It sounds obvious but don’t make the mistake of cooking risotto with the wrong rice: choosing the right variety is essential. Arborio rice is the most widely available risotto rice and it’s a great choice. If you fancy an upgrade, carnaroli and vialone nano are the premium options for risotto, but they can be quite hard to get hold of in the UK. Still, doing it the traditional way is a safe bet for a delicious risotto: the rice grains all cook evenly and you don't walk away leaving it to burn or turn stodgy. But if you’re feeling experimental or if you’re in a rush, then give the no-stir method a try and see which you prefer. Poole and The River Cafe also add tomatoes. Despite my initial commitment to keeping things as simple as possible, I am won over: they supply a fruity acidity that complements the wine and is less strident than Aikens’s lemon juice. I also fall, unexpectedly, for their dried red chilli – after all, Venice was on the ancient spice route, albeit long before chillies made it to the old world. Perhaps more historically accurate is Poole’s star anise, but my testers found it too strong – it is complex and interesting, but a bit distracting.

The flat handle can be more awkward to hold than a rounded one, and we found its beveled, trapezoidal shape really only felt comfortable in hand at a couple of angles. The spoon’s shallow bowl was almost paddle-like, making it ideal for dry sautés and stir-fries, but it might not be your first choice for stirring and sampling a gravy or pan sauce. In exchange, the spoon is lightweight, comes in natural or slate, and carries a limited lifetime warranty. Cooking spoons with silicone heads are tough and long-lasting. Silicone is very heat-resistant and does not become deformed even under extremely high temperatures. Silicone spoons are sturdy, easy to clean and dishwasher-safe. What’s more, they can be used in pots and pans with bases which are particularly susceptible to damage.Slotted spoons are not just limited to serving vegetables and can be used to dish out any food that needs to be removed from the liquid. Wooden Spoon

An iced tea spoon has a bowl that is pretty much identical to a teaspoon. The only difference between an an iced tea spoon and a teaspoon is that an iced tea spoon will have a handle that is almost double the length. These are used in iced tea pitchers to stir around the lemon and ice, to ensure the flavors are evenly distributed throughout the drink, and also to mix around the sugar and encourage it to dissolve. This is a ceramic spoon type, and if you don’t already own one, then the most likely place you will have seen one of these before is at an oriental restaurant. These spoons have short handles that often have a hook shape at the end so that they can rest on the rim of a bowl without falling in. The bowl portion of these spoons is quite large and deep compared to the rest of the spoon. Risotto is made with stubby, short-grain rices, not any old pearl barley, spelt or bulgar wheat grains, much less orzo pasta. With a few exceptions (prawns, mushrooms), all those ingredients should be chopped into diminutive pieces, 2cm square and smaller, so that they are evenly distributed throughout the risotto. But you also need those kitchen gadgets that make doing a specific task simple and easy – whether that’s scooping batter, dishing out ice cream or making those fancy little balls of melon that take your presentation up a notch.A dessert spoon, as you would assume, is designed to be used when eating dessert. The bowl portion of this type of spoon has a slightly more pointed tip than a teaspoon or tablespoon. This is to aid the user in slicing their dessert. For example, if it is cheesecake or pie.

A well-equipped kitchen is never without a cooking spoon. This handy kitchen utensil can be used to stir dishes such as soups and stews to ensure they cook through evenly and the long handle reduces the risk of burning. It can also be placed underneath the lid of your pot to stop water from boiling over.

How our Italian risotto spoon is made

These spoons are used for eating soups and broths or for serving sauces. They can also be used in the serving and eating of rice or main meal components. Soup Spoon Use arborio rice (or carnaroli if you want to go next level) when making risotto. It’s a round grain rice that absorbs liquid really well, which makes for that wonderful creamy consistency These can vary in size, anywhere from the size of a teaspoon up to a tablespoon, but either way, their purpose is the same. Coffee Spoon Add the seafood to the shallot pan and stir to combine, then add the rice and season. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to coat with the fat, until the edges of the grains of rice begin to turn translucent.