A trip to Milan consists of more than just shopping, enjoying the culture and admiring the Duomo – sampling a plate of risotto is a must! The Milanese love their risotto. While in the vast majority of Italy pasta rules supreme, Northern Italy is best known for its rice dishes such as risotto. There are several restaurants that specialise entirely in this dish.
Risotto is the diminutive of 'riso', the Italian word for rice. In Milan they prepare the rice, the world's most popular grain, in a very special way. Risotto alla Milanese is cooked with saffron, lending the dish its rich yellow colour. There are many stories about the origin of the tradition, but one of them tells the story of a young servant who worked on the Duomo di Milano in 1574. He got into an argument with his boss and intended to ruin his boss’ upcoming wedding by colouring the rice with saffron. However, it became an unexpected (and lasting) success.