Too much dirty rice, too many beans

[venta]

You're all gourmets, right ? Or at the least gourmands. So, tell me about...

I have vague memories, when I was little, of eating leftovers fried with rice which were called risotto. The memories are very vague, though, so the mother may come along to comment that I didn't eat such things (or, at least, didn't eat them at home).

Fast forward twenty-odd years until I'm doing post-graduate study and living in a rather swish flat belonging to my college. My flat-mate is an Australian post-doc called Donna. She's vegetarian, and sometimes makes risotto. She does this by slowly stirring wine and stock into rice. No frying is involved. The result is fantastic.

Learning in equal parts from Donna and from a rather wonderful Thane Prince cookbook, I taught myself to make risotto. Experimentation has shown that I tend to prefer vegetable risottos (risotti ?) - favourites are mushroom and cashew, mushroom and leek, mushroom, spinach and Wensleydale (spotting a theme here?).

Once I got a job and started eating out more, I took to ordering risotti in restaurants. Which is where the story takes a sad turn. I discovered that one of these things is true:

- restaurants cannot make risotto
- I cannot make risotto

My evidence for this is that risotti in restaurants tend to be inferior (in my opinion) to mine. They're often gluggy, puddingy, sloppy, or too rich. On Tuesday I went out for lunch to a place which my colleauges tell me serves nice food. However their chicken, leek and stilton risotto was vaguely terrifying. Imagine extremely heavily cheesed rice-pudding, with immense lumps of chicken. I'd have put in less chicken, shredded what I did put in, and gone easy on the cheese. Oh, and served a portion about 50% of the size. I don't know why I still order risotto when out; a triumph of optimism over experience, I suppose.

Now in general I'd say I'm a reasonable cook; it's not, however, usual for me to consider I'm better at particular dishes than otherwise reputable restaurants. So, the inescapable conclusion is that the restaurants of South East England make beautiful risotto, and I make a peculiar parody which by some quirk of peversity I choose to prefer.

But.. but... mine's just nicer. It's creamy, but by slow cooking rather than the addition of cream. It doesn't have surprising lumps in it. It doesn't, mostly, resemble rice pudding. Except for the time when I bought Tesco's other kind of risotto rice - not arborio, but a name which escapes me. Carnellio ? Something beginning with C[*].

Once, I had a vague plan too cook mushroom risotto, but then discovered that all the ingredients I thought I had were gone. In place of white wine, I had red. In place of mushrooms, I had peppers and chillis. I went ahead and made it anyway. The result was nice enough and Frances and I ate it with grated cheddar and guacamole. We christened it "bizarro". While I'm not sure if that legally qualifies as risotto, it still had the correct texture.

It has been suggested that the reason I like my own risotto best is because by the time it comes to the table it - and often me - are very full of wine. I couldn't possibly comment.

So, the short version of the above is that I wish to eat a nice risotto. If you know of somewhere which will serve such a thing - preferably in Oxford, London, or somewhere nearby - then let me know. Or, y'know, if you cook a good risotto then invite me round for dinner.

[*] Wikipedia thinks I might mean Carnaroli.

Comments

[taimatsu]

I had chicken and mushroom risotto at the Jam Factory last night. It was tasty, but the portion was huge, the chicken was in big pieces, and there was too much parmesan on top (I got addedentry to eat it). I think it might hit your 'too rich' button as well - it was almost too much for me.

[venta.livejournal.com]

The Jam Factory has a restaurant ? Blimey. I didn't know that. I'll have to check it out sometime.

Actually, given the iterations it's been through, maybe the Jam Factory is a restaurant.

[taimatsu]

Restaurant/bar/thingummy. Very nice too. J & O had big meaty things which seemed to be good.

[compilerbitch.livejournal.com]

It's more likely the 'restaurants can't make risotto' option. I've only ever had a decent risotto in restaurants a couple of times in my whole life. My suspicion is that it just basically takes way too long to make one properly, and it has to be pretty much eaten when it's done, or it'll go stodgy, so restaurants Just Don't Do It. Of course, they usually use the wrong rice too.

[sesquipedality.livejournal.com]

Risotto is incredibly easy to cook badly. It is also, while not a light dish, not meant to taste stodgy either.

Since I know for a fact most restaurants and coffee shops make worse latte than I do, I can easily believe that there are plenty of restaurants that can't cook risotto either.

Unfortunately for a decent risotto, you're probably going to have to try somewhere with a Michelin star.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for a decent risotto, you're probably going to have to try somewhere with a Michelin star.

Hmm. I have (once) eaten at Le Manoir, and I'm wondering if one of the courses there might have been a risotto. Hmm. Some rummaging (http://zandev.livejournal.com/39329.html?view=184737) suggests it was. I'm disappointed that I don't have a clearer memory of it :(

[leathellin.livejournal.com]

It was a very nice risotto, it wasn't stodgy and came in small portions (which given the size of that meal was a very good thing).

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

I too would go with the 'most restaurants can't make risotto' option.

Yours sound closer to that which Jeanette makes, you'll have to come round for tea some time :)

I've very occasionally had a decent risotto at a restaurant, but my hit rate is fairly low. Usually it's the stodge you described above. Can't recall any specific restaurants in the South of England though.

[venta.livejournal.com]

you'll have to come round for tea some time

Lovely. I'll let you know when I'm passing next :)

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

We had a visitor from Oxford over for tea just last week :)

(She was an Australian, mind.)

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I make an excellent roasted butternut squash risotto. Come round next time you're in London?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ooh. That'd be lovely. My boyfriend keeps himself in London, so I'm down there quite a lot - give me a shout if you're cooking and find yourself in need of extra guests :)

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

*grin* Oh, I'm always happy to have an excuse to cook! Let me know some dates which would work for you (and boyfriend, if you'd like to bring him along!), and we'll fix up an evening of squashy-rice-y goodness! :-)
My LJ email address should work fine, and it really would be lvoely to see you, and catch up!

[triskellian]

I make risotto quite a lot (come round for dinner sometime!), and as such almost never order it in restaurants, because I reckon I can make it at least as well as them (see comment above about it being fiddly to make and wanting to be eaten when it's ready), so I prefer to order something I can't/don't make at home, or what's the point in going to restaurants? So I'm quite prepared to believe all the restaurants around here make bad risotto.

I've had risotto in Italy, and it was similar to mine, but the one I remember (I may have had others, but I've forgotten) was squid ink risotto, which is a slightly different kind of animal to, say, mushroom risotto, so it's hard to properly compare. In any case, it didn't make me think I'd been making the wrong thing all these years ;-)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I'd love to come and sample your risotto :)

And, er, it'd actually be nice to see you, too, since I haven't in ages.

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

I make bloody good risotto. So does mr_tom. Restaurants make shocking risotto unless (i) they're making it to order or (ii) they're a very good Italian place who know how to keep it nearly-cooked, instead of having a vat of it overcooking over the course of an evening, or send it out undercooked.

The thing is, I like to order risotto at restaurants. It's one of the things which (along with torta di limone) I use as an indicator of quality. One day I will find a restaurant which does good risotto, and I'll go back to it again and again, finding other stuff on the menu, because it's a good place.

FTR, the mushroom risotto at Salt's Diner is the exception; I must have eaten tons of the stuff over the years we've been going there, and it has always been excellent.

[stegzy.livejournal.com]

Jamie Oliver taught me how to make risotto. Not personally like but in his first cookery book (ie before he sold out to Sainsburys). There then followed several months worth of risotto meals. His method was to lightly fry the rice (aborrio, it has to be aborrio) before chucking a glass of vermouth into the pan and then ladelling in stock gradually. Dead easy.

I then went on to Paella (which uses a very similar method) which, I'm told, I'm pretty damn hot at making. :-)

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Jamie's risotto recipe is ace.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

You'll have a hard time getting the kind of risotto you like in any reasonably affordable restaurant since it requires precise timing to make it nice and it can't be pre-prepared at all. Also, I suspect your tastes don't match those of the majority of punters with regard to burying it in cheese.

There's an interesting controversy regarding making nice risotto, though: add flavourings before or after cooking the rice ? I invariably do the latter, but I've noticed that triskellian does the former and her risotto is most yummy (you'd be well advised to accept the above dinner invite). I suspect it varies a bit with the flavourings you choose. My favourite risotto to make is smoked mackerel and asparagus where you don't want to be boiling off the flavour from the fish then losing half of it when you drain the excess water. Similarly I'm a big fan of prawn and spring onion risotto.

Regarding Canaroli rice: fry it for about two minutes in a bit of oil before use. I actually slightly prefer it to Arborio, though to be honest I sometimes have a hard time telling them apart after cooking.

[triskellian]

but I've noticed that triskellian does the former
Not quite - which order I do it depends on the ingredients I'm using. If it's big, strong flavours that won't disintegrate on cooking, I add them at the beginning (mushrooms, thyme, bacon). If they're delicate wussy flavours that disappear as soon as you look at them, or that can't stand the length of cooking time, I add 'em at the end ('sparagus, prawns). And actually, even in the former case, I usually keep some back to add at the end for a bit of textural variety. Thanks for the compliment, though :-)

drain the excess water
This, btw, is an abomination. Water? Excess? Stock, wine, lemon juice, etc, but no excess left at the end, cos you've been adding it bit by bit, so all the flavour the liquid absorbs stays in the dish.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Nice trick if you can do it, but I'd just end up burning bits, undercooking bits or sticking bits to the pan if I tried that.

[venta.livejournal.com]

!

To my mind, the adding stock/wine a little at a time is absolutely the essence of risotto-making. I'm really surprised you can make anything even remotely edible by your method!

Still, I'll believe you if you say so :)

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

It's actually way, way easier - and I hardly invented it - but you do need good timing (or a willingness to test consistency every 30 seconds after the first 18 minutes).

[stompyboots.livejournal.com]

The only good restaurant risotto I've had in this country was at Claridge's. The ones I make at home are infinitely nicer than those I've eaten out.

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

Restaurant risotto tends not to be nice because as others have said it requires precise timing and doesn't keep well.

Our fave is Spinach.

I make it by the fry rice then gradually stir in method. Since Delia and Nigella also do it this way I assume I'm doing it right.

I usually add flavourings late/near the end.
And always use Arborio rice, it makes a difference.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

I dislike, as you say, ricepuddingy risotto. I'm not sure how much that's just my idiosyncrasy, though. Certainly my preference for non-cheese-based risotto is just me being ornery.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

No no no - they make bad risotto. You make good risotto. They also put a lot more MSG in it, which is why it tastes too strong - too much flavour enhancer, not enough ingredients. If you want nice risotto, make it.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

I've had decent restaurant risotto before. But I can't remember where. It can be pretty ropey, though. IME, because:

* It'll be finished by whoever's on the veg/garnish station, which is the lowest on the heirarchy and thereby the most soul-destroying and likely to have a bitter and uncaring cook on.
* It needs good stock, and quite a lot of it. The saucier and saute chefs will have taken the best stock.
* Mushroom risotto is the ANSI standard vegetarian option. No-one cares about the vegetarian option.
* To do properly, it'll be par-cooked, blast-chilled and then finished a la minute. Or you could just make a huge batch and leave it at the back of the range.
* Since it holds heat well, it'll be the dish that gets to the passe first and is left under a heat lamp, waiting for the more delicate dishes to catch up.

Ah - I remember now: it was from a Konditor and Cook takeaway. Which was pleasantly surprising.

[venta.livejournal.com]

The saucier and saute chefs will have taken the best stock.

Saucier I can understand. But saute ? Does that not mean what I think it means in this context ? I don't see why someone who sautés things needs stock.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

For making in-pan sauces: deglazing, making jus. That sort of thing. In a small kitchen, you won't have a saucier at all, so all that stuff will be done by the saute chef.

[elethiomel.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty darned good at risotto, if I say so myself (and I do) and am of the opinion that restaurants usually don't get it right - timings have to be spot on and it is just too labour intensive.

That said, you might want to give this place a go next time you're in London - risotto is all they do and (I'm told) they do it very well indeed. Give me a shout and I'll join you there.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Hmm... they've got a seafood with courgette and spring onion risotto. Clearly these people have some clue.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Give me a shout and I'll join you there.

Cool, that'd be nice. I'm not convinced you exist any more. And I still haven't met your Mrs (is she Mrs yet ? I've lost track).

[marjory.livejournal.com]

Risotto has to have cheese in it, according to Dr. Mitch, who makes risotto which usually smells like feet. Maybe we shouldn't listen to him.

I've never had a nice restaurant risotto either, not even in the very good Italian restaurant we sometimes go to.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I quite often sprinkle cheese on my risotto. But in is a bit, well, suspicious. Particularly if it's parmesan which, as everyone knows, is made of vomit and old socks.

[marjory.livejournal.com]

And himself has effectively banned parmesan from our place on Geneva Convention type grounds...

Hmmm... Must follow up Jamie Oliver hint from other comment (that would be Mitch cooking and me being critical).

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of risotto, but the only one I've ever made is the oven-based one in the Delia book. You'd hate it, sadly, because of the parmesan.

[(Anonymous)]

I've done a lot of things with leftovers in my time, but risotto wasn't one of them! In fact, I didn't start making it until your Dad scared the daylights out of us with a heart attack and I got a host of low fat cookbooks, one of which has a good recipe. You're all of you right about restaurants; a good risotto takes time, care and must be served pronto. I ate (or left most of)the nastiest risotto in the universe in Princes St., Edinburgh. The Mother.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I think I've had an entirely tolerable risotto at Mario's. But I might be wrong. And Mario's has always been a bit variable.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Very cheesy risotto is a northern Italian thing I think -- I've had risotti there (home-cooked) which seemed to have almost as much cheese as rice.

I appear to be a heretic though in that I don't think it's necessary to add the liquid a spoon at a time. I know roughly how much will be needed, and I put it in all in one go. If it's looking like the rice is absorbing it faster than you thought, add more -- if it's looking like you put too much in, open the saucepan lid to let some boil off. (I got this tip from a column by an Italian chef, maybe Carluccio?)