It’s all about the Veneto at Vancouver’s newest dining hotspot. Opened in June, giovane bacaro pays tribute to the classic bacari—neighborhood wine bars—of Venice, serving a thoughtful selection of by-the-glass and bottle wines, aperitivi, and plenty of beloved snacks, from homemade potato chips to a range of cicchetti. But this is also a place where drinks and small plates can turn into dinner, so the menu also features heartier options—including this risotto that puts a British Columbia twist on some Venetian favorites.
“The two true classic risotto dishes found in Venice are Risi Bisi and Risotto di Go, and both styles were in mind when I developed this dish,” says Scott Korzak, giovane bacaro’s chef de cuisine. “Risi Bisi consists of rice and the freshest, best peas you can possibly get, that pop in your mouth when you eat them. Risotto di Go is classically made using fish stock from goby, a fish found in the lagoons of Venice’s surrounding area.”
For this version, the team “made an aromatic fish stock with halibut and a little bit of spices to finish the risotto.” And in order to get the “pop explosion” that the peas offer, they subbed in salmon roe, “as it has similar properties to the freshest peas. They are small spheres packed with flavour and texture.”
Here, Korzak shares his recipe for a Venice-inspired, Vancouver-born Salmon Roe Risotto.
Salmon Roe Risotto
Serves: 3-4 people
Cooking Time: 20-25 Minutes
Ingredients
25g Butter
65g Onion, small dice
5g Salt
150g Risotto Rice (we use Vialone Nano)
100g White Wine/Dry Vermouth
750g Stock (fish, chicken, or vegetable)
1 Bay Leaf
5 Strokes Nutmeg
50g Salmon Roe
¼ Lemon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), the best you have
Black Pepper, freshly cracked
Method
Start heating up stock with a bay leaf and a little nutmeg. Keep it warm.
In a medium sized pot, add butter, onion and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes; stir often and stay present. The onion should be translucent, and not develop any caramelization
Once your onion is soft and translucent, add rice and bring the heat up to medium. Stir often and toast rice for another 3 minutes. Rice should smell toasty, and the outsides of the rice will start to appear translucent. Again, you don’t want to develop any caramelization.
Add your white wine or vermouth. Bring heat up to medium-high. You will want to cook this until it’s almost gone; again, keep stirring.
Start adding warm stock about 4 oz at a time. Keep stirring, and when the risotto starts to thicken up, continue to add more stock. Stirring constantly will give you a creamy risotto.
When the stock is starting to get low, taste often to get to the desired texture on the rice. “Al dente” is what you are aiming for
Once the stock is gone and your rice has thickened up, turn the heat off. Add the juice from ¼ of a lemon, no seeds.
At this point, your rice should look creamy and come together as if it's one.
Put a lid on your pot for one minute and allow the risotto to settle.
After one minute, add the salmon roe and stir lightly to evenly distribute. Make sure there is no heat under your pot as you don’t want to cook anything anymore.
Plate your risotto and finish with a little bit of the best olive oil you have and some fresh black pepper to taste.