Paella

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Paella
Above: Valencian paella; Below: seafood paella; both served in paelleras
Origin information
Country of origin :	Spain
Region or state :	Valencia
Dish information
Course served :	main course
Serving temperature :	hot
Main ingredient(s) :	white rice meat seafood vegetables
Variations :	Valencian seafood mixed
Other information :	Popular throughout: Western Europe Latin America North America

Paella (IPA: [pa'eʎa]) is an internationally well known dish of white rice, meat, seafood, beans and vegetables (depending on the recipe) originating in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Valencia near lake Albufera, a lagoon in eastern Spain.^[1]

The two most widely known types of paella are Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana) and seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco). Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat, snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. The varieties of rice used are usually Calasparra^[2][3] or Bomba^[3]. Other key ingredients include saffron, and olive oil.

This dish has gained considerable popularity throughout most of the Spanish-speaking world, including the Hispanic regions of the United States. It also enjoys moderate popularity throughout Western Europe.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Arabic influence 2.2 Valencian Paella 2.3 Seafood and mixed paella 2.4 International paella 3 Basic cooking methods 3.1 Recipes 3.1.1 Valencian paella 3.1.2 Seafood paella 3.1.3 Mixed paella 3.1.4 For all recipes 4 Competitions and records 5 Similar dishes 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Etymology

The word paella derives from the Latin word patella for pan. Patella is also akin to the French poêle, the Welsh padell, the Italian padella, the Old Spanish padilla and the New Mexican Spanish puela^[4].

Valencian speakers (a Catalan dialect) ^[5] refer to both the dish and the specialized shallow pan in which it is cooked as paella. However, in most of Spain and throughout Latin America, the term paellera is more commonly used for the pan, though both terms are correct, as stated by the Royal Spanish Academy, the body responsible for regulating the Spanish language. This pan is traditionally round and shallow, made of polished steel with two handles.^[6]

A common, but inaccurate, belief in the Arab world, is that the source of the name is from the Arabic word for leftovers, baqiyah, (Arabic script:بقية) because it was customary among Arab sailors to combine leftovers of previous meals which purportedly led to a paella-like creation in Moorish Spain.^[1]

[edit] History

[edit] Arabic influence

The Moorish people of Al-Andalus often made casseroles of rice, fish and spices for family gatherings and religious feasts, thus establishing the custom of eating rice in Spain. This led to rice becoming a staple by the time the Catholics drove out the Muslims in the 15th century. Cooks combined rice with vegetables, beans and dry cod, providing an acceptable meal for Lent. Along the Spanish coast, fish always predominated with rice.^[7]

[edit] Valencian Paella

On special occasions, 18th century Valencians used paelleras to cook rice in the open air of their orchards with vegetables of the season along with chicken, rabbit, duck and snails. Later, social life became more active with the sociological changes of the 19th century in Spain, giving rise to reunions and outings in the countryside. This early rice dish evolved into Valencian paella where it was customary for men to do the cooking. In 1840, a local newspaper first used the phrase "Valencian paella" to refer to the recipe rather than the pan.^[7]

The most widely used ingredient list of the 19th century version is as follows: short-grain white rice, butter beans, great northern beans, chicken, rabbit, snails (optional), duck (optional), runner beans, artichoke (a substitute for runner beans in the winter), tomatoes, fresh rosemary, salt, sweet paprika, saffron, garlic, olive oil and water.^[7] It's these ingredients that Valencians insist go into making Valencian paella.

Today, in the Valencian region, paella is popular as a spring and summer picnic dish and during the Falles.

[edit] Seafood and mixed paella

Valencian coastal residents substituted seafood for meat and beans, thereby inventing seafood paella. Later Spaniards mixed seafood into the original Valencian recipe and mixed paella was born.^[8] (Most Valencian purist cooks, however, look upon mixed paella with disdain.)

As other cultures set out to make paella, the dish invariably acquired regional influences. Consequently, paella went from being a relatively simple dish to including fresh seafood, meat, various types of sausage (the most popular being Spanish chorizo)^[9][10], a wide variety of vegetables and many different seasonings.^[11] However, the most globally popular recipe is seafood paella.

In Spain, mixed paella is very popular. Some restaurants in Spain (and many in the United States) that serve this mixed version, refer to it as Valencian paella but Valencians insist only the original Valencian recipe can bear the name paella valenciana. Also, Valencians feel that only paella valenciana and paella marinera should be ever called paella.

[edit] International paella

Paella has evolved into an international dish^[12]. These international recipes include ingredients very different from paella's original Valencian version. Today, paella is well known in Australia^[13][14], Asia (including the Philippines^[15]), Latin America, the U.S., and West European coutries such as Portugal, Germany^[16], Sweden^[17], Norway^[18] and Denmark^[19].

[edit] Basic cooking methods

According to tradition in Valencia, paella is cooked by men over an open fire fueled by orange and pine branches and pine cones.^{[citation needed]} This produces an aromatic smoke which infuses the paella. The dinner guests then eat directly out of the paellera.

[edit] Recipes

[edit] Valencian paella

This recipe is standardized because Valencians consider it traditional and very much part of their culture. Rice in Valencian paella is never braised in oil, as pilau, though the paella made further southwest of Valencia often is.^[20]

• Heat oil.
• Sauté meat after seasoning with salt.
• Add green vegetables and sauté until soft.
• Add garlic, grated tomatoes, beans and sauté.
• Add paprika and sauté.
• Add water, saffron (or food coloring), snails and rosemary.
• Boil to make broth and allow it to reduce by half.
• Add rice and simmer until rice is cooked.
• Garnish with fresh rosemary.

[edit] Seafood paella

Recipes vary for this dish somewhat, even in Valencia. Below is a recipe by Juanry Segui, a prominent Valencian chef.^[21]

• Make a seafood broth from shrimp heads, onions, garlic and bay leaf.
• Heat oil.
• Add mussels. Cook until they open and then remove.
• Sauté Norway lobster and whole deep-water rose shrimp. Then remove both the lobster and shrimp.
• Add chopped cuttlefish and sauté.
• Add shrimp tails and sauté.
• Add garlic and sauté.
• Add grated tomato and sauté.
• Add rice and braise in sofrito.
• Add paprika and sauté.
• Add seafood broth and then saffron (or food coloring).
• Add salt to taste.
• Replace the whole shrimp, mussles and lobster.
• Simmer until rice is cooked.

[edit] Mixed paella

There are countless mixed paella recipes. However, the following method is common to most of these. Seasoning depends greatly on individual preferences and regional influences. However, salt, saffron and garlic are almost always included.^[22][23]

• Make a broth from seafood, chicken, onions, garlic and bell peppers.
• Heat oil.
• Sear crustaceans and red bell peppers strips, then remove and set aside.
• Sauté meat until golden brown.
• Make sofrito by sautéing chopped bell peppers, garlic, onions and grated tomatoes with meat.
• Sauté until vegetables are tender.
• Add seasoning except for salt.
• Add rice.
• Braise rice until covered with sofrito.
• Add broth.
• Add salt to taste.
• Add saffron (or food coloring).
• Simmer until rice is almost cooked.
• Replace crustaceans.
• Continue simmering until rice and crustaceans are finished cooking.
• Garnish with seared red bell peppers strips.

[edit] For all recipes

Once the rice is nearly done, the paella is removed from the heat and left to absorb the remaining water. Paella usually has a crispy, caramelized, toasted bottom (called socarrat in Valencia but pegado in Latin America) that is considered a delicacy. There are two ways to achieve socarrat/pegado: The first is to time the evaporation of the water properly with the completion of the rice; the second is to use a high flame while listening to the rice toast at the bottom of the pan. The chef then removes the paellera from the heat once the aroma of toasted rice wafts upwards. The paella then must sit for about five minutes before serving.

For more recipes, see Wikibooks:Cookbook:Paella.

[edit] Competitions and records

It has become a custom^[24] at mass gatherings in the Valencian Community (festivals, political campaigns, protests, etc.) to prepare enormous paellas, sometimes to win mention in the Guinness Book of World Records. Chefs use gargantuan paelleras for these events.

Each year chefs from the region of Galicia compete for the title of "Paella King". The competition is held in a different town each year in that region.^{[citation needed]}

Valencian restaurateur Juan Galbis claims to have made the world's largest paella, with help from a team of workers, on 2 October 2001 and then fed it to about 110,000 people according to Galbis's website.^[25] Galbis says this paella was even larger than Galbis's earlier world-record paella made on 8 March 1992 which fed about 100,000 people. Galbis's record-breaking 1992 paella is listed in Guinness^[26]

[edit] Similar dishes

Valencians do not refer to all saffron rice recipes as paella. Traditional Valencian cuisine offers recipes similar to paella valenciana and paella marinera such as arrós al forn, arrós a banda and arrós en fesols i naps. The following is a list of other similar rice dishes:

• Arroz a la valenciana
• Arròs negre
• Fideuà
• Fried rice
• Jambalaya
• Pilaf
• Risotto
• Biriyani

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paella

• Spanish cuisine
• Mediterranean cuisine
• Philippine cuisine

[edit] References