The Risotto Kama Sutra

Risotto and good sex have a lot in common. For instance, both provide indescribable pleasure and take about twenty minutes to make.

Before beginning these things, there are a few simple preparations you must see to. With risotto, you make a nice broth, dice some onion, and decide on the ingredient that you want to be the star (the simpler the better). With sex, you must light a scented candle and put on an R. Kelly CD if you want to have any hope of success.

You must be very gentle at first. Sweat the onions in a little olive oil and butter, being careful not to color them. Then add the rice (don’t skimp on the rice!), and listen for a light crackling sound as it toasts in the fat, stirring all the while – keep listening, it will tell you when to add the wine. Once added, let it evaporate completely, until it is begging for the stock that you so lovingly prepared earlier. You can’t add it all at once though; it must be added in increments to extract the most starch from the grains, which in the end will give you a nice, creamy risotto. Oh, and the stirring! You must stir constantly, or at least often, and don’t be afraid to vary the speed at which you do so – it makes things more interesting. Seasoning is important as well. I find if you season the risotto as you go, slowly adding it in layers, the result will always be better than if you just dump all the salt in at the end. Now it’s looking good, the rice is plumping up and it’s getting creamier with every ladle of stock that you add.

adding stock

This is the time to concentrate, because it will all happen very quickly from here until the end. When the rice is nearly there, it is time to add the main ingredient, be it mushrooms, squash or whatever the hell you want – it’s like a blank canvas. You’ve been working really hard, so don’t screw it up now. At the moment the rice is done, adjust the consistency so that it’s not too thick, and not too thin (au point, as the French would say). Take it off the heat and add some diced butter, some grated parmesan (unless it has seafood in it, then skip the cheese), some herbs, maybe a touch of lemon juice and you’re done. With all that being said, there are endless ways to make risotto, and everyone has their own little tricks. Like sex, the only way to get good at it is practice, practice, practice. As long as it feels and tastes good, that’s all that matters.

Lately I’ve been using a brand of rice for my risottos at home that I was introduced to when I started at West Restaurant. The brand is called Acquerello, and it is short-grained Carnaroli rice from the province of Vercelli, in Piedmont, Italy. The farm has been owned and operated by the Rondolino family for three generations, and in 1998 became a completely organic operation – on top of that, they allow fish, frogs and birds to live amongst the rice paddies, creating a natural ecosystem that goes “beyond organic”. They are blessed with rich, alluvial soil and an abundant flow of cool, clean water from the Alps. Once the rice is harvested, it is aged in refrigerated silos for anywhere from 1 to 3 years. Aging makes the cereals, vitamins, nutrients and proteins less soluble in water, which allows the rice to absorb more liquid. After aging, the rice is refined using a tool over a hundred years old called “the screw”. In it, the rice spirals slowly downwards, rubbing grain against grain rather than bleaching, which leaches nutrients from the rice. All of this adds up to a rice which holds its shape, has a distinct flavour, and keeps me coming back for more.

Acquerello can be bought at Meinhardt Fine Foods or through Mikuni Wild Harvest.

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Owen Lightly is a boy from a small island in the Gulf of Georgia. After attending cooking school, he moved to Vancouver in 2002 to start a career in the restaurant “biz”. His website, Butter On the Endive, was created for sharing and caring.