The peoples
of the Orient are famed for
being great rice eaters, but in
the East, rice is generally used
in quite a simple way as a
steamed and rather insipid
accompaniment. Italian flair, on
the other hand, takes rice, with
all its infinite combinations,
and turns it into a gastronomic
masterpiece. The type of rice
that has always been used at
Harry's Bar is the "Vialone
nano semifino"
variety. This is a type of rice
that comes from Mantua and is
perfect for making risottos or
pilafs. Rice is often rather
unpopular in a restaurant
situation because of the time it
takes to cook. Eighteen minutes
for a hungry customer can seem
an eternity. Despite this, I do
not believe in belying
expectation by serving a
customer something else. A good
risotto should and must be eaten
as a first dish.
For years
we had an exceptional maître,
Angelo Dal Maschio, working with
us. He had very set ideas and
always put them into practice
with his customers. He insisted
that nothing, not even a basket
of bread was to be brought to a
table before the risotto. Angelo
was Truman Capote's favorite as
well as many other people's, who
preferred to wait for a table,
if it meant being served by him.
Besides the "Vialone nano",
another excellent risotto rice
is the "Carnaroli". This has an
extremely limited production and
is very difficult to find in the
shops. There are many different
ways of cooking a risotto,
probably as many ways as there
are people who adore it.
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