Have you ever felt just a little stupid? I have. And recently.
Back on December 6th I did a TBT review of Risotto! Risotto! By Valentina Harris. It’s a book of significance from 1998. I had plucked it from our cookbook collection in another room, drawn I suppose by its most distinctive yellow-orange cover. After I posted, I returned the book to the front room. Back in my office, I turned around to see the stack of books for future posts. I was drawn now by a dark red cover with the title Risotto! Risotto! And so, I discovered a publisher had recently sent me the 2017 update to this wonderful book.
After twenty years, what’s new? A lot and yet not a lot. The chapters are the same. The old friends from each chapter are there but there are lovely additions like Arancini with Peas and Pancetta. All the photographs have been changed. Some old recipes have new photos, some have none, and some new recipe leap off the page in their depiction. The writing is largely unchanged but this new edition breaks each recipe into several easily navigated short paragraphs. The first edition had everything in one long, long string of text. Yes, you could get lost. Now, it’s easy. And delicious.
If you love risotto, you’ll want this lovely book. Here’s a picture of one reason why. This is Spelt Risotto with Crab:
Buy the book, buy the rice, some cheese, some meat, some fish and enjoy the ultimate in comfort food.