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Paella, a rice-based dish originating in Spain, is prepared in many versions, with meats, seafood, vegetables and saffron adding the flavors and color.
Paellas are traditionally cooked outside on a fire of dried grape canes or orchard cuttings including pine, which gives a distinctive flavor.
Paella is the festive dish that is often served at celebrations in wine country as well as at Napa's ZuZu restaurant. This, however, is my own take on the this dish, which originated in Valencia, Spain but has come to be considered by many to be Spain's national dish.
Most paellas incorporate sautéed chicken, Spanish hard chorizo, shrimp and shellfish, plus red pepper, tomatoes and peas, green beans or asparagus for color contrast and saffron for the dramatic color and distinctive flavor.
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Cooked over an open fire outdoors (as long as the health department nannies aren’t around), it’s dramatic, festive and very tasty.
In truth, however, they’re not very Spanish.
Valencia, the home of paella, makes relatively simple versions where you can savor each ingredient, not get an explosion of conflicting flavors in each bite.
They use the characteristic almost-spherical Bomba rice of the region, which is fairly easy to find and not particularly expensive. If you don’t have it, Italian carnaroli, vialone nero or arborio rice is a good alternative and even short or medium grain American rice will work. Don’t use long grain, and especially avoid basmati or jasmine rice.
Paellas are traditionally cooked outside on a fire of dried grape canes or orchard cuttings including pine, which gives a distinctive flavor. You can approximate it with rosemary if you like a piney taste.
Aside from rice, onion, saffron, smoked paprika, garlic and olive oil, they traditionally featured snails and rabbits, two farm pests the farmers were happy to punish for their transgressions.
Butter beans or other green beans, artichokes in the winter, were also usually included.
The true Valencian paella contains only land animals, while the seafood paella includes only seafood and no green stuff.
The elaborate mixed paella is now widely featured in Spain as well as here due to demand from tourists, however. There's nothing wrong with this, as it can be very good.
Paella is traditionally prepared in a shallow steel pan; you use bigger pans (and fires) to serve more as it can’t be more than a inch deep. You can cook it in any skillet that’s big enough for the crowd.
You can buy specialized propane burners for big pans, but for most of us, the best way to cook paella outside is over a charcoal or gas grill. Feel free to use vine cuttings, however. There are certainly plenty around here.
People are invariably tempted to fry the rice in oil or stir the rice mixture like making risotto, but don’t. The proper cooking process creates a bit of a crust on the surface that keeps moisture in and is vital for cooking the rice properly.
After you add the broth or water, stir to combine and then have a glass of sangria or two. You generally don’t use broth, just water. The other ingredients form the broth with the water.
You don’t cover the pan, though if you wimp out and you don’t have faith, you can use a big cover (like from a wok). You can also bake or finish the paella in the oven, but real men cook paella over an open fire.
This also creates the browned (not burned) socarrat crust on the bottom that is highly prized. Socarrat also means fired clay tiles in Catalan, the language of Valencia (and you thought it was Spanish, I bet!)
You don’t get a socarrat in the oven but can finish the paella on top of the stove to create the crust.
A paella improves if it is covered with a towel and left to finish for five or 10 minutes after cooking. And it’s customary for everyone to eat out of the pan.
Here is a basic paella for six and some variations. Remember: It’s about the rice. The meat and vegetables are just flavoring.
6 chicken legs and 6 chicken thighs (Or cut-up chicken or rabbit)
1/2 lb. green beans, butter beans, cleaned or frozen artichokes, peas or asparagus or a combination of them
A few threads of saffron
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika (pimentón)
1 roasted red pepper for garnish
Heat oil in paella pan. Season meat with salt and sauté until cooked through. Add onions and pepper. Sauté for a minute or so then add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, add tomatoes, paprika, 7 cups water and saffron.
Boil for 15 minutes to create a broth, then add rice and beans, butter beans or artichokes, stir and flatten and simmer until rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.
If using asparagus, press into surface after 10 minutes; if using frozen peas, sprinkle on five minutes later. Do not stir. Cover for 10 minutes before serving.
A few threads pf saffron
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika (pimentón)
1/2 lb. squid in rings and tentacles
Peel shrimp and reserve shells.
Sauté onions and garlic, add tomatoes, saffron, paprika and shrimp shells in a pot, then add 7 cups water (or part fish stock if you have it).
Cook for 15 minutes to create the broth if you don’t have stock, then strain the stock, return to pan and add rice.
Stir, flatten and cook for 15 minutes, then place seafood on paella, pressing in slightly. Cook for another five minutes or until mussels open. Cover for 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.
Proceed as before but add sautéed sliced Spanish chorizo to all the ingredients listed in the two paellas above in one pan. Don’t use Mexican chorizo, which is very good but raw rather than dried and smoked.
Prepare basic paella without chicken, but add artichokes hearts, garbanzos and sautéed quartered mushrooms and some of the other vegetables.
Valencians also make a similar dish called fideua with short, thin noodles instead of rice. The noodles are first toasted/baked/fried in oil before the stock is added. It’s usually made with intense seafood stock plus crustaceans and white fish and served with allioli (aïoli). This dish seems to be having its moment.
Spain's 'ugliest tomato' award, celebrated every year in northern Tudela, filled farmers with joy and gave a Spanish family an Iberian ham.
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
A reveller lies in a puddle of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
A reveller lies in a puddle of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers lie in a puddle of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Paul Franson publishes the online weekly newsletter NapaLife, www.napalife.com. Request a copy from paul@paulfranson.com. Paul joins Barry Martin for Wine Country Live on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. on KVYN 99.3 FM or www.kvyn.com to talk about what’s happening in food and wine in Napa Valley.
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Paella, a rice-based dish originating in Spain, is prepared in many versions, with meats, seafood, vegetables and saffron adding the flavors and color.
Paellas are traditionally cooked outside on a fire of dried grape canes or orchard cuttings including pine, which gives a distinctive flavor.
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