The other night I made risotto for a friend. Risotto, if you’re unaware, is a rice dish with all kinds’a good stuff in it. Sorry for the short description; I’m no Alton Brown. No descriptions of emulsification and lipid profiles here, thank-you-very-much. Also, if you’ve never made risotto, you know there’s a ton of labor involved…stirring and adding broth and tasting and all that.
I’d never made any food for the friend in question here, so I wanted to make sure that my preparation impressed. As my cousin Adam would say, trying to make risotto is a “Fuck it, we’re going for 5″ type move. One that could certainly blow up in one’s face and ruin a yet-spotless culinary reputation, all compounded by the fact that I’d never made it before. Fun!
I set out to make a risotto with Shiitakes, Portobellos and sausage. If you know me, you know I’m not a fan of the fungi, so this was a stretch. But if I must say, it came out great. This was right up there with the Alsatian Cheese Tarts of 2006 or the Roasted Tomato/Onion/Chevre Toasts of 2007, if you’re keeping track. Smiles all around.
It occurred to me the next day that the preparation of risotto for a guest is pretty similar to executing a good web campaign. Most good cooking–especially in the case I’ll explain–is an additive, evolving process. And as Noah and Faris say, good web things are additive. And evolving.
First, some good ideas for prepping risotto:
- Mise that place: Get your shit together before you start. I rather hurriedly purchased my ingredients at 5:45 on Monday, a mere 1.25 hours before my guest was to arrive. But I had a chance to get my sausage crumbled and my garlic, onions and thyme diced and in dishes, leaving only the mushrooms to prep. The 99 cent half-baked baguette in the oven didn’t hurt. Warm bread and olive oil is a sure-fire winner. Nobody has to know that you didn’t bake it from scratch.
- Something will go wrong. All good. I didn’t get enough chicken broth, and Trader Joe’s didn’t have fresh oregano. Oh well. I threw some wine in the broth with some water and salt, and no-one knew the difference. Also: screw oregano.
- Don’t do everything in advance. For one, it looks weird. A little too professional, your guest might think. Plus, cooperative cooking (for example, de-gilling portobellos) is fun.
- Don’t let your guest bring anything other than wine. Wine is easy, fun, and portable. Salad is not. Plus, you recycle wine bottles when you’re done. Tupperware needs to be washed and can be forgotten.
- Taste frequently. And re-season based on the tastes of your guest. It doesn’t matter what it was supposed to taste like, or what the recipe calls for. If your guest doesn’t like it, you lose. Plus, a true gentleman always offers a hot spoon of fresh-cooked goodness. And any spills can turn into an opportunity for romance.
- Leftovers, anyone? Everyone digs the food? Offer a container of leftovers to your guest. Odds are he/she’ll bring them to work, and show off your skills. Not only is this just plain being a good host, but it’s an excellent way to generate positive PR.
Scenario:
“What did he make?”
“Risotto.”
“It smells awesome!”
“I know. What a man.”
“Yes, what a man.”
If you didn’t catch it, these are all things that apply to executing a good web idea.
- Get your sh*t together first. Don’t just run off and do the latest, greatest thing (you might not need a Facebook app*), and make sure you have everything you need to pull it off.
- That said, remember that something will go wrong. You’ll forget something. Figure out that you’ve forgotten something (and fix it) before anyone notices.
- You don’t have to finish before you launch. Launch a beta, and let people play with it. People like to play, and they like to help.
- Bring people in to the process (development blog) and maybe allow them to contribute. But define what that contribution entails. You’re still running the show.
- Ask for feedback, and adjust accordingly.
- Figure out what you’re going to do after you launch, and have a system in place to allow people to (a) do more with what you’ve built and (b) tell their friends about it.
See? The web is easy. You’ve done it before. Just not, perhaps…on the web?
* I know Facebook apps are not the latest, greatest thing. But I sure do get asked about them a lot.