Suspicion confirmed

     I was immediately suspicious when the formally clad waiter in the fancy ristorante with the white linen tablecloths wasn't writing down each order for our table of 6.  So it was no surprise when he brought to my place something I hadn't ordered, nor did I want.  I had chosen for my evening meal Risotto di Mare, a creamy northern Italian dish composed of shellfish and Arborio rice.

     Risotto is a labor intensive dish requiring substantial time to prepare.  I knew that and was willing to wait for the chef in the kitchen to properly cook the short grain rice so it could slowly absorb simmering hot broth as it is added one half cup at a time, releasing the starch in the rice.  That is what creates the smooth creamy-textured base for the clams, mussels, and shrimp.

     Risotto is significantly different from just plain rice in a number of ways.  First, it matters what kind of rice is used.  Only Arborio, Cornaroli or Vialone Nano are used in Italy.  The short grained rice is cooked briefly in a soffritto of onion and butter to coat each grain in a film of fat before a splash of white wine is added and allowed to evaporate.  Then the rice is slowly flavored with broth that has been heated till is is just below the boiling point, made from either vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood or legumes.  Stirring constantly the broth releases the starch as it is absorbed.  Only after about 20 minutes is the risotto ready to receive the final touch with the addition of cold butter and grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, before the seafood greets the plate.

     So when the waiter reluctantly took back the plate of rigatoni and meat sauce and quickly returned with something resembling my order, I knew that it was not authentic risotto but an impostor disguised to look like the real thing.  You be the judge: