Valencian Paella

Passport & Plate - Paella Valenciana

Spain | Thursday, February 26, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
500 grams senia or bomba rice
300 grams chopped chicken breasts
600 grams chopped rabbit
250 grams ferraura beans
200 grams lima beans
100 grams tomato paste
150 cc olive oil
Saffron threads
1 tsp sweet red paprika powder
Garlic
Salet
Fresh rosemary
Water

 

How to prepare this recipe
Clean the chicken and rabbit and cut into even pieces.
Clean the lima beans and chop the green beans.
Peel the garlic and grate the fresh tomato to create tomato paste.
Add olive oil to the pan and heat, then fry the chicken and rabbit (add salt to them while in the pan).
When they are browned, push them to the outside of trepan, and place the vegetables into the center. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic, paprika, and tomato and add some water. Add the saffron threads. Simmer for approximately 30-45 minutes until most of the water has evaporated.
(Enjoy a glass of sangria while you wait.)
Add the rice, distributing it evenly over the pan, moving it around in the pan.
From this point on, the paella should not be stirred. Let it cook on high for about 8 minutes, and add the rosemary to the top.
Reduce heat and cook for about 10 additional minutes.
For the last 1 to 2 minutes, increase the heat to medium-high, until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating what Valencian's call the "socarrat." If the rice starts to burn, remove the plan from heat immediately.

 

The story behind this recipe
In the summer of 2014, I went to Valencia because I caught the travel bug; I wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, as soon as possible. Luckily, I found a Narrative Journalism study abroad program in Valencia, Spain--a place I'd been wanting to go. In my month abroad there, I ate my way through the city; I stayed with a host mother who offered me strong black coffee in the morning with toast and jam, packed me a "picnic" with a bocadillo (sandwich) of Spanish tortilla and roasted red pepper to take with me for the day, and a dinner of homemade fideuá (the pasta and seafood version of paella). While visiting Madrid and Barcelona and in my time in Valencia, I snacked on tapas (appetizers shared over drinks with friends), fried fish (which I watched get caught on a tiny fishing boat on the Mediterranean), and, of course, the city's infamous dish: paella.

Paella is a rice dish originating in Valencia between 150-200 years ago, made from chicken, rabbit and local vegetables scavenged from the surroundings. I was lucky enough to try real paella while I was in Valencia--from a tiny restaurant in an off-the-beaten-path Mediterranean town 40 minutes outside the city. While you can order paella all over Spain now, Valencians groan that it is not true paella, but just a copycat, tourist version. I was also lucky enough to learn how to make it. While in Valencia, I went to a paella cooking class at Valencia Club Cocina, where we made paella, sangria and horchata as a group, and could take home the recipe. While I've tried making paella at home for my family and friends, it simply doesn't do the dish justice. The cook from Valencia Club Cocina insists it's the water--the Valencian tap water, which contains lime--that cooks the rice perfectly. Personally, I just think nothing can beat that perfect blend of spices, meat, vegetables, and rice which transport me back to summer days in Spain, and all the fantastic food I enjoyed there.