Why We (almost) Never Order Risotto in a Restaurant

Risotto is a very simple dish, but a lot of people don't realize that it's surprisingly difficult for restaurants to make. That's because, unlike pasta, the rice and sauce need to be cooked together from start to finish—you can't just prep the sauce in advance and boil some rice when a customer places an order.

That's why restaurants usually cook risotto using a different, faster method so that their diners aren't left waiting for 30 minutes or more. But is this "quick risotto" as good as the traditional method? And can it be used to speed up homemade risotti?

That's what we aim to find out with today's investigative experiment, where we pit the two techniques against each other!

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00:00 - Homemade vs. Restaurant Risotto
02:09 - How to Make a Traditional Risotto
09:18 - Tasting the Traditional Method Risotto
11:01 - How Restaurant's Make Risotto
15:06 - Tasting the "Restaurant Method" Risotto
18:22 - Pasta Grammarian in Action!

#risotto #italianfood #rice

[lauradivittorio]

I'm from Lodi, nothern Italy. I learned to make risotto from my grandmother. Yours is exellent! But It you let It rest without a lid is better. The risotto is truly perfect when you stick a spoon in the center and it stays upright. The restaurateurs invented "all'onda" for the reasons you mentioned. I made it with Treviso radicchio just today! Wow!

[pauldelong]

Restaurant method: I am a chef, I have worked in many places for all of my life until recently. 25 years and I have never seen anyone make it this way. Most of the ways that restaurants do it are arguably incorrect, I will concede that much. However, The way I always teach my staff and my students, ( I am also a Culinary arts teacher), is to start it the same way Ava started it the authentic way, but stop that cooking process about 2/3rds the way, Quite crunchy still. This way you still get the toasting, you still get the wine, you still retain all the starch etc. That par boiling technique looses a lot of development, which I believe in your test is the "something" missing from the finished dish. I would never use the Par boiling method.

[gianfrancobolla]

Someone tell Gordon Ramsey to watch this video.

[Broarethus]

As a prep cook (not in Italy) place i worked showed me to do the rice, and then onions, wine, then water till it was like 90% done, put it thinly onto cooling rack into the fridge, then for service it was added with the sauce.

Definitely hated prepping it, because had to keep stirring it while managing another 4~6 items frying or roasting, while chopping something.

[HeyNonyNonymous]

I used to cook in a restaurant and the way we did it was par cook the risotto as you would normally do at home: in a little broth, with some butter, gradually adding broth as the rice cooked. We just stopped the cooking process before it was done. We had beautiful creamy flavourful risotto every time.

[bernadettetaylor]

Gorgeous cooking, gorgeous couple! Thank goodness there are still young couples like this out there! 🙋🏻‍♀️❤️🫕🌶️🧄🧅🥕🍠

[jrthiker]

In Italy and in the US, I hardly ever order risotto out because of this issue. And also because I can make it better at home the way I prefer (no cream, no gorgonzola, no bouillon cube stock, and for me, no raw butter enrichment at the end.) You can also experiment with broth types, the dry roast, olive oil instead of butter, etc. Thanks, Eva, for saying no constant stirring and showing the mantecatura....very important!

[milanopiano]

This is SUCH a helpful video. Risotto is a dish that has frightened me for the longest time, because I never managed to get it the way it's supposed to be. Just explaining how the basic technique works, makes a world of difference. Eva is an incredible teacher. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[grandvoyageitaly]

Eva, I had a thought about trying another technique to make a quicker restaurant risotto creamier....

It seems to me that when you use 4-5 cups of water (I'm estimating the amount you used) and then drain it, you are tossing away the starch that boiled out into that water. In the slow method, the broth is being reduced or rather evaporated, not drained away. The starch stays with the rice all the way to the finish.

If you start with only as much water as required to half-cook the rice (perhaps only 2 cups water to 1-1/2 cups rice), and cook as we do long grain rice here in the States, you will end up with a partially boiled rice that absorbed only the amount of water it needed to be totally absorbed. No need to drain because it absorbed it all. In fact, I would use the broth to par boil, not water, to add flavor at the start.

In this method, the starch stays with the rice and isn't poured down the drain with the excess water. I think this would result in making the same type of crema when finally cooked.

Thoughts?

[michaelwells]

We had the fish broth risotto at Al Gatto Nero on Burano and it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. We were even invited into the kitchen to watch the chef make the risotto from scratch.

[aaronlopez]

I never knew there was such a visual difference. I can only imagine the taste difference.
Thanks for a wonderful video guys.

[blatantarrogancex]

Hello, Restaurant cook here. That is not the method that I used. You fallow the same steps when making the risotto like you would at home . You pull it off the heat when it is half way done, pour it on to sheet pans, cool it then portion it . Then you finish it when it is ordered . I had one chef tell me to par boil the rice, and i told him no,

[mariocinque]

Complimenti Eva e Harper.
La differenza é che in quello del ristorante una parte di amidi del riso viene persa, mentre in quello che si realizza a casa nulla si perde.

[Djieff]

I didn't know it was better to toast the rice separately! i always do it in the cooking pan! thanks! :D

[psibiza]

0:02 someone's doing an impressive job at saying "Risotto" instead of "Risoddo". Practice makes perfect. At some point it will sound natural :)
The video was on point! If you want a risotto, don't be super hungry and be ready to wait. There are some great restaurants out there that make it fresh - but it will take time (I am lucky enough to know 3 restaurants in my city that do). In a good restaurant you can also ask them if they can make it fresh. Some actually do per customer request, although they have the pre-cooked rice ready. Ofc I don't know about the US, their kitchens are super effective and super fast - they use all the tricks and methods to minimize the time a guest is occupying a table.

[zoemetro]

Thank you for this fabulous tutorial. I learned so much about risotto. Indeed, I was always toasting the rice in olive oil. I must make it your way now. Also, I had no idea about the difference in restaurants. As always, Thank you, Pasta Grammar! Grazie mille.

[josephcanipelli]

Two recipes I learned in Italy that work only with the second method in pre-boiling the rice in stock, not water: First is for seafood risotto which requires less starch to let the delicate seafood tastes come through. Pre-boil the rice (carnaroli better than arborio) for about ten minutes in a meat or vegetable stock, drain it in a large colander and spread it up the sides to come to room temperature. When ready, use olive oil to soften the onion, add the rice and cook with a seafood broth until the rice is short of al dente and not too loose and then add the seafood and because it releases its flavorful liquid by the time it cooks in a couple of minutes, the consistency is correct. You can add a little butter or oil at the end but never cheese. Adjust for salt if needed. Second recipe is for summertime cold risotto salad. Boil the rice in a goodly amount of stock for 15 minutes, no more, no less. Drain into colander as in first recipe and place in fridge to cool. Add diced fresh tomato, yellow pepper, hardboiled egg, pitted green and black olives, then mix with lemon juice, olive oil, chiffonade of basil leaves, salt and pepper. Adding good Italian tuna drained of oil in small chunks optional.

[marna_li]

I have made my own risotto a couple of times. The absorption is important as well as the release of starches. You want the rice to be soft but yet al dente, and that takes time. I have tried kits with mixes as well. That works as well when you don't want to to prepare the ingredients. My favorite is the mushroom risotto.

I as always, I listen to other cooks and learn from them, and from my own mistakes. The most important thing is having pride in what you cook. As long as it is edible, I don't complain, but think about what I can improve it until next time. Cooking for is a creative and stimulating process. The best thing is that you can enjoy the result.

[momuv]

As an old Vermonter with limited exposure to worldwide cuisines, I confess I have had 😊😊😊😊(mushroom) risotto only once - at a restaurant. It was delicious, so I can only imagine how amazing it would be made at home. When our living situation improves and we have the means, making risotto is on the top of my list of things to make - even if my family of fussy eaters objects. More for me!😊❤

[edithsmith]

This was an education! Thank you so very much.