Risotto

It is only natural that someone who loves rice as much as I do would fall hopelessly in love with Italian risotto. It is the most wonderful carrier of flavour, but you need to get the essence right; you have to make the perfect stock and flavouring before you start cooking the rice. A risotto has to carry the essence of the main ingredient, whether you are making a Parmesan, beetroot, tomato or mushroom risotto. Parmesan risotto is perhaps my favourite because I am absolutely crazy about Parmesan. I think of it as the modern, more expensive equivalent of Aromat, which isn’t so far-fetched because they are both strong umami flavours – that mystical fifth taste. So I tend to have a heavy hand with Parmesan, but nobody has ever complained. Beetroot risotto is as much about the look as the taste – that beautiful purplepink colour is hard to resist. The secret of mushroom risotto lies in using a good stock, and a great tomato risotto depends on the amount of respect you have for the humble tomato. You have to respect the tomato.