Rice, Vermouth and Bone
Marrow
My name is BrianR and
I'm a Risottoholic.
There, I've done it.
I've admitted my risotto dependency to you all, and not least to
myself, and as every addict knows this is the first step to a 'cure'.
You may not know (and please don't ask me how I know) but most
programs to overcome addiction, dependency or other behavioural
problems are based on the Twelve-Step Program created by Alcoholics
Anonymous way back in the late 1930's. The problem I have is that I
don't want to go through the other eleven stages, I love risotto,
it's a big part of my life, and apart from adding a few inches to my
evermore relaxed waistline and maybe upping my cholesterol a little
it's not doing me any harm. Neither is it affecting my relationship
with my family and friends, except of course being labelled a risotto
bore.
Risotto has a
reputation for being hard work and difficult to get right. A
reputation I suspect not helped by the fact that a really good
restaurant risotto is very hard to find. A risotto needs the time and
undivided attention that only a top end restaurant can give. Lesser
restaurants will half cook the risotto then spread it out on trays
and chill until required. They then finished it off in portions with
more stock to order. This is not good, it doesn't really work. The
best restaurants for me know their limitations and keep risotto off
the menu.
Having bemoaned the
restaurant risotto, with a little practise, a little patience, the
correct rice, a good stock and the strict adherence to a few well
documented simple steps you can produce at home a rich, creamy,
classic rice dish to seduce the gods.
Sounds a lot more
complicated than it is – trust me.
