TGRWT #9: Risotto

A while back I ran into a book by French Pastry Chef Frédéric Bau. Chocolat Fusion's quite an interesting book since it's all about chocolate in savory recipes. I haven't gotten around to buying the book yet, but one of it's recipes, or what I recalled of it, was the inspiration for this TGRWT's theme.

In the book, Bau marries anise-smoked rack of pork with milk chocolate in a risotto. I wasn't quite sure of what it included except for basic risotto ingredients, pork and chocolate. So I set out to make my version of this risotto.

I started out by rendering bacon fat, and letting it cook in it until crispy. I used that same fat to sweat my onions. Added the rice, then I changed the white wine for cream sherry. After that it was pretty much a regular cooking until the moment of mantecare. I replaced the butter for dark chocolate (my bad), and added the parmesan. Served in bowls and topped with the bacon.

I didn't have a nice bowl at hand since I did this at a cousin's place. I also have to excuse myself for the terrible picture. Our camera is broken and I had to resort to the nasty cellphone camera.

The tasting could be classified as a success since both my cousin and his wife completely ate their bowls, and seemed to have enjoyed it. Personally I think it could've used some improvements such as an older Parmiggiano in order to get a sharper cheese note. It was so delicate that it seemed like an afterthought in comparison with the powerful chocolate. Probably a stronger, spicier stock as Bau's would've made another difference, but since this was about chocolate and parmesan, I kept it simple. It was good, but not perfect... and I couldn't help thinking about Cocoa Krispies.

I also wanted to experiment with a Parmesan cheesecake and a chocolate-balsamic-berry sauce, or a Mexican Chocolate Tartlet with Parmesan Ice Cream, but those only stayed as Ideas for future play.

Edit: This event was hosted by Robert @ lamiacucina. Final roundup's here