Driven By Ingredients

Carnaroli Rice

Carnaroli rice

My friend Mary comes from an Italian heritage. She is known for her risotto. She learned how to make it from her Nonna.

Or I like to believe that. It actually could have been her Mom’s recipe.

But, let me set the scene, as I see it. A weathered ladder back chair is pushed up to the stove in a small warm kitchen. Little Mary is maybe 5, her beautiful dark hair pulled up in a bouncy ponytail. She wears an apron tied two, if not three, times around her waist. Nonna is slowly stirring a pot, her hands skilled at doing that and ladling in hot broth. Nonna's stance is relaxed, and her face is full of kindness and love.

Stirring risotto

But is she stirring for what seems to liken an endless amount of time?

Maybe not.

Mary told me her Nonna’s secret to that recipe. Hold on… it's made with Uncle Ben's converted long-grain white rice.

Gasp! I know it's not called Uncle Ben's anymore. Err is it? Did you think I was gasping at the plain white rice? Well, that too. When I'm done here, I'll Google the new brand name and fix my mistake.

I can’t even find a box that doesn’t say Uncle Ben’s .

Needless to say, I am pretty intrigued by this recipe. I'm going to get Mary to share it with all of us sometime.

I’m craving risotto. Since I cannot create beautiful creamy risotto from just ordinary rice, at least without the recipe, I'm going to use the Zaccaria Vintage riso Carnaroli invecchiato aged.

Not risotto rice? No, that is the completed dish, not the rice.

Not arborio? Not this time. Carnaroli is far superior, and here's why:

Carnaroli is a medium-grained rice native to the Piedmont region in northwestern Italy.

Honestly, I think I had a past life in the Piedmont region. Have I told you that before?

I just love all the stuff from that region, white truffles, robiola, Barolo.

There’s not even a hint of Italian in my DNA. I'm 100% Northwestern European. So how could I possibly know anything about Italian foods? And to make it more incredible, I've never even visited Italy.

It is an aghast, pearl-clutching moment that actually happened. Someone questioned me exactly that once at ZZest Market. Remind me later, and I'll tell you that story; it's pretty great!

So Carnaroli is considered to be the finest rice for making risotto. Why? It has a higher starch content and firmer texture, so it keeps its shape better and is more resistant to overcooking than the more common Arborio variety. It's sweeter, firmer, and richer in taste.

Riso Zaccaria vintage Carnaroli rice is known as The King of Italian rice varieties,

In the rice-growing region of Baraggia in Piedmont, the Margaria farmhouse lies at the heart of the fertile Zaccaria farm, where everything takes place. It is documented that rice has been cultivated there since 1500; that's the vintage part.

I love vintage things.

I found this little scenic description

"Father and son toil long days in the 500-plus acres of rice fields of Biella that produce some of the world's finest rice for risotto dishes. The mighty Alps, to the North, deliver fresh spring water through irrigated channels that create an intricate network of gridded rice fields. The Zaccaria family has been harvesting rice for over 150 years and uses minimal chemicals in the process, preferring the arduous task of weeding by hand to eliminate weeds. Instead, it processes its own harvests on-site. "

That sounds so lovely.

And it is lovely. This is THE rice fields.

Carlo Zaccaria is the third generation to manage the rice production for the Zaccaria family. Now, vintage meets modern technology to comply with sustainability and quality criteria. So for his part the toiling and arduous tasks might be over.

Mary gave me a lovely little book, Risotto- A Taste of Milan. I like reading it more than I like cooking from it, but Mary swears by it. Well, I am from the Piedmont region, not Milan, though we are next-door neighbors.

A lovely little book, Risotto- A Taste of Milan

I tend to make mushroom risotto or asparagus. However, Risotto with Grapefruit and Seared Scallops is a recipe I'm dying to try from Saveur. Let me know if you get to it before me.

I have several of these little sweet Risotto cookbooks. I am saving one for the Food Academia Lending Library.

What?! That's so FUN!

I know. Aren't you glad you are part of the cool group that actually reads the blog posts and gets the inside scoop first!

The Carnaroli rice is on sale and would make a lovely Valentine's dinner. Order a box HERE, and the first 3 people to do so get a FREE risotto cookbook. It's a used and well-loved book, which means possible stains here and there. If you are squeamish over that, pass. I get it. I just come from hearty Northwestern European stock. Plus I can see the “scenes” that these loved cookbooks create.

Vintage rice and vintage cookbook

Ciao for now!