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Spanish Food - The Perfect Paella
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| Sunday, December 21, 2008 |
Looking for a traditional Spanish recipe? Without doubt, the best known will be the prodigious paella ... that tasty, adaptable, gregarious dish famous throughout Spain and worldwide.
And what an impressive choice of recipes exist for a nice paella: seafood, chicken, rabbit ... or a mixture of three! Maybe you're not eating meat ... Well, opt for one of several paella vegetarian recipes. Bit of a health fanatic? Then, replace white rice with whole grain rice or wild rice.
You have a big family and not much money to feed them on? Use lots of rice and imagination with a good stock, and what you can find in the cupboard! I certainly enjoyed paellas many where there was more bone / shells that the meat / seafood! And very tasty, they were too, the richness of the company more than compensate for any shortage in the ingrediants.
So ... How do you go about making the perfect paella? First, you must choose your rice. The short-grain rice from Valencia - where most Spanish rice origin - is very well to make paella. However, the "bomba" rice grown in the neighboring region of Murcia, is the "king" of paella rice: again, short grain, it has the ability to absorb the stock, while remaining firm.
Another "must" is to use saffron ( "Azafrán") to create the soft, yellow for what is delicious dish of renown. Yes, it is possible to buy cheaper, artificial coloring, but ... go for the traditional - give it a wonderful aroma and unique flavor.
Many Spaniards swear a perfect paella can be made using a delicious, homemade stock. Whatever your decision, allow at least double the amount of liquid rice. If, during cooking, the dish becomes a little dry, add a dash more water or stock.
Another tip I have been told many times, is to gently fry the rice for a few minutes before adding the stock, ensuring that it is well coated in oil. I think all Spaniards agree that, once cooked, it is best to leave your paella to stand for a good five minutes before serving.
Perhaps the most important ingrediants to make that perfect paella, is to use lashings and lashings of love in preparing it - for surely that is something we can all means - And enjoy the wonderful company of those who will share it with you.
I now have to choose a paella recipe for you as an example! I think I'll opt for a paella of seafood, typical of the Valencia region where I live. The ingrediants are a hearty serve four. If you're not a big eater, or on a diet, then reduce the amount of rice / stock slightly.
Paella Valenciana - Paella Valencia
Ingrediants:
- 4 cups of rice.
- 8 cups fish stocks.
- 8 king-size shrimp / prawns.
- 8 mussels.
- 200 gr shrimps.
- 200 g of peas (fresh or frozen).
- 2 tomatoes, chopped and skin.
- 2 cloves garlic, minced.
- 3 strands of saffron, crumbled.
- Olive oil for frying.
Method:
1. Sauté garlic in a paella pan-type.
2. Add tomatoes, peas, shrimp and saffron.
3. Cook a few minutes.
4. Add the rice and broth.
5. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
6. Decorate with shrimp and mussels.
7. Paella cover with a lid.
8. Poach seafood for a few minutes.
9. Decorate paella with lemon quarters.
10. Enjoy!
Linda Plummer is English, and lived on the Costa Blanca in Spain for 20 years. It is Webmistress of information-rich site: http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com with his free monthly newsletter, "The magic of Spain". |
posted by neptunus @ 4:27 AM
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