Hi all,
Following the suggestions I got, let me start a thread where I will try to explain my vision of what is happening with paella. In my opinion, as food lovers and cooks you may appreciate this info.
I’m running a website with the aim of spreading authentic paella recipes among English speakers. After traveling a lot and living abroad I’m sure people don’t really know what’s a real authentic paella. Even many Spanish restaurants all over the world don´t offer honest authentic recipes.
That is really a shame because authentic paella can be gorgeous.
Finally, let me say I’m Spanish and that’s why my English is not perfect
What is paella?
Paella is 3 things for us:
A delicious rice dish
The wide pan
The act of getting together for cooking and eating paella. Something social
Where is paella from?
Paella is from Spain, but specifically from Valencia region (eastern Spain), where I was born and raised. It is said that it was created about the 18th century.
What ingredients usually have Spanish Paella?
I will depend on the paella type, but basically:
How many types of paella are there?
Based on the water added they can be:
To end up, we could add another type of dish called Arroz al horno, which could be called baked rice. It mainly contains pork and vegetables. I can assure you it's delicious. (In my top 3 of favorite rice dishes)
Authentic Paella vs Fake Authentic Paella
The web is flooded with fake paellas promoted as “authentic”, “traditional” or “classic”. They can be nice, but this is not paella.
I usually compare them with the case of pizza, the authentic with just 3 fresh ingredients vs pizza hut and similars with barbecue sauce, pineapple...
So:
Seafood Paella
It can be the most famous all over the world. This recipe’s main characters are the rice, of course, and the stock without forgetting the sauté (sofrito). Most recipes don´t even talk about stock or sauté and try to bring some seafood flavor to plain boiled rice with tons of prawns, mussels...
For a proper Seafood Paella, you first prepare a seafood/fish stock that you will add in instead of water.
Seafood Paella in Spain
Top Seafood Paella (according to Google USA)
There is no trace of stock, sauté… she boils rice and add everything on top. Furthermore, she dares to say she stir rice all the time and the result is good when this practice is a sin because it makes a rice dough instead of paella.
Paella Valenciana
This is the original one, the precursor of paellas. The recipe is very strict with the method and ingredients. It’s basically a meat and vegetable paella (never seafood). The big difference with the rest of Spanish Paella recipes is you make the stock while making the paella, not in advance.
Paella Valenciana in Spain
Top Paella Valenciana (According to Google USA)
Chopped tomato, green beans, are these onion sleeves? Where is the meat?
No comments.
Is this a risotto? They are using risotto rice, which changes the method and results.
Authentic Meat Paella
This is not a recipe per se, but it gathers all meat-based authentic paellas.
Spain (I made this one)
Google USA (Top results)
The first one with seafood and chorizo, the second one is called “traditional Spanish paella” (judge it yourself) and the one on your right-hand side "classic Spanish paella" with Thai rice.
What are the sins of authentic paella?
Basically, it's worth saying that missing the 3 pillars of paella can ruin the dish: broth/stock, sauté, right rice type but there are other considerations than will definitely help to spoil the result.
I hope you find this interesting and it helps you to distinguish authentic paella recipes among all those free interpretations.
Please feel free to ask, I will try to clarify things about “authentic” authentic paellas
Following the suggestions I got, let me start a thread where I will try to explain my vision of what is happening with paella. In my opinion, as food lovers and cooks you may appreciate this info.
I’m running a website with the aim of spreading authentic paella recipes among English speakers. After traveling a lot and living abroad I’m sure people don’t really know what’s a real authentic paella. Even many Spanish restaurants all over the world don´t offer honest authentic recipes.
That is really a shame because authentic paella can be gorgeous.
Finally, let me say I’m Spanish and that’s why my English is not perfect
What is paella?
Paella is 3 things for us:
A delicious rice dish
The wide pan
The act of getting together for cooking and eating paella. Something social
Where is paella from?
Paella is from Spain, but specifically from Valencia region (eastern Spain), where I was born and raised. It is said that it was created about the 18th century.
What ingredients usually have Spanish Paella?
I will depend on the paella type, but basically:
- Medium-grain rice (paella rice types: Senia, Bomba…)
- Meat like chicken thighs, chopped pork ribs, rabbit…
- Seafood like prawns, calamari, kingfish, cuttlefish, clams, lobster...
- Vegetables like butter and runner beans, red pepper, artichokes, onion, garlic...
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Grated tomato
- Saffron, fresh parsley
- Garlic
- Salt
- Stock (chicken, seafood/fish, vegetables, pork…)
- Smoked paprika
How many types of paella are there?
Based on the water added they can be:
- Seco. The rice is dry, light and not sticking together, perfectly "done"
- Meloso. Creamy. There is still a bit of dense stock
- Caldoso. Soupy rice, when rice floats in stock. The pan, then, is a cauldron instead
- Meat (normally with some vegetables)
- Seafood (they can contain some vegetables)
- Vegetarian/vegan
- Mixed (vegetables, meat and seafood)
- Meat and dry: Paella Valenciana
- Seafood and dry: Black Paella
- Vegetarian and dry: Vegetable paella
- Mixed and dry: Mixed paella
- Meat and creamy: Creamy rice with pork ribs (Arroz meloso con costillas)
- Meat and soupy: Rice with rabbit (Arroz con conejo)
- Seafood and creamy: Seafood paella (Paella de marisco)
- Seafood and soupy: Rice with lobster (Arroz con bogavante)
To end up, we could add another type of dish called Arroz al horno, which could be called baked rice. It mainly contains pork and vegetables. I can assure you it's delicious. (In my top 3 of favorite rice dishes)
Authentic Paella vs Fake Authentic Paella
The web is flooded with fake paellas promoted as “authentic”, “traditional” or “classic”. They can be nice, but this is not paella.
I usually compare them with the case of pizza, the authentic with just 3 fresh ingredients vs pizza hut and similars with barbecue sauce, pineapple...
So:
Seafood Paella
It can be the most famous all over the world. This recipe’s main characters are the rice, of course, and the stock without forgetting the sauté (sofrito). Most recipes don´t even talk about stock or sauté and try to bring some seafood flavor to plain boiled rice with tons of prawns, mussels...
For a proper Seafood Paella, you first prepare a seafood/fish stock that you will add in instead of water.
Seafood Paella in Spain
Top Seafood Paella (according to Google USA)
There is no trace of stock, sauté… she boils rice and add everything on top. Furthermore, she dares to say she stir rice all the time and the result is good when this practice is a sin because it makes a rice dough instead of paella.
Paella Valenciana
This is the original one, the precursor of paellas. The recipe is very strict with the method and ingredients. It’s basically a meat and vegetable paella (never seafood). The big difference with the rest of Spanish Paella recipes is you make the stock while making the paella, not in advance.
Paella Valenciana in Spain
Top Paella Valenciana (According to Google USA)
Chopped tomato, green beans, are these onion sleeves? Where is the meat?
No comments.
Is this a risotto? They are using risotto rice, which changes the method and results.
Authentic Meat Paella
This is not a recipe per se, but it gathers all meat-based authentic paellas.
Spain (I made this one)
Google USA (Top results)
The first one with seafood and chorizo, the second one is called “traditional Spanish paella” (judge it yourself) and the one on your right-hand side "classic Spanish paella" with Thai rice.
What are the sins of authentic paella?
Basically, it's worth saying that missing the 3 pillars of paella can ruin the dish: broth/stock, sauté, right rice type but there are other considerations than will definitely help to spoil the result.
- Lemon. Lemon juice helps mask rice flavors and fragrances. As an amateur cook, I know when someone doesn't like my rice when they squeeze lemon on it. I like it for decoration on seafood rice, though.
- Never stir the rice after the moment the stock starts boiling. Paella is not risotto.
- Don't add cold stock if the water has evaporated too quickly, just try it as much as it makes you confident.
- The rice is the main character, don't saturate the paella with more pieces of meat, fish or vegetables than rice. I've seen lots of paella pictures where you can barely see the rice, that's unacceptable.
- Furthermore, avoid long-grain rice as it does not absorb the stock nor the flavor.
- Be careful with the tomato amount, you can easily ruin a paella by adding too much tomato.
- Rice cooked in a saucepan will never be a paella but a rice dough unless the rice depth is no larger than +-4 cm.
- We love wine in Spain, but we never pour wine to a paella, not even white whine.
- Egg??!!
- Spanish chorizo: no, traditional paella don't have chorizo
I hope you find this interesting and it helps you to distinguish authentic paella recipes among all those free interpretations.
Please feel free to ask, I will try to clarify things about “authentic” authentic paellas
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