Risotto

» Wen - Yummy!

I adore risotto. Even before it became oh-so trendy. I could eat it and nothing else for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and be perfectly happy. Due to this happy addiction (and the fact that I will be marrying an Italian in a few months) and a few well placed newspaper and magazine articles, I have done a lot of research about Risotto and found your article very interesting.

I find the whole process of making a risotto fascinating, and have done a lot of testing in my own kitchen (and a lot of sampling in other kitchens...including those in Italy.)

I guess that the first point that I would like to make is that a risotto does not necessarily have to be made with arborio rice. That is the most commonly used rice that produces a dense risotto which is excellent with saffron or a rich sauce. You are correct in stating that it is high in amylopectin, but that same starch that dissolves to create a luscious binding agent in an arborio risotto is also the reason that so many casual cooks are frustrated by their attempts to make a beautiful risotto, only to end up with a glutaneous mass of rice. The reason for this is that unless you constantly stir to distribute the amylopectin constantly, and do not time the cooking prefectly it ends up clumping and not coating the rice evenly and commonly overcooks.

There are two other Italian rices that are grown for risotto. They both have a nice coating of amylopectin, just not as much as arborio. Part of this is due to their smaller size and higher percentage of amylose, the inner starch which does not dissolve and gives rice its delightful toothsomeness.

The first variety is, of course the most expensive, and is called carnaroli. Developed in Milan in the mid 1940's, it is a very firm rice with a large amoun of amylose present. It has enough amylopectin to create the softness of a risotto, but each grain retains enough firmness to stand out on the palate individually. This rice is superb in the more "soupy" or "saucy" risottos, and is excellent in many traditional risottos. It is the first choice of many chefs because the small amount of amylopectin means that you have to be less careful when cooking the risotto as there is less starch to distribute when stirring. While I always stir constantly when making a risotto with arborio rice (the end result is a hundred times better) you can get away with leaving a risotto made with carnaroli on the stove unattended for a few minutes.

The last variety is Vialone Nano. I first tried this rice in Venice, and was pleasantly surprised. Venetian risottos are traditionally all'onda, or very loose and fluid. Not quite a soup, but more of a rice sauce. It has a small amount of amylopectin and a large amount of amylose, making for a toothsome risotto with a delicate flavor. I always use this rice when I am making a vegetarian risotto with vegetable broth and a light white wine along with some fresh asparagus, spinach, and other tender vegetables as the starchiness of the rice does not overpower the delicate flavors of the vegetables. A strong meat broth or strongly flavored ingredients like porcini mushrooms and truffles would totally overpower a delicate risotto made with this rice, so it is not ideal with all risottos.

Go out and find these two other rices and try them in a few risotto recipes. They are a bit more expensive that arborio, and possibly a little harder to find, but both of them produce perfect risottos almost every time.

As far as stirring is concerned...tsk tsk. Stirring constantly is essential to a perfect risotto. You can get by sometimes without stirring, but the difference is always discernable. Stirring does two important things. Constantly rubbing the grains of rice against each other, the pan, and the spoon helps to scrape off the dissolving amylopectin. In addition, it evenly distributes it, preventing scorching and resulting in a smooth ultra-creamy risotto. It also allows you to monitor the risotto closely and perfectly time the addition of ingredients.

A few other hints : Never wash your rice before adding to the base mixture. While butter and onions are traditional for many risottos, in Italy the combinatuions of ingredients to cook to form the base are almost limitless. Many times they will add nuts, herbs, ground meat, truffles, shellfish, vegetables,a nd most commonly garlic. More often than not these ingredients are sauteed in the butter and onion mixture before adding the rice, to intensify the flavor of these ingredients. In addition, if you are making a mussel risotto (which is fabulous) it is essential to add the liquid from the mussel to the base to instensify the flavor (do not add the mussels themselves until the very end as cooking them makes them quite tough).

Lastly, but most importantly, you forgot the last step. In almost all true Italian recipes the last step to a recipe is to add butter or cream to a dish to add richness and creaminess. Right before serving, you should add a tablespoon or two of butter (or extra virgin olive oil if you are sauteeing in olive oil rather than butter) with the parmesan cheese. Stir well to incorporate and serve immediately. It really does make a significant difference!

Wen

-- posted by Wen