice and stir. Pour in the vin santo (if using) and leave to bubble, then add the milk and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the rice has absorbed all the milk and is dense and creamy. Leave to cool, then stir in the egg and both citrus zests. Spoon the rice filling into the tart cases and return to the oven, now at 170C (150C fan)/gas 3, for 12 minutes, until the filling is firm. Dust with icing sugar and serve while still warm.