Paella - A Marriage Between The Arabs and The Romans

One of the most representative and debated culinary delights of Spain, Paella can appear before you either in its simplest and possibly earliest form using only rice, maybe peas or even snails or it can be a delight of seafood, lobster, langoustine and a combination of seasonal vegetables including fava beans or artichokes. Paella can also contain chicken, rabbit or pork but it will almost always contain olive oil, short grain rice, saffron, tomato, paprika, rosemary, salt and water. Seafood is not usually mixed with meat or poultry. Traditionally cooked outdoors, often by males, flat based pans are set up on a tripod over a fire and the ingredients are then added to the Paella which is the name given to both the pan and the food and using an uncanny intuition the exact time is judged so that each grain of rice is perfect, absorbing all the wonderful flavours of the contents of the pan. The food should heat evenly and the broth should be a subtle reflection of the ingredients and the aroma from the firewood used to cook the Paella. If the whole family were to share, each would have his or her own spoon and would take portions directly from the pan. Salad of cut tomato, onion and oil and vinegar may also be served. It is interesting that the size of the pan is very important to ensure that the correct amount of rice is used for example, for 2-3 people you would use a 20-30 cm pan, for 4-5 people a 40-50 cm pan would be used.

                                                                                                                                      This wonderful dish has derived from a mixed cultural influence: rice from the Arabs and the pan from the Romans who took the 2 handled cooking dish with them to Spain. Paella brings together four basic elements: fire, water, air and earth. It’s a celebration of the appeasing of hunger and the joy of sharing, leaving those who eat it with a feeling of abundance and pleasure.

 Ingredients  (serves 4)

• 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, chopped
• 1 red capsicum, seeded, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
• 2 tsp mild Spanish paprika
• 1 cup (200g) medium grain rice
• 2 cups (500ml) chicken or seafood stock
• 12 (about 1kg) green king prawns, peeled, cleaned leaving heads and tails intact
• 2 squid hoods, cleaned, cut into 1cm-thick rings
• 12 (about 1kg) black mussels, scrubbed, debearded
• 1kg clams
• 1 cup (150g) frozen peas
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Lemon wedges, to serve

preparation

1.    Combine wine & saffron in a pan over low heat & bring to a simmer. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the saffron to infuse.

2.    Heat the oil in a large paella or large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, capsicum and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens.

3.    Add the tomato and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the rice, stock and wine mixture and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until rice is almost tender.

4.    Add prawns, squid, mussels and clams and push lightly into the rice mixture. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the peas and cook, covered, for a further 2-3 minutes or until prawns change colour and mussels and clams open.

5.    Remove from heat. Discard any unopened mussels and clams. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cooking tips

Traditionally prepared in an iron paella pan, this dish needs to be cooked on a large, flat base, as the ingredients need to be in a single layer to cook evenly. Paella is made with medium grain rice such as Calasparra or Calrose. Arborio rice can also be used.