Paella Recipe

[hammerman]

Hi. This Thursday, i'm going to be making my first Paella. At the moment, i have a small Paella pan with king prawns, chorizo, pre cooked chicken, onion, red pepper, peas and Paella rice.....together with a schwartz Paella sachet.

Anything to add to that?....maybe some mussels or clams, tin chopped tomatoes, glass white wine? I hate sticking to recipes and i'm always looking to tweak things so if anyone has that magic thing that'll make my Paella sing, i'd love to hear about it.

Cheers, HM

[237SJ]

My tastebuds are very good as it happens :)

[NoMercy]

I wholeheartedly agree with Malagabob - arroz bomba is the best rice and is only grown in the Valencia region.

A good fish stock is imperative, plenty of garlic and saffron, though the latter is a personal choice and, if so desired, you can just use yellow food colouring.

[woofgang]

I can see why people can't smell or taste the saffron if they add garlic. I serve garlic bread with it but none in the paella itself. It may also be the saffron people buy or the amount they use. I get mine from a seller on ebay, the scent is strong and wonderful, its Iranian. I bought some online from Amazon, paid quite a bit for it too and it might as well have been coloured dried grass, no taste, little smell. And I certainly can tell turmeric from saffron...as for using yellow food colour, perish the thought.

[Islay]

Sorry but yellow food colouring? You would be as well leaving it out all together!

[NoMercy]

Islay, it is a perfectly sensible suggestion for those whose tastebuds cannot distinguish between saffron or turmeric, or cannot discern either in the presence of garlic.

I lived in the Valencian province for nigh on 5 years and ate and cooked more paellas during that time than you ever will in your entire lifetime, but I'm always happy to bow to your superior knowledge... :@)

[Islay]

No Mercy, thank you for singling me out for your wrath again - perhaps you would also like to mention the other person who mentioned your food colouring!
I think we are all very well aware of you living abroad - after all you have told us enough - doesn't make you an expert though and certainly not if you are suggesting adding food colouring!

[ummmm]

Isn't paella just the name of the pan it's cooked in so you can basically add anything you want?

Glad no one has mentioned rabbits...

[NickorWan]

Chorizo in paella, that wouldn't be paella, that would just be rice and stuff!

https://www.thelocal.es/20161005/jamie-oliver-messed-with-paella-and-spain-didnt-like-it

[Tilly2]

I have never eaten a paella. I know I wouldn't like the mixture of meat and seafood.

[Islay]

paella's name comes from the paellera, the flat, round pan in which it is cooked

[ummmm]

I've never eaten it either but my daughter is not long back from Spain and ate it everyday. Now she wants me to cook it!!

[murraymints]

I never add chorizo find it too overpowering for the fishy elements

[Tilly2]

...plus it's very calorific!

[woofgang]

I loathe chorizo..it seems to be one of those ingredients that has wormed its way into everything it can. Its my understanding that yes, paella is called after the dish and originally it was peasant cooking so you put in what you had....and yes, I understand that there is a popular paella spice mix that many Spanish home cooks use which appears to be this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carmencita-Paellero-Paella-Spice-Mix/dp/B002K8VFE0

So in the spirit of the origins of the dish, can I suggest that once hammerman has cooked it a time or two, they will evolve their own preferred paella, just the same as the rest of us have.....

for those of us who want a definitive recipe (not me :)) here is the one used at the World Paella Valenciana competition where all the chefs have to use the same recipe.
http://concursodepaella.com/en/the-recipe/

[diddlydo]

Turmeric or yellow food colouring are complete no-noes. It has to be saffron plus some decent chicken or fish stock. Add whatever fish and shellfish you like and preferably rabbit and snails (though the latter are hard to come by in the UK).

[hammerman]

I've bought some saffron hehe

[woofgang]

lol