Risotto alla Milanese is the quintessential Milanese dish: now it is appreciated throughout Italy and beyond, but before it reached our tables, it had quite a journey.

According to some, the famous yellow risotto was "invented" in the Middle Ages by a Sicilian cook who had moved to Milan. Unable to find all the ingredients to make arancini, she decided to replace frying with cooking in a pot.

Another legend attributes the use of saffron in the preparation of the famous risotto to pure chance. According to a manuscript found in the Trivulziana Library, the birth of this specialty is also closely linked to the Milan Cathedral.

In 1574, Maestro Valerio di Fiandra was engaged in making the stained glass windows of the Cathedral. Working alongside him was an assistant named Zafferano: the reason for his nickname was his habit of always adding a hint of saffron to colors to create a brighter effect. One day, to tease the young assistant, the Maestro told him that if he continued like that, he would end up putting saffron even in the dishes. And so it happened: on September 8, 1574, on the occasion of Valerio's daughter's wedding, Zafferano agreed with the cook to make a variation in the wedding menu: to the rice, which was then seasoned only with butter, a pinch of the yellow spice would also be added. Much to the young man's surprise, the guests appreciated the idea both for its taste and for the golden hue of the dish, a sign of good omen.

It is only in the cookbooks of the 1800s that we can find the first true codified recipes of what we now call "risotto alla milanese." In 1829, in the recipe book of the Milanese Felice Luraschi, titled "Il Nuovo Cuoco Milanese Economico," the "yellow Milanese risotto" is mentioned.^[1]