Yesterday evening Jeff Pfohl came up for dinner via the Rail Runner. He brought with him a tin of his Gourmet Delights Arborio rice. He cooked a risotto for us with some wild porcini mushrooms from our freezer. While he was fixing the risotto, we finished the bottle of 1987 Merryvale Reserve Chardonnay, that he used a cup of in the risotto, with some slices of sopressatta and Abruzzi salames. It was medium brown gold in color, just a hint of oxidation. barely adequate acidity, nice secondary and tertiary fruit, with a medium long developed fruit finish. After close to an hour the risotto was done. It was served with a 1999 Conterno Barolo and a 1993 Capanna Brunello di Montalcino. The first bottle of Barolo was lightly corked, so we got a second bottle. Poured through our Vinturi into Riedel Cabernet glasses, it was rich dark fruit, some tannins, some acidity, and a rich developed fruit finish. The Brunelo was a little hard with good rich dark fruit, barely adequate acidity, and a nice medium long developed fruit finish. Both wines were enjoyable with the rich risotto.
I’m curious to know how a risotto made at altitude differs from one made near sea level. Takes me 20-25 minutes to make a risotto.
When we lived less than a hundred feet above sea level in SoCal, I cooked risotto in 18-20 minutes. Here in Santa Fe at over 7000 feet altitiude, water boils between 190 and 195F, it takes between 45 minute and an hour
Yes, I understand that. Is there any difference in taste or texture when cooking for that long? If you add onions with the rice, who do they hold up over such a long period of time?
It works out about the same with the longer cooking time, even the onions. Probably because of the lower cooking temp.