Risotto ( , ; from riso, 'rice')[ risotto, Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2 August 2018.] is an Italian cuisine rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and Parmesan. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. Saffron was originally used for flavour and its signature yellow colour.[ Recipes 78-80. Still, in print, there are many editions in many languages.]
Risotto in Italy is often a first course (primo), served before a second course (secondo), but risotto alla milanese is often served with ossobuco alla milanese as a one-course meal.
History
Rice has been grown in southern Italy for centuries, and gradually made its way to northern Italy, where the marshes of the Po Valley were suitable for rice cultivation.[ La Cucina del Riso, p76, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, 2014. .] However, who invented risotto in Milan cannot be stated with certainty.[ Summary of Risotto. Storia di un piatto italiano by Alberto Salarelli, 2010, published by Sometti. .]
The rice varieties associated with risotto were developed in the 20th century, starting with Maratelli in 1914.
Rice varieties
A high-starch, round, medium- or short- grain white rice is usually used for making risotto.[
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Basic preparation
There are many different risotto recipes with different ingredients, but they are all based on rice of an appropriate variety, cooked in a standard procedure.[
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The rice is first cooked briefly in a soffritto of onion and butter or olive oil to coat each grain in a film of fat, called tostatura; white wine is added and must be absorbed by the . When it has been absorbed, the heat is raised to medium–high, and boiling stock is gradually added in small amounts while stirring constantly. The constant stirring, with only a small amount of liquid present, forces the grains to rub against each other and release the starch from the outside of the grains into the surrounding liquid, creating a smooth creamy-textured mass.
Properly cooked risotto is rich and creamy, even if no cream is added, due to the starch in the grains.[ It has some resistance or bite (al dente) and separate grains. The traditional texture is fairly fluid, or all'onda ('wavy' or 'flowing in waves'). It is served on flat dishes and should easily spread out but not have excess watery liquid around the perimeter.
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Italian regional variations
Many variations have their own names:
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| Risotto alla milanese | | There are various versions of risotto alla milanese. According to Elizabeth David in her Italian Food, "The classic one is made simply with chicken broth and flavoured with saffron; butter and grated Parmesan cheese are stirred in at the end of the cooking, and more cheese and butter served with it. The second version is made with beef marrow and white wine; a third with Marsala. In each case saffron is used as a flavouring". |
| Risotto al Barolo | | A speciality of Piedmont, made with red wine, which may include sausage meat or Cranberry bean |
| Risotto al nero di seppia | | A speciality of Veneto, made with cuttlefish cooked with their ink sacs intact, leaving the risotto black |
| Risi e bisi | | A Veneto spring dish that is correctly served with a spoon rather than a fork; it is a soup so thick that it resembles a risotto. It is made with green peas using the stock from the fresh young pods, flavoured with pancetta. |
| Risotto alla zucca | | Made with pumpkin, nutmeg, and grated cheese |
| Risotto alla pilota | | A speciality of Mantua, Lombardy, made with sausage, pork, and Parmesan |
| Risotto ai funghi | | A variant made with edible mushroom such as Boletus edulis, Suillus luteus, Kuehneromyces mutabilis or Agaricus bisporus |
| Risotto ai frutti di mare | | A variant made with seafood of seaside Italian cities |
| Risotto al tartufo nero | | Made with, usually, black truffle |
See also
Notes
Further reading
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Barrett, Judith, and Wasserman, Norma (1987). Risotto. New York: Scribner. .
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Hazan, Marcella (1992). Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. .
