EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Montenegro
Red rice risotto with prawns and parmesan cheese
Towns and small villages close to the seaside are the best places to have a seafood meal. Fishes, prawns, squids, or octopuses are usually freshly fished, aromatic and served in a light way. Salads, pastas, and risottos including them dominate menus in restaurants in ports, bays and tavernas. For us, that are ideal places to have something traditional, natural and extremely fresh. Just fish or seafood in its most natural form. Light dressings, herbs, spices and fresh salads with olive oil and lemon juice. Apart from that, pastas, and risottos. Finally, just grilled fishes, prawns or squids accompanied with bread or with roasted potatoes.
And the more unique the meal is, the more I like it. This time we found a nice, small restaurant outside Kotor - Dobrota, Montenegro. Actually, very close to it, just a couple of kilometers away, so it was an ideal place for a dinner. The menu included mainly international cuisine (most of them were European dishes) and a lot of local dishes that were a composition of Montenegrin ingredients with western meals.
Burgers, pastas, meats, pizza, salads and of course some appetizers, soups, and desserts. However, this time we were focused on a dinner meal with some local, seafood ingredients. While I like a lot seafood, I moved directly to this section and found there an interesting position – red rice risotto with prawns and parmesan cheese. That was my choice straight forwardly, and I was waiting for it impatiently.
Red rice risotto with prawns in Dobrota, Kotor area, Montenegro
According to the menu, this risotto had to be prepared from red rice (which I like a lot! Well, of course not as much as the black one, but still, it is one of my favorites.). It should also include an original parmesan cheese and be served with rocket and prawns. However, when the meal came, I was really surprised. Unfortunately, not positively. The meal was small. Definitively not for anyone who was hungry or at least did not only come for a degustation. Apart from that, the rice was not red! Well, it was red but not originally. It was prepared in a tomato sauce, that had to change the color of risotto. I would never call it a 'red rice risotto’. It is fair to say that it was rice in a tomato sauce, nothing more.
If it was not enough, I could not spot parmesan in any place. I guess it was added to the rice and mixed with it and with the sauce. Actually, the original, strong taste of the cheese was not distinguishable. More or less, any cheese could be added there too. It is a pity, that such a good cheese was not served in a better way. Finally, although in the menu prawns (in plural) were stated, only one was laid on the risotto.
I must say, I was strongly disappointed. The only thing that I liked was the perfect view. The city of Kotor, bay with ferries and yachts were wonderful. Chilling wind, a lot of sun and a nice shade under the tree were so pleasant!
Another thing that did not work so good, was the serving way of the dish. Although they tried to do that in the best way, I would not say it was successful. Given the fact that the risotto was reddish with orange and red hints and the prawn was mild orange, serving it on an orange plate did not make a good visual composition. I would rather put it on any plate that would create a nice contrast to the meal, so that it would highlight the meal that was the most important. The prawn should look dominating the dish and not just be a delicate garnish.
Apart form that, coming back to the parmesan cheese, I would definitively slice it into thin flakes and scatter it over the rice. Thanks to that, the intense taste of the cheese would be distinguishable and would create a nice contrast to the bland rice flavor. Finally, I would place the prawn or rather a t least a couple of prawns on top of the rice and decorate it with a lot of small rocket leaves. I believe this way of serving would be more appetizing, would look richer and will also create a nice composition of flavors. According to me, if you mix everything at once, you lose this subtle set of notes of each ingredient. But that was just my imagination and visualization of the menu’s item.
We decided to finish our meal with a traditional local kuvana kafe – Turkish coffee. That choice was really good. Strong, with nice, intense aromas and with a lot of flavors. Moreover, it was served in elegant cups and with some sugar aside.
All in all, we had a nice afternoon. We had a good time in a nice place, with a beautiful view and with a cup of a good coffee. Although we were disappointed with the served meal, we were happy. We also learned, that it is always important to ask precisely what is in the menu. Although I confirmed at the beginning that it would be red rice, I was misunderstood, as the waitress did not know anything about the existence of a purely red rice. Actually, I got red rice, didn’t I? No one even thought that I could think about something else than a white rice in a tomato sauce!
