Unlike other dishes of the Italian culinary tradition, Italian Risotto is fairly young.
It’s history is muddled, but we know that it wasn’t until the 1800s that Italian Risotto as we know it was born and only in the early 1900s that it became a popular dish throughout the peninsula.
But let’s take a few steps back.
The first ones to cultivate rice were probably the Babylonians and the Assyrians, in the Mesopotamian area. They probably used it to feed the animals, rather than as food for themselves.
Egyptians, on the other hand, used it for human consumption, in the form of a medical infusion. This habit quickly took hold amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well: the latter then introduced its uses to Italy.
Lower social classes started to eat rice during the Middle Ages, but only in the 1500s did rice as a dish become part of the cuisine of more well-off classes.
Paddy fields became common in the north of Italy, where the climate was suitable for the growth of rice, in the 1800s. It was then that the cooks and chefs of the time truly started experimenting with its culinary potential. Initially used primarily in soups, it wasn’t long before the first incarnation of the modern Italian Risotto was born.
The recipes of the famous Italian Risotto alla Milanese dates back to 1853 and it arrived to the present day virtually unchanged.
Today, we have different varieties of rice suitable for an Italian Risotto: Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli and Vialone nano.
It’s necessary to follow two fundamental steps to prepare a good Italian Risotto:
- Toasting the rice with oil or butter
- Cooking the rice and any other ingredients over low heat
There exist two cooking techniques: some people prefer to pour all the broth (or warm water) on the rice in one go, while others prefer to add it bit by bit.
As mentioned above, the most famous and classical Italian Risotto is Risotto alla Milanese, made with saffron. It seems the recipe was created by some glassmakers, rather than by a chef. Other popular Italian Risotto recipes are Risotto with porcini mushrooms, Risotto alla Marinara (with shellfish and mollusks), Risotto al nero di seppia (with cuttlefish ink) and Risotto with pumpkin.
Fun fact: today, Italy is the biggest producer of rice in Europe. One rice in particular, Riso Venere, known also as black rice, is produced only here in Italy.