Risotto al Nero di Seppia Veneziano

Venice, Veneto

Venice's black squid ink risotto — one of the most visually dramatic Italian preparations. Cuttlefish or squid cleaned with their ink sacs reserved, the ink added to the cooking stock which turns it black. Risotto made with Vialone Nano rice, white wine, squid stock, and the reserved ink stirred in at the mantecatura stage. The squid bodies are cooked briefly in the pan before the rice and added back for the last 5 minutes. The finished risotto is jet-black, glossy, and deeply maritime — served with a drizzle of raw olive oil and sometimes a squeeze of lemon.

• Rice cooked in squid ink stock with seafood — Catalan version is drier and uses sofrito; Venetian uses risotto technique with all'onda consistency → Arroz negro — Catalano-Valencian black rice with squid ink and seafood Spanish · (Basque)
• Rice cooked with squid ink for a dramatic black colour and marine flavour — Japanese version is steamed rice not risotto → Ika sumi gohan — squid ink rice from Okinawa Japanese
• Direct Adriatic parallel: Croatian cuttlefish ink risotto made with the same Adriatic cuttlefish from the same sea, nearly identical preparation → Crni rižot — Dalmatian black risotto with cuttlefish ink Croatian

Deep marine-inky squid flavour; glossy black visual impact; butter richness; white wine acidity; Venice's most dramatic dish