What’s the Deal With the Spoon With the Big Hole? (2024)

Every wooden cooking utensil set has it: that one shallow spoon with a slightly sharp taper to one side and a big old hole in the middle. You’d think a tool this ubiquitous would have an obvious, common use, but in the end, it’s for something very specific. Risotto.

And for experts like Chef Michele Casadei Massari, U.S. Brand Ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, it’s the perfect tool of the trade.“The use of the perforated spoon is fundamental, particularly when stirring the risotto toward the end of cooking,” Massari says. “From a scientific perspective, it’s an efficient tool for aeration and the incorporation of air, fats, and starch, creating a fantastic emulsion.” These elements are what give risotto its unmistakable texture, which is why stirring makes or breaks the result.

Why Stirring Risotto Is Crucial

“Agitating the rice [by stirring] is important because the risotto’s creaminess comes from the starch generated when grains of rice rub against each other,” says Cyrille Holata, Regional Executive Chef at Le Bilboquet in Atlanta. “If you don’t stir enough, the rice will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.”

This is what makes the dish an “ages-old labor of love,” says chef Karl Gorline. ”There’s little respite from the task at hand of quiet, disciplined stirring, which I personally enjoy. It’s moments like these where our minds can freely contemplate ideas.”

Why the Hole in the Spoon Matters

So, stirring is important, but many dishes require constant stirring and we don’t use a spoon with a hole in it. Why use this tool for risotto?

Brita Lundberg, communications manager at Lundberg Family Farms, where her family has been growing rice for four generations, points to the need to protect the arborio grains. “The hole in the middle of the spoon allows some of the rice to pass through, making for a smoother stir that’s gentler on the grains and results in fewer broken kernels,” she says, adding that too many broken kernels can ruin a risotto. Gorline agrees: “If the rice shatters, it can create an over-starched mess!”.

Lundberg also credits the hole with “adding an additional vortex, acting like a second spoon and making it creamier,” she says. “It adds air to the risotto,” Holata says, “cooling it down to help make it gluey.”

That tapered edge? “You can easily scrape the bottom of the pot and the side at the same time,” Holota says.

What If You Don’t Have a Spoon With a Hole?

“Don’t worry if you don’t have a risotto spoon on hand,” Lundberg says. “A rubber spatula can work fine and is also kind to both rice and pot!” Nigel Palmer, Executive R&D Chef with meal kit company Home Chef, says that technique can make up for the hole–as long as you’re using wood.

“No matter what spoon you've got,” he says, “the key is stirring enough to release the starches from the rice into the liquid it's being cooked in, having heat at the proper level so the majority of liquid is absorbed and not evaporated, and keeping an eye on the rice grains as they cook. They slowly lose their pure white color and become slightly translucent [when they’re done].”

Which means if that spoon with the hole has been languishing in your kitchen, now’s the time to break it out and make a risotto–and rest easy that the mystery is finally solved.