Paella
by The Well Seasoned Traveler
Paella (pronounced pa-e-ya) the ubiquitous icon of Spanish cuisine is perfect for entertaining friends and family and, not unlike barbecue, one of the most sociable and enjoyable of all culinary occasions. In Spain paella is still unique. Not only do families congregate en masse to eat paella in restaurants, but it is often cooked on weekends at homes, beach, or mountain picnic sites, and very often a giant paella is the centerpiece for many fiestas. It is also like a barbie, traditionally cooked by men.
Paella originated in the fields of Valencia, in eastern Spain, where the conquering Maghrebine Berbers introduced rice (aruzz) in 700AD during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. Originally a shepherd’s dish cooked over open fire, the name paella refers to the pan used to cook the dish, rather than the dish itself. Paella evolved from “patella” Latin word for pan corrupted by the local dialect.
Paella is a dish where rice is the star, therefore the rice used should be given careful consideration. Short grain rice is favored over long grain because of its liquid and flavor absorbing qualities. The best, albeit the most expensive is to no surprise, “Bomba” type rice from Valencia. Ingredients in paella are used for flavoring the rice, not as the main component.
The technique I show you today, was handed to me by my mother, and has been in my family for generations. It is a technique often neglected, but if you think about it, it is the most logical approach to a delicious and perfectly cooked paella.
INGREDIENTS (get your ingredients here)
There are no set ingredients for paella. There are as many paella styles as there are people cooking it.
True Valencian paella is made only using rabbit, snails, duck (or chicken) and butter beans. Seafood paella is only limited by the type of seafood you can get your hands on. Mixed paella accepts anything you throw in it. Black paella, typical of Barcelona uses squid ink in its preparation. Paella is only limited by your creativity once you master the basic technique. Today we are going to try our hand at a mixed paella. For this, I could very well be excommunicated by Valencians since in Valencia mixing meat and seafood in the same paella is a mortal sin. Lucky for me the rest of Spain is much more forgiving.
It is fundamental to have all the ingredients ready before we ever start cooking, so cutting bite sized pieces of the larger animals like rabbit, chicken, as well as slicing the chorizo is a good practice. I give quantities for all types of paellas talked about here. If you are to make a Valencian paella, you have the choice to buy only the ingredients you need, same goes for the seafood and the mixed paellas. You can save this recipe for future reference making all types.
- Rice 1 cup Bomba or “valencia” rice
- Seafood
- Mussels 6 and 2 for stock
- Clams 6 and 2 for stock
- Shrimp raw large head-on shell-on 6 and 6 for stock
- Shrimp raw large peeled and deveined
- Squid or octopus tentacles ½ pound or 1 pound of premixed seafood medley.
- Chorizo 1 sliced in ½ inch slices
- Chicken wings 6 whole, separated tips and drumettes, 6 whole oven roasted for stock
- Rabbit 6 legs quartered rest in milk for ½ hour to eliminate gaminess, body or carcass for stock
- Snails (escargot Helix) 6 units if shell on, ½ can
- Fire roasted pimento I large jar cut in strips
- Plum tomatoes 1 can chopped
- Rosemary 4 fresh sprigs
- Garlic 4 large cloves chopped
- Saffron 9 threads
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil ¼ cup
- Onion ½ chopped
- Green peas 1 small can
- Butter beans 1 can
- Pimenton de la Vera (Spanish paprika) or Paprika sweet 1 tablespoon
METHOD
You do not actually need a paella pan in order to make paella. If you have one all the better, but you do not need one. So, I am going to measure everything for a paella for two, made in a twelve inch frying pan, if you do not have one of these, you can easily find one at your area megastore. The quantities are separated by paella type the method is the same for all.
Fumet: Our family secret. Paella is a dish that gets its flavor from absorbing the liquid in which is cooked. To maximize the flavor of our paellas, and control the seasoning, we cook it in a fumet, a concentrated stock made from the same ingredients you are using in the paella. Seafood and meats. Making separate stock of the various meats, seasoning them accordingly and mixing them in different proportions allows you to control the final flavor of your rice with greater accuracy. Make about a half-gallon of fumet, even if you do not use it all, so you will not run out if you need it.
Pour enough olive oil into the pan at medium temperature and allow it to heat until a film forms on its surface. Start sautéing the meats largest pieces first. Place the smaller pieces of meat on the outside of the pan and largest pieces in the center. Heat control is very important throughout the process. Let the chicken and the chorizo cook well, browning evenly. Stir meat on surface continuously. Do not let it burn.
Add chopped onions and chopped garlic and sauté until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes, butter beans and add a little salt and pepper (remember your fumet has all the salt). Add the pimenton de la Vera or paprika. Stir well.
If your olive oil has been totally absorbed, now is the time to add a little more. Enough to make it present as you add the rice. Turn heat to low. Do not make ingredients swim in olive oil or your paella will be soggy.
Adding the rice: This is the most important step of the process. Ideally you want the final paella to be a layer of rice no more than one and a half inch thick. If thicker than that, your rice will burn on the bottom and not fully cook on top. Spread a layer of rice across the pan forming a cross. Mix well with the ingredients already in the pan. Spread the mixture with the rice evenly all across and over the surface of the pan on an even layer.
Add the seafood medley, peeled shrimp and the rest of the ingredients, dissolve the saffron in half a cup of the fumet, and mix well. Place all shellfish, head-on shrimp and fire roasted red pepper arranging them in an attractive pattern.
Add the hot fumet until the liquid is about one inch above the rice, sprinkle the green peas evenly across the top.
Turn heat to high and let a boil reach the whole pan. Allow to boil for thirty seconds, bring the heat to low and let be. You do not touch the paella from this point on. The liquid should continue to boil until it has fully evaporated. Manage your heat so this happens, switching between low and medium as often as necessary. Do not just turn the heat down and walk away, paella needs constant attention from top to bottom.
When bubbles appear at the edge of the pan but are no longer visible on the surface and you can stick a spoon in the rice and wiggle it freely, your paella has reached its final stage. The Socarrat.
The socarrat is a slight caramelization of the bottom layer of the rice in the pan that happens when almost all or all the water has been absorbed. Some Spaniards are so addicted to this slightly crunchy nutty layer of rice, that they will only eat this part of the dish. Socarrat is not burnt rice. If your bottom burns, it will be bitter and tasteless. Achieving a perfect socarrat is the lifelong goal of many a master paella cook. You know the socarrat is in progress when you see bubbles on the edge of the pan but not the middle, and there is a slight crackling sound coming from the bottom. How long you let this go on before you take your paella off the heat, so it does not burn is your guess as well as mine. It depends on your pan, the rice, your heat source… Trial and error basically, only tamed by experience. Welcome to the world of paella making.
About the fumet:
When mixing fumet for paella, the proportion varies depending on what paella you are making. For example, for a mixed paella I would mix ½ seafood stock and ½ chicken stock. Experiment with the flavors of your fumets, season them well, do not over or under salt. It is the flavor that will go into your rice. Remember fumet is concentrated stock. Make about a pitcher's worth, so that you do not run out in the middle of the recipe.
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