Italian rice makes fine risotto

Press, 26 May 1984, Page 14

Italian rice makes fine risotto

by

David Burton

Italy is best known as the land of pasta, yet in the northern regions of Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto, an everyday meal is just as likely to include rice. Italy is the main grower of rice in Europe, and looks likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Although small quantities are grown in Spain and, since the Second World War, in -Hungary and the Camargue region of France, this is pushing the northern limit of the rice plant, which does not thrive above 45 deg. N. The great rice growing regions of Italy are in the Piedmont and the Po Valleys. Near its source in the mountains of Piedmont, the tributaries of the River Oo are dammed off. Terraced rice paddies have been created, just like those of the East. When I visited this region seven years ago I was amazed to see the harvesting still being done by hand. Nevertheless, the output per acre here is the highest in the world. As the river winds its way across northern Italy and opens out into the huge, dead flat Po Valley in Lombardy, the rice fields become larger. They are surrounded by poplar and mulberry trees, the leaves from

the latter going to feed the silkworms which supply the traditional silk mills of Milan and Lake Como.

It is likely the Arabs took rice with them to their colonies in southern Italy and Sicily as early as the 10th Century. But it was

only in 1468 that the first attempts were made to grow rice, at Pisa. The seed for these first plantings came from Venetian traders, who had grown very wealthy from trading in the East. Barely 100 years later rice became all the rage in the cuisine of the Italian Rennaissance. In 1574 the most famous of all Italian rice dishes, Risotto alia Milanese, was supposed to have been invented. This is rice cooked with stock, wine, saffron and beef marrow. By the Eighteenth Century distinctive varieties had been developed. These were so jealously guarded that a law was passed forbidding the export of seed grain.

Thus Thomas Jefferson was forced to smuggle out samples of Piedmontese

rice in 1787, when he wished to see if they would grow back in the United States. They did, and today the United States is one of the world’s major producers. Several main types of rice are grown in Italy, such as the cheap round-grained varieties or the semi-fino (semi-fine) oval shaped varieties which are used mainly for puddings, moulds or minestrone soups. For a risotto, however, only the fino (fine) or superfino (superfine) varieties will do. A variety such as vialone, which is long and tapered, will absorb a lot of flavour and liquid over a long cooking period without becoming mushy. Arborio rice, which is large and oval-shaped, is also very absorbent. Many Italians consider it makes the finest risotto of all. Unfortunately, however, Italian rice of any sort is as far as I know unobtainable in New Zealand, where we have a choice only of shortgrain, long-grain, or brown rice (although I notice a few

exotic varieties such as American wild rice or Indian basmati rice are creeping in). Of our commonly available varieties, long-grain rice is undoubtedly the best for making a risotto; the short-grained varieties are apt to go mushy, as are the parboiled brands. Brown rice has a tough husk which inhibits absorption of the stock in which the risotto is cooked. The risotto is probably of Arab origin, introduced to Italy through North African invasions and occupations, since it bears an obvious resemblance to the rice pilaffs found all over the Middle East, Iran, and northern India. However, both the risotto, and the closely related Spanish paella, differ from these pilaff in that stock rather than water is used to cook the rice, and that the rice is left thick and creamy, rather than dry and fluffy. Apart from Risotto alia Milanese, which invariably accompanies osso buco (veal

shanks braised in carrots, onions, celery, and garlic), a risotto is always served as a separate course, often in a bowl, and eaten with a spoon rather than a fork. The reason it does not accompany a meat or poultry dish is that these are often ingredients of the risotto itself. The combinatons are seemingly endless: rice with chicken giblets, with green peas, with spinach, with minced veal or pork, with chicken, and on the coasts, where seafood is plentiful, crayfish, mussels, tench (a kind of flounder) and with the tiny clams of the Bay of Biscay. There are even risottos with quails, with frogs legs, with sea snails and with cuttlefish, the inky dye of which turns the rice black. This last dish, Mazzotti writes, “causes the brows of novices to knit suspiciously, and their noses to wrinkle; nevertheless, at the second mouthful, they almost always allow themselves to be conquered by the rare flavour of this dish, alarm-

ing as it is to the eye.” A good Italian way of using leftover risotto is to mix it with beaten egg and wrap it around cubes of mozzarella cheese to form a ball. These are then rolled in dry breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Risotto alia maggiorana (Risotto with marjoram, thyme, parmesan and tomatoes) 6 tbs butter 2 cups long-grain rice Approx. 4 cups chicken stock cup dry white wine 4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced 1 tbs fresh marjoram, chopped 1 tbs fresh thyme, chopped Salt cup finely grated Parmesan or Romauo cheese Melt half the butter in a large saucepan and cook the rice for several minutes,

stirring continually. Add wine and about half a cup of the stock, lower the heat and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add more stock, about half a cup or less at a time, six or seven times throughout the cooking. About half way through cooking, add the tomatoes. Three quarters of the way through, add the marjoram and thyme. Just before serving, season to taste with salt, and stir through the rest of the butter and the pannesan cheese. If the rice seems too dry, add a little more stock to moisten it. It should be thick and creamy. Serves four. Note: This dish is, of course, much nicer made with real stock. If you happen to be roasting a chicken a day or so before you make the risotto, save the pan juices and any bones, which can then be boiled up for a stock, to which powdered chicken stock can be added for extra flavour. Vegetarians can use a vegetable based stock for this dish.