First, you have to know that a risotto is a first course of  rice cooked with a variety of ingredients. In my corner of Northern Italy, it’s pork sausage and grated parmesan, basically – and it’s not just a staple food. In the words of my friend Milla, who moved here nearly twenty years ago, “it’s far more than a dish. It possesses quasi miraculous powers. It sates hunger, cures all ills, seals friendships and celebrates any and every occasion.”

In other words, it’s a persecution

Now don’t mistake me: it’s quite delicious.  My troubles are with the way it’s made the focus of all social and cultural life… At times it seems that, here around, nothing can be done without risotto – and that the safest way to keep local folks quiet and reasonably attentive for an hour or two, is to promise plenty of risotto afterwards.

Oh, all right – I’m slightly exaggerating, but not all that much. The fact is, I’m being bitter and sarcastic, because… Continue reading →