Paella

Paella is a famous rice dish that comes from the Valencian Community in Spain. It is one of the most well-known foods in Spanish cuisine and is very important to the people there. There are different kinds of paella, such as paella valenciana, which uses rabbit, chicken, duck, and snails, and paella de marisco, which uses seafood. People from Valencia say that only paella valenciana is the true paella.

The name paella comes from the wide, shallow pan used to cook the dish over an open fire. This pan is called a frying pan in both Catalan and the Valencian language. The word paella has roots in Old French and Latin.

Paella in its modern form started in the mid-19th century near the Albufera de València lagoon close to the city of Valencia. Today, paella is enjoyed not just in Valencia, but all over the Mediterranean, the rest of Spain, and even around the world. In Spain, it is a traditional menu item on Thursdays.

History

Muslims in Al-Andalus started growing rice around the 10th century. People in the eastern Iberian Peninsula often made dishes with rice, fish, and spices for special occasions, which helped make rice a common food by the 15th century.

One popular idea is that paella was created by rice farmers in Albufera in the 15th century. They would cook a simple meal in one pot using what they had nearby, like rice, snails, birds, green beans, and water from the Albufera de València. Over time, people began mixing rice with vegetables, beans, and dried cod, especially during Lent. Along the Mediterranean coast, rice was often served with fish.

The word paella comes from a Valencian term meaning "frying pan," which is where the dish is cooked. In many parts of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, the pan used for paella is called a paellera. The word has roots in Latin and other languages, showing how different cultures influenced this beloved dish.

Versions and variations

Paella valenciana

Paella valenciana is the traditional paella from the Valencia region. It is made with Valencian rice, olive oil, rabbit, chicken, duck, snails, saffron or a substitute, tomato, ferradura or flat green bean, lima beans, salt and water. Sometimes, whole rosemary branches are used to add flavor. The yellow color usually comes from saffron, but turmeric, paprika, Calendula or artificial colorants can also be used. Artichoke hearts and stems are sometimes added when in season. Most cooks use bomba rice, but a special type called senia is also used in Valencia.

Originally, paella in Valencia was a simple meal for farmers and farm workers. They used what they had around the rice fields, like tomatoes, onions, and snails. Rabbit or duck was often added, and sometimes chicken.

On special occasions in the 18th century, Valencians cooked paella in large pots called calderos outdoors near lake Albufera. Early paellas included water vole meat, eel and butter beans.

The most common ingredients for paella valenciana today are: short-grain white rice, chicken, rabbit, snails (optional), duck (optional), navy beans, great northern beans, runner beans, artichoke (used in winter instead of runner beans), tomatoes, fresh rosemary, sweet paprika, saffron, garlic (optional), salt, olive oil, and water. Some people in Valencia say that fish and shellfish should not be used in paella valenciana.

Seafood and mixed paella

Paella de marisco (seafood paella) uses seafood instead of meat and leaves out beans and green vegetables. Paella mixta (mixed paella) combines meat from livestock, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans, served with the traditional rice.

On the Mediterranean coast, fishermen made paella with seafood instead of meat and beans. In this version, the seafood is served in the shell.

People living outside of Valencia sometimes mixed seafood with meat from land animals to create mixed paella. This type of paella is sometimes called preparación barroca (baroque preparation) because it has many different ingredients.

In 1959, Ernest Hemingway wrote about paella after visiting Valencia, which helped make paella famous around the world.

As paella spread to other countries, it picked up influences from those places. This led to paella recipes including many types of seafood, meat, sausage (like chorizo), vegetables, and different seasonings.

In many places outside Valencia, some restaurants call their mixed version Paella valenciana. But people from Valencia say that only the original two Valencia recipes are true paella.

Other Valencian dishes with similar methods are arròs a banda and arròs del senyoret.

Philippines version

Main articles: Arroz a la valenciana and paelya

Arroz a la valenciana is the Philippine version of paella. It uses glutinous rice but has similar ingredients. In the Philippines, arroz a la valenciana can be made with chicken or longganisa (a type of chorizo).

Arroz con cosas

Some chefs outside of Spain add chorizo and other ingredients to their paellas that Valencians do not use. These dishes are sometimes called arroz con cosas ('rice with things'). Famous examples include recipes by Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.

Basic cooking methods

In Valencia, traditional paella is cooked over an open fire using orange tree and pine branches. This adds a nice smoky flavor to the dish. People usually eat paella right from the cooking pan, not on plates.

Some recipes say to let paella sit covered for a few minutes after cooking. After cooking, a layer of slightly crispy rice may form at the bottom of the pan, called socarrat. This is a special treat for people from Valencia if it’s done just right.

In popular culture

Competitions and records

Paella is often made at big events in the Valencian Community, like festivals and protests, with huge pans to try to set records in the Guinness World Records book. One chef, Juan Galbis, claims to have made the biggest paella ever on October 2, 2001, feeding around 110,000 people. He also made an even bigger paella in 1992 that fed about 100,000 people, which is listed in the Guinness World Records.

Paella emoji controversy: depiction of seafood in paella

In 2015, someone asked to add a paella emoji to Unicode. It was added in 2016. At first, Apple Inc.’s version showed a kind of paella with seafood, but people complained online, so it was later changed to look more like traditional paella with chicken.

Related dishes

Traditional Valencian cuisine has many rice dishes similar to paella, such as arròs negre, arròs al forn, arròs a banda and arròs amb fesols i naps.

Fideuà is a Valencian pasta dish made in a similar way to paella and often served with allioli sauce.

Other related dishes include:

• Arroz del Senyoret – A seafood paella from Alicante where the seafood is peeled for easier eating. The name Senyoret means "little lord".
• Arroz con costra (Crusted rice) – Covered with an egg crust.
• Arroz a la valenciana – A version from Latin America and the Philippines using annatto instead of saffron
• Arroz con gandules – A Latin American (Caribbean) version
• Arroz con pollo – A Latin American version with chicken
• Arroz de marisco – A similar dish from Portugal
• Bringhe – A Filipino dish from before European colonization, mixed with paella during the colonial period. It uses glutinous rice, turmeric, and coconut milk.
• Jambalaya – A dish from Louisiana influenced by paella and French jambalaia from Provence
• Locrio – A version from the Dominican Republic based on paella.
• Paelya – A Filipino version of paella using glutinous rice and sometimes annatto, turmeric, or safflower. It is also spelled "paella", but pronounced differently.