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If you ask a foreigner for a typical Spanish dish, the probability that they will answer “paella” is very high.
The paella it is one of our most international dishes. It is true that it has something of its Spanish origin, and therefore it must be taken care of, but there is no defined quality standard or its corresponding certificate, nor a denomination of origin or copyright that protects it.
But also … There is no Recipe !. Or what is the same, there are as many as you want, as long as you make paella and not rice with …
For this reason, as with many other dishes of our beloved regional gastronomy, knowledge and wisdom are transmitted from generation to generation, from kitchen to kitchen, but with physical contact, so that there is contagion.
So take care of the dish so that it is itself, and not a product of claim for the tourist, where the only thing that tastes like paella is the name. This free conservation will depend solely and exclusively on the honesty and gastronomic knowledge of the producer.
Make no mistake, it is a rare dish, fried-stew-cooked in unison in which, no matter how it is done, the rice must taste like the sauce before the rice is added. Hence his caloric strength and its high palatability in case the substance penetrates into each grain of rice with subsequent cooking. The ingredients; Well, as I said before, there is no standard, but we must all agree that paella does not have carrots.
The history of a people
Levante’s subsistence and paella are basically the same, just like stew is in the Castilian plateaus. The origin is in its cultivation and in the necessary humidity. The rice fields gave rise to the presence of vectors transmitting malaria, a fact that caused Jaime I the Conqueror to promulgate norms that regulated agricultural production.
The lagoon (“small sea” in Arabic), abundant in eels, and which at that time had no contamination, was one of the best pantries for culinary preparation of what can actually be considered as the antecedent of paella. So in the area, all year round it was normal to gather one thing and another, rice with eels.
And what about the container. Apparently, the Romans gifted their gods with “patellas”, round solid items, large diameter, shallow and flat base.
Later it was called “padella” in Italian and later “paella” in Valencian. However, it was not until the XNUMXth century when it began to be used in the kitchen on a regular basis.
And in all this historical passing, the pot had evolved thanks to the fertile garden, hunting and raising chickens, which were passing through the paella. But in addition, the sea was at the side, so those with more relationship with it, would not hesitate to give their version adding bívalos and crustaceans first to introduce even lobster later.
Diversity and multiple Ingredients for the current paella recipe
Even so, everyone insists, in this scientific effort to define everything, to find the exact ingredients of the paella. Imagine the disparate opinions generated throughout the history of paella, if Azorín had the idea that the quintessential paella had eel, red mullet, ham and sausage.
Well, in one, the rice, we agree, and it is good that it abounds, that it is not overloaded with elements that overwhelm it, although too many layers of it should not be superimposed.
- The rice should be of the round ones, which absorb moisture well, although the semi-long ones are used a lot.
- The tomato, crushed and blended with the sauce.
- A little green pepper.
- The beans to be used normally are the classic garrofó, the tabella and the green (wide type).
- We cannot forget the artichoke, giving a subtle touch with its delicate flavor.
- Chicken, rabbit, or its mixture, at the choice of the manufacturer, also admitting a little pork rib.
Some people add some peas to it. Well … But the paella, more than its ingredients, is its preparation, which reaches its maximum splendor if we can make it with firewood or vine shoots.
A final touch of rosemary perhaps, with “care” if we do not want to spoil it. And lemon, citrus from the environment that we will leave in a few cuts adjacent to the preparation if someone likes to sprinkle the final product to give it a contrast of flavor and acidity.
This is one of those dishes for which we cannot find a superior recipe in a restaurant, of which it is said that you or someone you know or relative makes it better than anyone else (surely not), and of which I am sure no one will improve or even deconstruct it. .
I therefore dedicate the first post on food and nutrition and dietary recipes to our beloved paella, as a Valencian, although classical orthodoxy must be carried with courage, and always have an open mind, sorry, palate.
In 2016 it cannot be otherwise, interculturality, fusion, as they say in the kitchen, is an instrument that brings us closer to other flavors, to other cultures, but which must also be carried out with care and care to that no matter how modern the fact may seem, the origin and evolution of each thing are present, because without both the future is not understood.
By the way, Long live Paella!
To be continue…