Risotto

[SWISS_CHEF]

Thanks everyone for your contributions.

The reason I asked is because I once knew an Italian who owned a restaurant in Rome and he just used Uncle Ben's! (maybe that's why his restaurant is closed!) He made lobster risotto once and I have to say it was pretty good. Trouble was, that was one of my first risotto experiences so I didn't have much to judge it by. Since then I have always used Arborio with good success but I just got a package of Carnaroli to try out for a big Italian dinner (I cant wait) I am even going to sacrifice a black truffle in the dish.

Favorite risotto memory:

My wife and I used to be on the road half of the year because of our antiques business and we stayed in hotels alot. Many of them were at rest stops along I-95 and the restaurant options were pretty slim picking. I decided what I needed was a hot plate and a pot and I could make great risottos in my hotel room. So we did! It was great! We made porcini, shrimp, bacon...you name it, and it beat the hell out of pizza delivery for the 6th time that week!

[Jon Tseng]

Gordon Ramsay in the UK recommends Carnaroli in the UK in his first book.

I wonder perhaps that maybe the quality of the grain is more important than the speciae - would an artisan hand-fed carnaroli watered by pristine virgins beat a bog-standard supermarket arborio and vice-versa &tc?

cheers

J