Brilliant idea, mediocre execution, but something that you should definitely try to make

I was reading about risottos and I had a really interesting idea for a dish based around a pumpkin risotto. I had eaten a similar dish in the past, and thought it would be a great way to step the dish up a level. My idea was a pumpkin risotto with a coffee sauce, a brazil nut and apple butter, pickled capers and topped with a bit of raw pumpkin and radish.

The idea works well...flavour wise there are savoury, spicy, sour, bitter and sweet elements, and texture wise there are creamy, light, dense, buttery and crunchy elements. In fact, this was the idea I was most excited for during this trip. HOWEVER, the execution did not necessarily go completely to plan.

Let's start with the risotto. Flavour wise, it was great. There was a good amount of spice to compliment the pumpkin and there was a good bit of parmesan which added some savouriness, along with the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and the sourness of the rice wine I used to cook the arborio rice. Texturally, however, it was not perfect. I didn't add nearly enough cream, which left it too thick and not as creamy as a risotto should be.

The coffee sauce - my favourite element. The sauce was made by extracting 8 shots of coffee and reducing them down to 2 shots, therefore getting an extremely strong coffee essence. The most important part of the sauce was picking the coffee beans. I chose beans that have a lot of bitterness and a good amount of sourness, as those are two flavours that beautifully balance the otherwise salty and sweet dish. I added a spot of cream to thicken it, along with some herbs. The result...a beautifully thick coffee sauce that paired brilliantly with the risotto.

I loved the nut butter as well. I roasted some brazil nuts and apples in the oven and blended them together with a bit of melted butter to form a slightly sweet, slightly bitter butter (the type that betty bought) that was a gorgeous fit for the coffee sauce. I was really happy with these two elements.

But you'd be surprised at the element that I disliked the most - the raw pumpkin. Don't get me wrong, raw pumpkin SHOULD go really well on this dish. However, I didn't have a mandolin on hand to cut the pumpkin nice and thin, so I had to resort to doing it by hand. I am NOT skilled enough to cut it thin in the slightest, and so what I ended up with was a bunch of slices of pumpkin that were too thick for the dish, and had to remove them while eating. I also didn't actually have any radish, which would have been a beautiful final touch.

Overall, I think it was a brilliant idea but a mediocre execution. But here, instead of leaving this dish in such a sad state, I CHALLENGE YOU. Try to make this dish at home but better than I did, so that we can finally do justice to the beautiful flavours. If you do, dm me on instagram (@vedantrao73) and I'd love to post about it!