We frequently eat at several local restaurants that feature risottos as a side, or sometimes a main. I’m not a fan of chewy rice. DH ordered rack of lamb with mushroom risotto tonight so we could escape the turkey leftovers in our house…
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How can you order risotto well done?
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I love risotto and, in fact, had a chestnut and sage one as a starter, at the restaurant we went to yesterday for lunch. That said, it’s rare to come across a really well made one. In comparison with the wetter ones you get in Italy, here they usually seem to be quite dry and claggy.
Interesting that you mention that several of your local places offer it as a side and only sometimes as a main. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen it offered as a side here and it is usually offered as a main course (my starter yesterday was a comparative rarity, which was why I ordered it).
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This restaurant always has it as an alternative for mashed potatoes. Sometimes it comes in the form of “risotto cakes” which I do like, they are patties with a nice crust made from leftover risotto. In its true form, regardless of what’s in it, risotto reminds me of porridge and I’m put off by the texture.
Why not get the mashed from now on?
I love risotto and make it often. Giorgio Locatelli’s Made In Italy cookbook was and still is my resource on technique. Once I learned his way of making it, risotto has been excellent, every time.
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I’ve made risotto a few times and enjoyed it, but with no frame of reference. Then I had it as a side in an Italian restaurant, and found it too chewy. When I identified this to the owner, he said that they like it “al dente”. I wanted to ask him to grab a fork and try it, but he looked like someone it would not have been wise to challenge! The SOB also served me bay scallops after telling me that they served sea scallops; I hate the little bullets that are usually served as bay scallops.
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We’ve cooked stuff from that book (although not risotto), much more successfully than our 2008 experience eating at his restaurant. It was disappointingly poor.
I do, but I agree with @Harters that it’s hard to get a good one in a restaurant. They cook it until almost done and then reheat/finish portions to order, which tends to compromise the texture somewhat.
That said, there are also different styles of risotto, ranging from drier to almost soupy and with the rice kernels al dente to fully soft. I prefer the all’onda style, where you have distinct al dente (but not crunchy!) grains suspended in a loose, creamy sauce. However, the drier/thicker styles can be good too, as long as the rice is cooked properly (a bit beyond al dente but never mushy or blown out).
Here are a few links about the different styles and techniques (in Italian and English):
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I enjoy risotto.
And I like it “al dente”
That said, I don’t really consider risotto to be “rice”. I consider it pasta, even though I know that it is rice.
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Risotto in a restaurant is not my thing. I like making it at home: not as dry the prep tends to be in the US, and not as brothy as may be preferred in Italy. So you can call me Goldilocks about this.
The rice is also a big deal for me. I think getting that just-right creamy texture with a little firmness to the grains (Goldilocks here!) involves more butter than I prefer when the rice isn’t optimal. I try to get the best quality Carnaroli or Arborio that I can.
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Same with Richard Bertinet’s baking. I’ve done several of his recipes and they’ve been so good made at home, but when I was in Bath and got some bread and pastries from his own bakery, they were terrible. Stale baguette and claggy, underbaked pastries.
Carnaroli is my favourite risotto rice, followed by vialone nano.
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I like risotto. I mean, it’s rice, isn’t it? I think the problem with risotto restaurants is that there is a window in which risotto is perfection, but outside that window it’s either too firm (“we like it al dente”…sure, you do) or congee. I would still like it as congee, but it wouldn’t be risotto by then. With such a small window, it’s tough for a restaurant to have it in that sweet spot to order.
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Although restaurants in Italy seem to be able to do it, in my experience. Maybe it’s when the cuisine is Anglicised or Americanised that it starts to fail.
I did get the mashed. Hubs ordered risotto. He was fine with it.
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I adore risotto in all forms. I made it once using sushi rice. It was outstanding.
In DC there is a restaurant where the chef once made two different risotto at the same meal. I was in heaven. Everyone raves over his lobster ravioli, which does nothing for me, but a great risotto is a life affirming experience.
I love risotto, yes it is rice. I make it all’onda (thank you @biondanonima for the word) which is the way I like it and the few times I have had it in a restaurant it has been perfect.
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Perhaps in restaurants in Italy risotto is in demand enough that they always have a batch that is in that sweet spot? I’m just speculating here, because I don’t know.
Yeah, when I make risotto, I use calrose. It works for me.
