Paella
Paella, endless combinations of various meats, fish, shellfish, rice and vegetables, is considered by some to be one of Spain's "national" dishes. Indeed, the ingredients and method of paella make it an excellent culinary example of the Spain's history and peoples.
"Paella, to be precise the Valencian paella, universally known as a traditional dish in Spanish cooking, takes its name from the utensil in which it is cooked and from the Spanish region on the shores of the Mediterranean where the union and heritage of two important cultures, the Roman which gave us the utensil and the Arab which brought us the basic food of humanity for centuries: rice. The etymological roots of the word are of interest. Going back a long way one finds in the Sanskrit language the word pa, which means to drink, from which were derived the Latin terms patera, patina, patella, meaning a chalice or culinary utensil to be used for various purposes including frying. In Castilian there existed a primitve form of denomination paela and also tapella, so in an ancient dictionary we can read that patella is a pan or paella for frying'...In Isalmic Andalusia there were dishes based on rice with definite traditional and symbolic character, casseroles of rice and fish with spices which were eaten at family and religious feasts. Later on, when rice began to take on the chararcteristic of an everyday dish, it was combined with vegetables, pulses, and also some dry cod, in this way forming a part of the menu during Lent. Along the coast fish always predominates with rice. Perhaps as a hangover of these Islamic customs, in the orchards of Valencia, and as a special celebration, rice was cooked in the open air in a paella-pan with vegetables of the season, chicken, rabbit, or duck. With the sociological changes of the 19th century, social life became more active, giving rise to reunions and outings to the countryside. There also came into being the tradition, still very much alive, that men did the cooking of paella. This rice for special days evolved into a Valencian paella. In 1840 in a local newspaper it was in fact given the name of Valencian paella. By natural process the tradition had already come into being. The ingredeints for the traditional dish are as folows: rice, fresh butter beans, tomato, olive oil, paprika, saffron, snails (or, a curious alternative, fresh green rosemary), water, and salt. The ancient tradition was to eat the paella directly from its pan, so the round pan, surrounded by chairs, was converted into a admirable 'Round Table'. The companions, which their spoons made of box wood with a fine finsih, began to eat, each one drawing out his triangle and limit, then meeting the geometical centre of the paella."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 566-7)
"Paella is a word that has come worldwide to mean a Spanish dish with a variety of seafood and usually some chicken. However, the word originally referred only to the pan in which the food was cooked--a paellera...Paellas actually come in endless varieties, depending upon the chef and on regional specialties. Those rice dishes that are made in paella pans, whatever the ingredients, are often referred to as paellas, although just as often the name of a rice dish is a description of its ingredients...Although variations on paella abound, no one will dispute that the home of paella, and of most Spanish rice dishes, is Valencia. Rice growing in Valencia was made possible when, more than a thousand years ago, the Romans introduced irrigation, a system later perfected by the Arab invaders. It is thought that these same Arab conquerors brought rice to Valencia in the eighth century. Many centuries would pass, however, before rice would become the staple of the Valencian diet that it is today and become a basic crop of the Valencian economy...Purists insist that...Valencia is the only place in the world to eat a properly prepared paella...Ask a Spaniard what makes a perfect paella and never expect two opinions to coincide."
---The Foods and Wines of Spain, Penelope Casa [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1982 (p. 173-4)
[NOTE: Ms. Casas includes several recipes for paella in this book.]