Paella

Real Spanish paella is a traditional Spanish rice dish originally from Valencia. The basis of paella is rice cooked in broth with saffron, which gives it a golden color and aroma. Various ingredients are also added to the dish, such as seafood, chicken, rabbit, vegetables, and sometimes sausages or legumes. Paella is cooked in a wide flat pan (also called paella) and served hot, often with a slice of lemon.

The main ingredients of the dish

There is no one, as they say, real and authentic way of cooking a dish. The paella recipe has many options. And all because paella was invented by people who work in the field for weeks. Where they took a large frying pan with them (to feed several dozen people), rice, oil and salt, and also used everything they could find on the spot as ingredients. Most often it was chicken and rabbit meat.

The most famous is the classic Valencian paella, which is cooked over an open fire using firewood from fruit trees. This is traditionally a meat paella and it takes about 2 hours to cook. The paella recipe can have a variety of fillings:

• Seafood – shrimps, mussels, squid, octopus, lobsters.
• Meat – chicken, rabbit, pork, sausages (for example, chorizo).
• Fish – white fish or other types of marine fish.
• Vegetables – tomatoes as a sauce, peppers (red and green), string beans and white beans, artichokes, green peas are very popular.

Meat, seafood and vegetables are fried in olive oil at the beginning of cooking. And the broth for the dish can be chicken, vegetable or fish, it is used to cook rice and saturate its taste. Spices and seasonings can be very different, but saffron is required. Sweet and smoked paprika, garlic, bay leaf are also added. The ingredients may vary depending on the recipe and the region, but the base always remains the same: rice, spices (especially saffron) and a variety of additives that give the dish a unique taste.

Cooking method

Valencian paella – the classic recipe contains three meats: chicken, rabbit and snails. Flat green beans, white beans, tomatoes, saffron, rosemary and paprika are also added. High-quality olive oil and special rice are mandatory. The Spanish tradition does not combine meat and seafood in a dish – they choose one thing. Cooking paella in Valencian style:

• Fry the meat (chicken and rabbit) in salted olive oil until golden brown.
• Move the meat along the sides, add garlic, green and white beans to the center of the pan, fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, snails (if using), paprika and mix everything quickly.
• Add water or broth (3.5 times the volume of rice), saffron, bring to a boil and boil for 10-25 minutes.
• Fill in the rice grits, immerse it in the liquid, but do not stir, cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

If the rice is still hard, add a little liquid and cover with foil and simmer the dish until cooked.

Life hacks for cooking

A properly cooked classic paella should have a ruddy rice crust at the bottom of the pan, absorbing the flavors of meat and vegetables. It is called “socarrat” in Spanish.

In Spain, rice is used for paella of the “bomb” type — medium-grained, it absorbs liquid well (3-3.5 times its weight) and at the same time does not boil, remains elastic. Rice varieties such as carnaroli, arborio and vialone nano are also suitable for risotto. If you have a homemade paella planned and you have not found the bomb rice, feel free to use rice for risotto.