Paella

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Paella (pronounced IPA: [pa'eʎa]) is a rice dish, originally from Valencia (Spain) where it is eaten especially on Sundays and during the Falles. There are many variations of it with different ingredients.

The name paella is the word for "frying pan" in Valencian (from Latin patella). However, the dish has become so popular in Spain that the word paellera is now usually used for the pan and paella almost exclusively for the dish. In the Valencia area, nevertheless, the name paella is commonly used for both the pan and the dish.

Paella is usually garnished with vegetables and meat or seafood. The three main ingredients are rice, saffron, and olive oil.

1 Paella variations
2 Basic cooking method
3 Related paella traditions
4 Related dishes
5 External links

[edit] Paella variations

A Paella restaurant in Valencia.

The recipe became more elaborate and variable as it spread from its origin in Andalucia throughout Spain and other parts of the world. A common variation is called paella de peix ("fish paella") or paella de marisco ("shellfish paella"), which is made with seafood instead of terrestrial meat. Rabbit and chicken are the key ingredients of Paella Valenciana. Today one can find paellas made from a variety of other ingredients including rabbit, chorizo, langoustines, lobster, and mussels. However, purists may not accept the variations in ingredients and combinations as authentic. Paella can be a simple, rustic dish cooked in open air and eaten straight from the pan, or it can be more elaborately prepared and served. When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, they passed on their cuisine to the Filipinos. Filipino Paella contains more seafood ingredients since the Philippines is an archipelago of islands with easy access to seafood. Filipino paella includes the addition of crabs, abalone, soy sauce, atsuete (for the coloring), clams and other sea products.

[edit] Basic cooking method

Arroz con costra, (rice with crust) traditional rice from Elx, Alicante

Paella is generally cooked in a paella pan, which is a large, shallow, flat pan. First the meat, and then the vegetables are stir fried in olive oil and the rice is added so as to be suffused in the oil. Boiling stock is then added to the paella pan, and reduced by boiling. Once the rice is nearly done, the paella is removed from the heat and left to absorb the remaining water. The paella is ready to be served after having cooled for several minutes.

For recipes, see Wikibooks:Cookbook:Paella.

[edit] Related paella traditions

A giant seafood Paella cooked on the Catalonian National Day 2003 in the village square of Cornudella de Montsant, Spain.

A paella cooked and eaten in the middle of the road during the Falles

It has become a custom for mass gatherings in Valencia — festivals, political campaigns, protests, etc — to prepare an enormous paella, sometimes to win a mention in the Guinness Book of Records. Ad hoc wide-diameter pans are commissioned for these cases.

Paella and its variations are a typical picnic dish for the Spanish spring and summer.

The dish is also typically consumed during the Falles in Valencia (Valencia official website).