Il Risottata

Last night, after spending the day in the lovely town of Varenna, Steve and I returned to Lenno, and as we started walking home, we happened upon an amazing local event, Il Risottata.

In the town square, many long table and benches were set up, and off to one side there was a tent set up, and under that tent was a gigantic cauldron of risotto. Lit underneath by a huge flame, nearby there was a large bubbling pot of chicken broth. Six men with long wood paddles stirred this vat of rice, and every once in a while someone would take a bucket of stock from the nearby pot and add it to the rice.

We decided to buy a ticket and get in the risotto line. Every few minutes, the chef in his tall white hat would taste the rice to see if it was ready. After about 15 minutes, he declared it ready to serve and applause rose from the waiting crowd.

We moved through the line and got a steaming bowl of risotto and two cups of wine, all for 7 euros! We found two spots at a table and sat down to eat. The rice was delicious; rustic and hearty; you could taste the broth and wine and the large bits of sausage which gave an amazing flavor.

I am pretty sure we were the only English-speaking people there. Everyone around us seemed to know each other. Nobody seemed to speak English but they were all so nice to us, smiling and laughing over the big bowls of rice, and insisting on taking a picture of me and Steve together. The man across from us had a lot of fun taking our picture, and kept making us pose with rice-filled forks halfway to our mouths.

I only wished that my Italian was better, because I would have loved to have talked with the people at our table. Though it was another lesson in how much can actually be communicated with gesture and facial expressions.

Either way it was a wonderful evening, and really felt like we had stumbled upon a local event that would never have been in a guidebook.