Paella

Paella

“Let’s just get lots of things that we can put in the middle and share”. I think that this sentence would have to be my girl friend Rachel’s favourite thing to say. Every time we are at a restaurant or just discussing what we will have for dinner at home, you can always guarantee that before a meal, you will hear these words. It has become like our own little way of saying grace.

Rachel is on to something though with this idea of sharing food. And she is most definitely not alone. Take the Europeans for example, they love to share food. In fact in some parts, it is even considered a bit of a social faux pas to eat alone. In Italy, something I found a most curious peculiarity is that at lunch time it can often be difficult to find somewhere to eat, as everyone goes home for lunch! And you could bet your bottom dollar that they will be enjoying ‘lots of things that they can put in the middle and share!’

It must be said though that there is no country in Europe that takes the idea of sharing food together as seriously as the Spanish do. And there is most definitely no dish in Europe that can be shared by as many people as ‘La Paella’, proven in 2001 when it was prepared for over 100,000 people as part of a world record attempt in Madrid. The ingredients on this particular occasion included 6000kg of rice, 12000kg of rabbit and chicken, 1000kg olive oil and more than 250kg of salt!

Paella is the name that refers to the pan that the dish is cooked in. It originates from Valencia in Spain and although there is much conjecture as to what ingredients should be used, it is essentially a method of cooking rice – similar to pilaf. The paella that we are most familiar with in Australia, containing chicken and seafood, is one that would be prepared in the coastal areas of Spain yet other ingredients that are considered traditional include rabbit, snails, chorizo and whatever seasonal vegetables are available. There are however a few rules that must be abided by when preparing paella.

The first step, and for some the essence of the paella, is the preparation of what is known as a sofrito. A sofrito is a base made by slow cooking onions, tomatoes and capsicums until it has a consistency similar to that of jam. It can often take hours to prepare the sofrito and the idea is that by slow cooking this in advance, the silken textures and flavours that only come with slow cooking will be imparted on the final product. In the same way that stock adds a sophisticated complexity to a dish.

Other than the sofrito, rice and saffron are also essential. The type of rice traditionally used is a plump medium grain rice called calasparra. It is similar to arborio rice, the type used in a risotto (which can also be used as a substitute) just with a lesser starch content. And seeing that paella is really just a rice dish, an appreciation and understanding of how to cook the rice so as it will end up as perfect individual grains is more important than anything else.

Rice can be thought of in two ways, the grain itself, and the starch powder that is created as the grains disintegrate when they smash and rub up against each other. The more you stir or break up the rice, the more starch will be released, resulting in a thick creaminess. This is the theory behind risotto. With paella, you do not want the thick starchy sauce so the idea is to be gentle with the grain and not release too much starch. The rice is protected first by frying it in olive oil and then it is not stirred at all during the cooking process.

To prepare saffron for use in anything, including paella, it is best to toast it first in a dry
pan. After the saffron has been toasted it should then be ground in a mortar and pestle, then wet it down with some liquid. This liquid should then be added to what you are cooking. Any of the other ingredients that make paella so much more exciting to us meat lovin’ Aussies, such as chicken or seafood, need to be cooked separately before you start to cook the rice. They are just added at the end of the end of the cooking process, so as the steam of the rice will heat them through.

The final and undoubtedly the most important rule when it comes to paella – if you cook more than you need, there will be plenty to share. Buen apetito!