Register

Paella the next big thing

Chill out and chat with the foodie community or swap top tips.
NOTE: THE CURRENT CHATTERBOX IS IN THIS FORUM
User avatar
Posts: 1091
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:49 pm
Location: USA

Paella the next big thing

Postby mark111757 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:50 pm

A good article in the times 2 section Thursday morning.

Here is a recipe....

IMG_20180308_133534_880.JPG
IMG_20180308_133534_880.JPG (80.49 KiB) Viewed 3803 times


Even the king of stylee, JO had stepped in it

IMG_20180308_134332_858.JPG
IMG_20180308_134332_858.JPG (26.89 KiB) Viewed 3803 times


The king is nothing if not consistent

IMG_20180308_134803_196.JPG
IMG_20180308_134803_196.JPG (34.3 KiB) Viewed 3803 times

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:56 am

Paella has been a big thing in London for a long time, places like Brindisa (Jose Pisarro), Eyre Brothers, Tapas Revolution (Omar Alibhoy) etc

And the first recipe is either a joke or written by an idiot - 90 g of tomato sofrito but doesn't tell you how to make it? What does 25 g of garlic and cayenne pepper oil mean - like the sofrito this needs to be made in advance and should be explained. And 1 g of paprika sauteed for 4 seconds? Sorry, he's cooking rice, not performing some arcane scientific process

User avatar
Posts: 1091
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:49 pm
Location: USA

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby mark111757 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:42 am

Sue

If I recall, I think it was Raymond blanc that measured out liquid in grams. Don't remember why. Perhaps for a baking recipe...good posting, thanks for sharing!!

User avatar
Posts: 3687
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:53 am
Location: Cheltenumb

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Gillthepainter » Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:36 am

Mark, I'm lucky enough to have been shown how to make a paella by my spanish landlady.
There are indeed certain things you do to make it just so.
She taught us important things in the kitchen too.
I still have my toast maker, that you put directly down on the hob flame. And the spanish potato peeler, it's the best I've tried.

She used to come in and turn food off before I would have thought it finished.
So it would continue to cook in residual heat. Saving money. I still do it, particularly with pasta.
I never overcook pasta (it might occasionally be a bit firm on the teeth ;) )

You can learn a lot from Spanish cooking when you are young and clueless.

Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 4191
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:56 pm
Location: Bushey

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Sakkarin » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:07 pm

My last memory of paella is from a holiday in Gran Canaria, where there was an open air restaurant with a huge 4 foot round mound of it in one of those enormous paella pans. I'm afraid that although it looked inviting, I just asked myself how long it had been sitting there open to the elements - it might have been there for hours and hours for all I knew. Pass.

The last time I actually cooked it was 2011. That's the beauty of taking pix of most things I cook, my paella photo sets the date very specifically, 19th August 2011. On the other hand I had Vacharin Bhunichitr's Thai prawn fried rice a couple of weeks back, which is on the same wavelength in a way.

User avatar
Posts: 923
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:19 pm
Location: Barcelona

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Alexandria » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:20 pm

Mark, :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

Great post ..

Historical and gastronomic references to rice in Spain go back to the 13th century.

Over the years, rice recipes in Valencia, and Levante, underwent changes, including meat being omitted .. and shellfish and / or vegetables being employed as well as dessert rices ..

Levante, with so many sub regions, each with its own soil and climatic conditions, have produced an enormous diversity of crops and all these factors influence and characterise the different ways of cooking rices ..

It would be impossible to list all the rice dishes of Levante ( Valencia and Alicante ) however, the distinction must be made between between rices served daily and a "paella" which is still cooked outdoors over a wood fire.

Thousands of restaurants prepare Paella in a " pallera " ( paella pan ) and the keys to a true paella are:

1) The authentic Paella does not mix meat with shellfish or fish, a very big gaff and it uses fresh vegetables and not tinned or canned, or frozen or jarred in crystal.

2) The Sofrito: The base of the Paella ..

3) The substantial Broth / Stock .. ( the sofrito & the broth vary depending on the type of paella, one is preparing )

4) Valencia is the producer of a wide variety of rices .. A paella is prepared with " Valencian Sustainable Arborio " and Arroz de La Banda Rice is another type of rice entirely with much smaller rice grains .. Very different texture .. :wave :wave

We have eaten at Three Michelin Star Quique Dacosta´s Restaurant, El Poblet, in Poblet, Alicante ( 4 km. north of the Centre of Dénia ) ..

It is absolutely an amazingly fascinating experience ..

Thank you for posting his recipe .. :clap :clap


Have a great weekend ..
Last edited by Alexandria on Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Barcelona, soulful & spirited, filled with fine art, amazing architecture, profoundly steeped in culture & history, and it engages all your senses, and food fancies.

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:22 pm

mark111757 wrote:Sue

If I recall, I think it was Raymond blanc that measured out liquid in grams. Don't remember why. Perhaps for a baking recipe...good posting, thanks for sharing!!

I have no problem with measuring out liquid in grams, it's often the easiest way of doing it, put the bowl on the electronic scales and off you go

But who weighs out 1g of paprika? No problem weighing out 90 g of sofrito or 25 g of garlic and catyenne oil IF you have them ready, which seems unlikely. And if you don't it's not a quick recipe. As for timing stages of cooking at 4 seconds or 15 seconds - well that just seems silly to me

Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 4191
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:56 pm
Location: Bushey

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Sakkarin » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:44 pm

I guess the chef's recipe was for one of those enormous paella pans I was talking about, and the chef has literally downsized the quantities from his catering proportions recipe, giving those peculiar amounts. I'm surprised noone noticed if it was in the Times.

As Sue says, sometimes it is easier to use grams for liquid measures, as very conveniently 1 ml of water weighs exactly 1 gram.

I often weigh water for breadmaking that way, it is actually far more accurate than using a liquid measure - for instance my "1/4 cup" measure only hold 55ml of water (should be 60ml), and the markings on a glass jug are hardly fine tuned!

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:02 pm

I too assumed it was a cut down recipe

Two of the cardinal sins of chefs cutting down recipes for domestic cooks and not testing as written, silly quantitues and assuming the same mise en place as in the professional kitchen, drives editors mad.

For the record, I weighed a level tsp of paprika - 4g according to my scales, so 1 g = 1/4 tsp approximately

User avatar
Posts: 1773
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby karadekoolaid » Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:03 pm

It's the old story, isn't it?
Take a classic dish and tweak it a bit; OK. You just might get away with calling it "Paella". A classic paella Valenciana must have rabbit and (I believe) chicken in it.
If you make a paella with seafood, then it's not strictly a paella; rather, an " arroz a la marinera". The fact that it was cooked in a large, flat pan with two handles (a paellera) is irrelevant.
Once you start chucking in any Spanish ingredient that you fancy - chorizo, aubergines, Spanish paprika, olives, serrano ham - then it's no longer the original recipe. It's a hybrid - and therefore, not the real thing. That's not saying it's not good to eat; it's a big variation on a theme, so call it something else.
But NEVER , EVER claim it is the original.
I mean, how would Brits react to a "Traditional Sunday Roast" if it were prepared with roast Elk, roasted sweet potatoes, Yorkies with onion and chiles and black-eyed peas?

User avatar
Posts: 1091
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:49 pm
Location: USA

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby mark111757 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:15 pm

KKA

I am not a Brit but I would gladly give it a go

That might be described as fusion cooking


Best "recipe" for baked sweet taters came from Justin Wilson, a staple of Louisiana public broadcasting for countless years.

Fry off several rashers of bacon, and after the drippings have cooled slightly, rub it all over some sweet potatoes. Bake in moderate oven/350F for an hour
or until they give slightly.

Enjoy!!

User avatar
Posts: 1773
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby karadekoolaid » Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:04 am

Anything with bacon, Mark, just HAS to be good!

User avatar
Posts: 3687
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:53 am
Location: Cheltenumb

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Gillthepainter » Sun Mar 11, 2018 4:14 pm

chorizo, aubergines, Spanish paprika, olives, serrano ham


and then cooked in a slow cooker, Clive? Yum yum yum. :crying1

Mark
You might also like a fideua. Using pasta.



I confess to not really knowing what Senia rice is.

Site Admin
User avatar
Posts: 4191
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:56 pm
Location: Bushey

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Sakkarin » Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:03 pm

Whoops! I guess my 2011 Paella must more accurately have been my 2011 Arroz a la Marinera :-(

Back in 1976 on my Interrail backpacking tour of Europe, I had my first and only restaurant "Paella", in Valencia, which definitely featured lots of seafood, so I guess they're not precious about it. I even remember bringing a mussel shell from it back home, as it was the largest mussel I'd ever seen. It's probably still in the loft somewhere in one of my memorabilia boxes.

User avatar
Posts: 923
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:19 pm
Location: Barcelona

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Alexandria » Wed Mar 14, 2018 1:16 am

Sakkarin, :yum :yum :yum :yum :yum :yum :yum :yum

There is a shellfish Paella, called: Paella Marinara .. And there is a Paella, called, Paella Valenciana which has rabbit, snails (land) or chicken and vegetables. Both these Paellas are prepared with Arborio Valencian sustainable rice ..

Arroz Marinara, a versatile dish, are prepared with different rices, usually a Bomba (tiny grain round rice) or a Murcian Rice called Calaspara and they are rices with fish and shellfish, no meats or poultry and can be served in 2 courses or Caldoso, a tomato prawn and lobster based sofrito stew like soup.
Barcelona, soulful & spirited, filled with fine art, amazing architecture, profoundly steeped in culture & history, and it engages all your senses, and food fancies.

User avatar
Posts: 1773
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:40 pm

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby karadekoolaid » Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:08 am

A good friend of mine occasionally invites us to try his " Arroz Campesino".
He prepares it in a paellera, on the BBQ grill, and it contains chicken, pork chops, chorizo, asparagus, peppers and artichoke hearts.

I have no idea where he got it from, but it´s unbelievably good!

User avatar
Posts: 923
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:19 pm
Location: Barcelona

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Alexandria » Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:21 pm

Karakoolaide,

There is a Spanish Omelette called Tortilla Campesina, with more or less the same ingredients, so it is highly likely your friend may of travelled in Spain´s Castilla León regions, Salamanca, Valladolid, Soria, Avila and / or Zamora where this Spanish Omelette is quite popular ..

It is also available in some Madrid Capital Tapas Bars too ..

If he was not in Spain, he probably found it in a Spanish Cookbook and creatively put in the seasonal and local ingredients locally available ..

Have a nice day .. :thumbsup
Barcelona, soulful & spirited, filled with fine art, amazing architecture, profoundly steeped in culture & history, and it engages all your senses, and food fancies.

Posts: 1266
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 10:35 am

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Lusciouslush » Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:33 pm

One of my best memories of eating paella was on Nerja beach, sitting in the sunshine, chilled pitcher of sangria in hand & watching two men prepare & cook it over a wood burning fire, it was chock full of seafood & chicken & heaped on our plates with relish - they really seemed to be enjoying themselves too - opinions may vary as to the 'authentic' paella - but that took some beating.....!

User avatar
Posts: 923
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:19 pm
Location: Barcelona

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Alexandria » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:44 am

Luscious Lush,

I have had many a Paella Marinara in my life, and I too have enjoyed them in the same way as you have ..

Nerja, is quite wonderful .. We stayed at The Parador of Nerja & it was wonderful. Another we enjoyed tremendously was the Baiona, Galicia fortress Parador ..

(http://www.parador.es ) ..

Have a nice weekend ..
Barcelona, soulful & spirited, filled with fine art, amazing architecture, profoundly steeped in culture & history, and it engages all your senses, and food fancies.

User avatar
Posts: 4139
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Stoke Newington, London

Re: Paella the next big thing

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:48 pm

I went to Nerja a long time ago... had a great time

Next

Return to Food Chat & Chatterbox

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests