[5] According to a legend, a young glassblower's apprentice of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano from Flanders, who used to use saffron as a pigment, added it to a rice dish at a wedding feast.

It includes rice sautéed in butter, sausages, bone marrow, and onions with broth with saffron gradually added.

[citation needed] Such rices can absorb liquids and release starch, so they are stickier than the long grain varieties.

The principal varieties used in Italy are Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli, Maratelli, Padano, Roma, and Vialone Nano.

Rice designations of superfino, semifino, and fino refer to the grains' size and shape (specifically the length and the narrowness) and not the quality.

When it has been absorbed, the heat is raised to medium–high, and boiling stock is gradually added in small amounts while stirring constantly.

[14][15] When the rice is cooked the pot is taken off the heat for mantecatura, vigorously beating in refrigerated balls of grated Parmesan cheese and butter, to make the texture as creamy and smooth as possible.