When cooking your risotto, use one of the specially grown Italian rice varieties such as arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano. Recently I tried to make risotto from the Spanish variety bomba, rice for paella. It turns out that even if the rice is not from the "right" country, it can turn out to be tasty and "right" too 🙂 So, why these varieties? The main thing in risotto is its creaminess. It is obtained from the large amount of liquid, constant stirring and the high starch content of rice. If you go with a low starch variety, you will not be able to achieve the required creamy texture of a good risotto. Varieties grown specifically for risotto tolerate constant stirring well, plus they give off starch, and at the same time remain fairly firm inside. Paella varieties give off starch a little more slowly, and the risotto is more al dente than risotto from specialized varieties.