JOAN SERRA MINGOT

 

Paella is the best known dish of the Spanish cuisine. The variety of its ingredients and the Mediterranean character that characterizes it, have made paella become one of the hallmarks of the brand Spain. Depending on the region, paella can be made with different ingredients: vegetables, seafood, mixed, with cauliflower and cod, etc. However, the authentic one is the Valencian paella, made ​​with fresh meat and vegetables of Valencia, where this recipe with so many years of history and tradition was originated.

 

This dish was the typical meal of the farmworkers (that is why it is cooked with meat and vegetables and not with seafood) and its main ingredient was, and remains, rice. It can also be accompanied by optional ingredients (depending on your taste), such as rabbit meat and snails. Just do not even think to mention seafood to Valencia’s people, because adding shrimp or clams to paella is almost a crime for them.

 

 STEP BY STEP                                                                                                                  

 

1. The vegetables must be cleaned, ​​garlic sliced and onion cut into cubes. Then you must clean the chicken and rabbit meat and cut into uniform pieces. While doing this, heat a frying pan with a little olive oil.

 

2. When the oil is hot, fry the meat on a low heat until it has a golden color. Remember, rabbit meat is optional.

 

3. When the meat is fried, add the vegetables and the garlic, making sure that nothing burns. When everything is fried, add a little paprika and tomato. It is advisable to follow a certain order when frying vegetables: first onion, followed by the garlic and finally the green beans and the haricot beans.

 

4. Rice has to boil in water or stock. It is advisable to do a mixture of both, because it will taste better. For 600 grams of rice, use 2 liters of stock (or mix with water), which you must add in the pan with the fried ingredients.

 

5. When the stock boils, add the rice and spread it throughout the pan. Then, do not stir it anymore. And make sure, that the rice is completely covered with liquid.

 

6. To give the characteristic color of paella, add a little saffron or food coloring. At this point you can also add the snails, if you like.

 

7. Once all the stock has evaporated from the pan, the paella is almost ready. It is very typical of this dish the so-called 'socarrat', which is the deepest layer of rice touching the pan and burned slightly. The point is not burning the rice, but make it a little crisper. Let it settle a few minutes, decorate with lemon wedges and... enjoy your paella!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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