How is it that risotto isn't a staple of the American diet? Such a simple dish that is full of starch and can be topped with cheese just seems like such a natural fit. But it would be a form of sacrilege to melt Velveeta over Arborio rice, so lets skip past the macaroni and cheese crowd for a moment. Aside from being damned tasty in its own right, risotto can become the base for just about anything that you can cook right. What's in the refrigerator, chicken, red peppers, shrimp, tomatoes, fish, eggplant . . . ? Doesn't matter. Almost everything goes well with risotto.

Risotto's easy, versatile, and looks great on a plate. Everyone who owns a pot should try it at least once a month. But there's more. If you're having a bad day, cooking risotto for dinner will only make it better. Open a bottle of wine, turn on the Dan Reeder (or Miles Davis works), and stir your troubles away. It's the culinary equivalent of raking gravel. For at least an evening your blood feud with Verizon melts into the background.

So here's the point I'm coming around to. We've had movies celebrating the ritual spirituality of fly-fishing, the elegant beauty of the piano, and something to do with painting covered bridges. So, why aren't Robert Redford, Harvey Keitel, and Clint Eastwood lining up to make a movie about risotto? A movie about a tough guy making risotto? Miramax would kill for that, and certainly there'd be an Academy Award to follow. Granted, I wouldn't watch it anymore than I'd see any of the other movies I mentioned. But still, risotto is damned tasty.