Risotto

As a guy with good amount of experience in the kitchen, I have made risotto many times, however, I have been doing it wrong my entire life.

When Chef Odette gave us the demo of Risotto, I was surprised by how the finished product came out. It was runny, creamy and overall beautiful risotto! I had always been taught to cook risotto until it was not runny and the grains were visible. I was truly shook by the fact that we are taught the wrong thing, and I feel bad for all of the risotto I have made in the past that was not correct. But I digress, we are tasked with re-creating her risotto, which was just rice, stock, Parmigiano Reggiano and butter.

I re-create her dish to the tooth, adding stock, stirring and letting rest as needed. As I plate my risotto, I say to myself "This looks perfect, Chef will love it". I brought it up to both chefs, the first thing chef says is "Well Logan, the taste is there but the damn thing is too runny"...... I was happy it tasted well but damnit, how can I screw that up? I just shrug it off and continue on with my day, making a beautiful saffron risotto that accompanied the Osso Bucco we started the day before. Well, today I learned that Risotto can't be tampered with, and that the Italians are the only ones that should be making it... Just kidding

Today showed me the differences we will learn from what we were taught at the CIA. Yes, each chef you will have will teach or what something different, but the risotto we made today was amazing. It was something special.

Italian Word of the Day: Al' Onda, Italian for the wave
Al' Onda is the consistency of the risotto after butter and cheese is added. As you pull the pan towards you, a wave in the rice is formed, telling you that the risotto is the perfect consistency to serve.