Risotto: More than 100 Recipes for the Classic Rice Dish of Northern Italy Paperback – May 10, 1989

`Rice, The Amazing Grain' by Marie Simmons and `Risotto' by Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman are two older books (14 and 18 years respectively) on a most interesting culinary subject. In fact, to most of the Asian cultures, rice is THE culinary subject, dwarfing all talk of wheat and its principle derivatives, bread and pasta so dear to the western European culinary palate. (The other side of the coin may be that Italian and French cuisines can claim some level of primacy over Asian cuisines in that both have an important role for rice, while Asia ignores wheat and its vassals.)While the first book deals with rice as a whole, including, per its subtitle, `Great Rice Dishes for Every Day', the second book deals only with the classic rice dish of northern Italy. On the face of it, therefore, one may think that the first book is more valuable than the second, but, for serious cookbook collectors, I think that is not the case.For starters, the author claims that `Rice, The Amazing Grain' started out as a book on the grain alone but, like an unruly child, it grew into a cookbook. From that introduction, I expected a major treatise on rice, its cultivation, varieties, and nutrition. Instead, we get something which is far inferior to what I found in the recent book, `The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook' by bread baking Guru Beth Hensperger and culinary colleague, Julie Kaufmann. This book on a very specific rice cooking technique actually has more useful information on varieties of rice than this book devoted to the whole grain.So, it took me some time to warm up to `Rice, The Amazing Grain', especially as Ms. Simmons did nothing to really show me how amazing the grain was. I grew to like the book a bit more when I discovered a clear explanation of the differences between a pilaf and a risotto, aside from the fact that one was born in Milan and the other in the Levant. (The difference is in the variety of rice used and the fact that all liquid is added at once to a pilaf at the outset of cooking). I was also very glad to find a good chapter on rice salad dishes. Most good salad books contain few if any recipes for rice in salad, much fewer, for example, than for rice in desserts.So, my final word on `Rice, The Amazing Story' is that it is only worth your while if you are exceptionally fond of rice as an ingredient. If you are a foodie and your interest is not specifically centered on rice, you are much better served by getting `The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook' and `Risotto'. I recommend you get both, since, while risotto can be made in a rice cooker, it is, by its nature, something that is done with lid off and with constant serving. So, what a rice cooker gives you is ersatz risotto, with the same ingredients and flavors, but maybe not the same great creaminess. You can imagine the difficulties by visualizing cooking Risotto in a microwave!On the other hand, if you really like rice and Italian cooking, `Risotto' is probably a book you should really own. It is only slightly dated as when it says that risotto ingredients and recipes are rare. Today, you can't go a week on the Food Network without someone making a risotto. And, arborio, one of the rices of choice for making risotto is on the shelf of every single supermarket I visit these days. What is really good about this book is that it deconstructs the risotto cooking process so that you can very easily see the similarities and differences between each recipe. All recipe ingredients lists and procedures are broken down into up to four different elements, the Riso (rice), brodo (broth or stock and wine), soffrito (oil and aromatics), and the condimenti (veggies, meats, poultry, or fish).The varieties of risotto are pretty much what you would expect, with classic, cheese, vegetable, seafood, meat and poultry, and dessert (liquor and fruit) risottos. It is also not surprising to find a chapter devoted to leftover risotto, as many varieties of rice have a habit of stiffening up as starches are reabsorbed into the grains. The Chinese have created whole families of dishes of fried rice for dealing with leftover rice. Also not surprising in the western cuisines that the leftover of choice for rice is in fritters and pancakes.As someone who has successfully made risotto on more than one occasion, I will vouch for the statement that risotto is NOT a difficult technique. It is you main dish, it can even fit into the favorite 30 minute limit for fast cooking. The only tricks to risotto are, like stir frying, prepare EVERYTHING in advance and stay with it. It needs you constant attention for up to 20 minutes. In fact one service this book does over the usual Batali / Bastianich / Hazan / Scicolone etc recipe is cut a few minutes off the time usually specified for good risotto making. This may not be much, but it helps us get under that mystical half-hour limit.I suggest you go to the Encyclopedia Britannica for your scoop of rice background and get the two books on specific rice techniques. `Rice, The Amazing Grain' is a good choice if you really like rice, but don't want to store a lot of books on the subject.

I bought this book at least twenty years ago. I was single and didn't really cook much of anything. When I tried the recipes, they were so good, and so easy to grasp, that I started making risotto frequently. This gave me the confidence to branch out and try new things. Now I can cook almost anything and "Risotto" is one of many, many cookbooks on the shelf. Almost every recipe I have tried from this book is at least good, and most are excellent. Tonight I did wild mushrooms and dried Porcinis. Perfect for a December evening. Needless to say, everyone loved it. I'm amazed but happy that this book is still in print after 22 years. If you don't own it, but like to cook risotto, order it now. You won't regret it.

I have always loved Risotto but I have never been good at going off on my own when it comes to cooking. Heck, I used to burn water more than I care to admit! But this Risotto Cookbook is a stomach saver with over 100 recipes to choose from. It has helped me learn the basics as well as teach me how to explore with my cooking! I have even been thinking about starting a Risotto only restaurant here in Kansas City. And it’s not only for the love of my new-found hobby. Kansas City ranks fourth among nine selected cities for startups and the 71 food based startups that have popped up here within the last two years seem to be killing it!!! I guess it’s my time to get it on this grub hub!

Food writer and cookbook author Judith Barret teams up with food professional, illustrator and writer Norma Wasserman to write a definitive book of risotto. The give a good introduction and background to risotto, provide a basic recipe with cooking tips, review the basic ingredients, and discuss the kinds of equipment that the risotto cooks should have. They insist on stirring with a wooden spoon and that the rice only needs cooking for 18 minutes. A small stiff, plastic spatula or any flat bottomed non-metal spoon work fine for stirring and my rice cooking times run about 10 minutes longer. These are minor concerns. The recipes are simple, easy to follow, rely on easy to obtain ingredients and produce good results. And the authors really do provide 120 recipes. This book will have the novice chef turning out delightful risotto in no time and will provide a lot of good ideas for the more experienced cook.

So far this book is worth it's weight in gold. I'll admit, I sometimes cheat and use Swanson's Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth for the recipes, but that's only to make it easier for week night meals. Last night I made the goat cheese risotto and it was out of this world. For the broth I used one 14 ounce can of vegetable broth and then chicken broth to take it up to the 5 1/2 cups called for in the recipe. It was fantastic. Risotto is very easy to make, you just need to make sure you have everything you need within arms reach once you begin. We've made several recipes out of this book and they've all been great.

This book has a good basic recipe for risotto, but other than that it is more recipes to use risotto with. It doesn't really have much as far as different risotto recipes. I had hoped that it had more recipes for variation in making risotto.

We had been looking for a good risotto cookbook with variety for some time now. We'd window shopped in several cooking stores but didn't like what we saw or read. The author's approach in this book was simply refreshing and inspiring. We've gone through a number of recipes and not one was bad or just "ok". Each have had a unique flavor and the serving suggestions are spot on. Highly recommend this book to anyone interested in cooking risotto.

Actually, I bought it for someone. I’ve had my copy for years. I wanted to share several recipes but realized that the background information was so useful that I either had to give her my copy or buy another book.