to help develop flavor. By adding the dried grains of rice to
a pan of hot butter and olive oil, you develop some really
nice nutty, toasty flavors. But what else is going on when
you toast rice?
I cooked up two identical batches of risotto side by side.
The first I made with absolutely no toasting. The liquid and
rice went into the pan at the exact same time. For the
second, I toasted the rice for 3 to 4 minutes before adding
the liquid, during which time it acquired a faint golden hue
and a nutty aroma.
Here’s what I ended up with:
Untoasted rice (left) creates a creamier sauce than toasted
rice (right).Obviously, there is something else going on while
toasting: toasted rice produces a risotto that’s noticeably less
creamy than one made with untoasted rice. So, on the one
hand, you’ve got great, super creamy rice but little toasted