Talk:Risotto

message: The type of rice used in a risotto is simply a short grain rice.  Short grains have more of a type of starch that can dissolve in water then long grain rices.  Instead of useing specific names of rices, lets just say that you need to use a short rather then long grain rice. Eds01 03:11, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: type of rice

message: This needs improvement.
Firstly, there are lots of POV comment about how to make risotto, which is not encyclopedic, e.g., things like 'Avoid Basmati and above all avoid parboiled rice.' do not read like an encyclopedia. Better to remove the recipe and just concentrate on techniques: describing the creation of a soffritto, the frying of the rice, and then the stirring in of stock is good, but not a step-by-step recipe.
Secondly there are no quantities for the oil, spring onions, etc., so it's not that useful as a recipe. I tried the recipe and there is far too much wine in it, not too mention the use of 'glass' as a measure, without stating the size of the glass. Whereas this recipe calls for one glass (presumably 125ml or 175ml) per 100g of rice, most other recipes call for one glass for 300-500g of rice. E.g., this one http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/2003/01/01/basic_risotto.php.
The amount of wine is clearly too much because the described almost immediate evaporation just won't happen as there is so much of it.
===Edits===
I've edited the article a bit to take out the POV comments, and to make it read a bit more like an encyclopedic entry. I've also changed the cleanup tag to a revision tag, hope to see some comments here. Frozen fish 06:39, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Recipe

message: I've edited the article a bit to take out the POV comments, and to make it read a bit more like an encyclopedic entry. I've also changed the cleanup tag to a revision tag, hope to see some comments here. Frozen fish 06:39, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Edits

message: The recipe actually probably belongs in the Cookbook, where it appears there is already a recipe.  -- AKeen 22:54, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree - there is no reason why a full risotto recipe should be included in this article, wikipedia is not a recipe book. The techniques that set risotto apart from other rice dishes have a place in this article, but niot the full recipe. skorpion 01:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

text: Also agree - I just looked up Risotto to find out more about it.  Instead I found a [very nice] section on how to cook it.  Perhaps we can create "origins", "history", and "risotto today" (or similar) sections and fill them in with relevant information.  I think this article would be less contentious (per the discussions above) and more interesting if it had more about the actual grains and dish.  For example, risotto being "one of the most noblest" ways to cook rice in Italy BEGS to be talked about. --will 06:33, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Cookbook

message: This recipe for Risotto with celery illustrates a typical risotto procedure. Ingredients may vary indefinitely, as there are thousands of types of risotto, but the procedure remains more or less the same.
===Ingredients===
100 g of rice per person, a red or green celery, onions (or scallion), garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, vegetable or chicken broth, good quality white wine.
The rice for risotto should be a short grain rice (the Italian Arborio rice is traditional, but other short grain rices will work), never long grain (e.g. Basmati and Jasmine) or parboiled rice.  Short grain rices contain more of the starch amylopectin (which thickens the liquid in risotto) than the long grain rices.  This is also why short grain rices make "sticky" rice, whereas long grain rices cook up very fluffy with each grain separate.
===Procedure===
Finely dice onion or scallion and the thinnest parts of the celery. Lightly fry in a large, flat frying pan using the extra-virgin olive oil, creating a soffritto. (If a thicker base is preferred, butter may be used as an alternative to the olive oil.) Long frying over a low flame will allow the vegetables to give flavor to the oil without being burnt. When the onion is golden in color, add the rice in the pan. The rice will start to soak the oil and soften, turning slightly reddish. This is known as the toasting procedure.
When the rice turns golden and dry but not brown, add the wine in the pan (one 125ml glass for each 300g of rice). The wine will quickly evaporate and in its turn soak the rice, imparting its flavour. Finally, add the rest of the celery, sliced into little bits. The celery's juices will soak the rice. Keep salted vegetable broth in a pan at near-boiling temperature, and when the celery has browned begin to add the broth.
Adding the broth little by little while the rice is cooking is the other key to cooking risotto.  The broth must cover the rice surface by no more than a thin 1-2 millimetres. When it is almost completely absorbed, add more. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer. The rice should be stirred continuously but gently; always stir with a wooden spoon. Always keep the surface of the rice flat on the top.
The rice will cook, soaking all the juices and fats you will add and keeping all its starch, which will give risotto its characteristic smoothness. To complete the procedure, just before the risotto is ready, when the broth has been almost completely absorbed, add a good slice of unsalted butter, a few spoonfuls of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste). Alternatively, other types of cheese may be added (Gorgonzola is a popular choice) about a minute or so before the supply of broth is exhausted—this action is called mantecatura.  Once the broth is finished the stove should be turned off (if using an electric stove, move the pot to an unused element) and the pot with the rice should be covered with a damp cloth for 3-4 minutes; this helps maintain the flavour and texture of the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
How long risotto should be cooked is a matter of personal opinion (normally between 16 and 18 minutes, depending on the rice used), although it is generally felt that over-cooked risotto is like gruel, and that properly cooked grains still have shape and give a little resistance to the teeth. In Italian the rice should be al dente or firm "to the tooth." Another saying is that risotto should be all'onda ("to the wave") meaning that the rice should be loose enough to flow (Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, page 244).
Removed because wikipedia is not a recipe book. (see WP:NOT) Viridae 07:17, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Typical risotto procedure

message: Finely dice onion or scallion and the thinnest parts of the celery. Lightly fry in a large, flat frying pan using the extra-virgin olive oil, creating a soffritto. (If a thicker base is preferred, butter may be used as an alternative to the olive oil.) Long frying over a low flame will allow the vegetables to give flavor to the oil without being burnt. When the onion is golden in color, add the rice in the pan. The rice will start to soak the oil and soften, turning slightly reddish. This is known as the toasting procedure.
When the rice turns golden and dry but not brown, add the wine in the pan (one 125ml glass for each 300g of rice). The wine will quickly evaporate and in its turn soak the rice, imparting its flavour. Finally, add the rest of the celery, sliced into little bits. The celery's juices will soak the rice. Keep salted vegetable broth in a pan at near-boiling temperature, and when the celery has browned begin to add the broth.
Adding the broth little by little while the rice is cooking is the other key to cooking risotto.  The broth must cover the rice surface by no more than a thin 1-2 millimetres. When it is almost completely absorbed, add more. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer. The rice should be stirred continuously but gently; always stir with a wooden spoon. Always keep the surface of the rice flat on the top.
The rice will cook, soaking all the juices and fats you will add and keeping all its starch, which will give risotto its characteristic smoothness. To complete the procedure, just before the risotto is ready, when the broth has been almost completely absorbed, add a good slice of unsalted butter, a few spoonfuls of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (to taste). Alternatively, other types of cheese may be added (Gorgonzola is a popular choice) about a minute or so before the supply of broth is exhausted—this action is called mantecatura.  Once the broth is finished the stove should be turned off (if using an electric stove, move the pot to an unused element) and the pot with the rice should be covered with a damp cloth for 3-4 minutes; this helps maintain the flavour and texture of the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
How long risotto should be cooked is a matter of personal opinion (normally between 16 and 18 minutes, depending on the rice used), although it is generally felt that over-cooked risotto is like gruel, and that properly cooked grains still have shape and give a little resistance to the teeth. In Italian the rice should be al dente or firm "to the tooth." Another saying is that risotto should be all'onda ("to the wave") meaning that the rice should be loose enough to flow (Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, page 244).
Removed because wikipedia is not a recipe book. (see WP:NOT) Viridae 07:17, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Procedure

message: I’m moving this link here:
* Many fine risotto recipes here
I expect it is a very good and authentic recipe. Unfortunately the English is so strange that it is impossible to follow. For instance:
In a frying pan heated the oil to medium fire, you add the porcini tocchetti and fairies to cook until when they are gild to you (approximately 7 minuteren).
I am moving it here because I didn’t think it should be lost entirely. Firstly it is a priceless example of machine translation. Secondly it may be the only record of a fairy risotto: in the sense, that is, not of a risotto with porcini prepared by fairies—what else would they eat?—but of a means of preparing fairies for the table in a dish of rice. —Ian Spackman 09:21, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  External link 

message: Can we have a section on the pronunciation of risotto?  Every Italian person I know (that's Italian from Italy, not Italian-American) pronounces it riz - ott - oh.  I have heard so many Americans pronounce it riz - oh - toe, with the middle syllable really dragged out.  They even took the piss out of Gordon Ramsay on Hell's Kitchen for pronouncing it the former way when he was correct and they'd got it wrong.  And don't get me started on Yank Vowel Stretching (TM) on pasta (paaah - staah, not pa - sta) ...  Cobwall 00:39, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: My family is Italian. They say "ought". Also the s is s not z 209.122.138.198 (talk) 09:48, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

text: Baloney! Every single American, including myself, pronounces it "Riss-oh-toe" (with s like the s in loss), like Cobwall wrote. In Italian it is actually "Rizz (voiced s like in rose) - ott - oh".  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:644:8402:8640:30C9:13D:3779:BCE5 (talk) 18:33, 18 June 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Pronunciation

message: It says in this article, that it isn't risotto "unless the rice is toasted". Does "toasted" mean fried..? Grilled...? Can it be made more specific please..? Ta! --Rebroad 21:18, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Toasted refers to turning the heat up for a couple of minutes at the end of cooking to burn/toast the layer of risotto on the bottom. ViridaeTalk 22:17, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just in case someone reads this, you absolutely shouldn't burn the rice! Toasted means that the raw grains of rice are left in the oil or butter for some 30 seconds on high heat before starting to add stock. This improves the risotto very much. Aelwyn (talk) 10:44, 27 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Toasted"? 

message: Here in the United States we have always cooked italian rice called Orzo.  And Risotto is a round noodle tube/sliced at each end.   If rice is Risotto then what is Orzo?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.127.178.30 (talk) 00:57, 14 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Orzo is a small rice shaped pasta. ViridaeTalk 01:00, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

text: See Orzo (bad article but you get the gist). ViridaeTalk 01:00, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

text: Oh and what yu are calling risotto sounds like what westerners call macaroni ie. the smallest of short hollow tube pasta (not the penne seen in the image). ViridaeTalk 01:03, 14 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: "Orzo" main meaining in Italian is barley. About Orzo (pasta), is not a macaroni type, macaroni have hollow shapes. --80.181.226.112 (talk) 08:37, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  If this is Risotto then what is Orzo? 

message: could we have one in the article too?
thanks Minako-Chan* (talk) 18:20, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Risotto alla Milanessa Picture 

message: WTF is "neo-traditional" supposed to mean? How old does something have to be to be "truly" traditional? I think if this is an attempt to say the tradition is not especially old, it would be a lot more clear and useful to simply indicate how far back the tradition goes. I'm deleting the "neo", as the dish is clearly a well-established part of current Italian tradition. I welcome someone who knows when the tradition started to add this information.--Ericjs (talk) 19:02, 10 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "neo-traditional"? 

message: The word risotto means big rice in Italian. "Little rice" would be something like risetto or risino. I deleted the statement even if it's referenced because it was unquestionably wrong, but I can't provide 'evidence' for the big rice meaning, apart from the fact that I'm Italian native speaker. In any case, don't revert my edit, please. Aelwyn (talk) 10:34, 27 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Meaning

message: In this article, the liquid is sometime called "Broth" and sometime Stock (food). Which is the right one? (In Italian they both mean "brodo", so I can not figure out which is right). --80.181.226.112 (talk) 09:13, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Broth and stock are essentially the same product. Stock can be served as a soup (broth) or used as an ingredient in a recipe.  Broth is just a meal of stock. In Spanish/Italian there is no distinction and the words caldo/brodo are used respectively. Themoother (talk) 11:26, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Broth or Stock? 

message: There seems to be missing a history section, i.e. oldest literary mentions, possible origins, etc.  15th century Italy, and perhaps before that, pilaf or possibly a more liquid form of rice porridge, etc?  A simple search seems to bring up a lot of anecdotal or conflicting information from possibly questionable sources, so some sorting work might be needed... 76.10.128.192 (talk) 08:06, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: Is the dish's use in Hell's Kitchen substantial enough or even relevant to the food itself for it to garner its own discussion in the In Popular Culture section? EttuBach (talk) 04:56, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hell's Kitchen section? 

message: Images of risotto al Barolo and risotto ai frutti di mare are required; paragraph: Italian regional variants. JacktheBrown (talk) 15:16, 11 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Images