TRADITIONS

PAELLA: TECHNIQUES AND ADVICE

paella: técnicas y consejos

Getting a paella right can be a challenge. It isn’t necessarily difficult, it just takes some practice. There are no easy “tricks” in making it work, but rather a series of techniques. Organized roughly by order of preparation, here is a list of some of the more important points—technical and otherwise—that I have learned over the years:

  1. 1.    As Tía Encarnita (see page 138) says, “Paella is really just an excuse to gather people.” A paella is always a festive occasion. But do not make a paella for the first time for a large group of people. Do a practice run first to be comfortable with the pan, heat source, rice, and amount of liquid. Take notes. And then repeat, using the same pan, same heat source, and same type of rice—and your notes.
  2. 2.    Buy a paella pan, preferably an inexpensive one. Just be sure it is large. See page 143 for notes on types of paella pans, and Sources, page 345, for where to find them.
  3. 3.    Paella is a lunch dish. It is considered too heavy for dinner. My mother-in-law has been preparing paellas almost weekly for five decades, and I am certain that in that time, not once has it been for dinner.
  4. 4.    Prepare a couple of simple appetizers and a large green salad to put in the middle of the table. But no second course. Paella is a plato único, a one-course meal.
  5. 5.    Buy the best and freshest ingredients you can. They will reward you with their flavors.
  6. 6.    Use only natural saffron, not artificial paella coloring (powdered colorante). The rice should be a golden-brown, not neon yellow.
  7. 7.    Use only pimentón dulce (sweet paprika), not picante (hot and spicy).
  8. 8.    If using a really large pan on a kitchen stovetop, try straddling three burners, rotating the pan slightly every minute or two to ensure even cooking. Or prepare it outside on embers or the barbecue. See page 143 for how to do this.
  9. 9.    Do not crowd the pan. The pan gets wider; the rice does not get deeper.
  10. 10. Paella is a rice dish. Rice is the protagonist and everything is done to flavor the grains of rice. Do not overwhelm the pan with other “stuff.” A seafood paella is not a seafood dish with rice, but a rice dish flavored by seafood.
  11. 11. A paella can be made in advance—up to a point. That point is just before adding the rice. Remove the pan from the heat, and cover with sheets of aluminum foil to keep the liquid from evaporating (or add in a touch more water).
  12. 12. Use short- or medium-grain rice that can absorb the stock. Do not use long-grain rice or parboiled rice. Ever.
  13. 13. Do not rinse the rice before adding (to stop from washing away any nutrients and starches).
  14. 14. Use a light hand with the oil. It will coat the rice grains and too much oil will inhibit their absorption capabilities.
  15. 15. Do not add onions to paella. Paella is a “dry” rice. Onions are a “wet” vegetable. Add onions to other types of rice dishes, but never to a paella.
  16. 16. Do not add the rice until everybody is there. “There” means in the house. Not on the way. Not on the bus or in the metro. Not circling the block looking for parking. Not in the corner shop picking out a bottle of wine. In the house! And ready to eat. “I want to see your eyes!” my mother-in-law says. To repeat her mantra: “People can wait for rice, but rice can’t wait for people.”
  17. 17. As an expression goes, “Arroz pasado, arroz tirado” (literally “past rice, thrown rice”). That is, rice that is overcooked is tossed out. I tend to say this Catalan rhyme, though: “Arròs passat, per el gat.” (Past rice, for the cat.)
  18. 18. After sprinkling in the rice, check with a wooden spoon that it is evenly distributed and that all of the grains are situated below the surface of the liquid. (If not, they won’t cook fully.)
  19. 19. After checking that the rice is distributed, do not stir. Ever.
  20. 20. Do not cover the pan as the rice cooks. Ever.
  21. 21. Rice takes around 18 minutes to cook. The first half of that time the paella is cooked over high heat, the second half over low heat.
  22. 22. If the liquid has evaporated and the rice is not yet done, sprinkle drops of water over the rice.
  23. 23. If it smells like the bottom is beginning to burn, remove immediately from the heat and place the pan on damp kitchen towels for 5 minutes.
  24. 24. The finished paella needs to “rest” for 5 minutes after cooking to firm up the starches and to finish cooking any of the top grains. Cross a pair of wooden spoons over the pan and cover with paper towels.
  25. 25. Before carrying the pan to the table, make sure everyone is sitting down. If you are sitting at the table, applaud appreciatively when the paella is carried out.
  26. 26. If desired, place the pan in the middle of the table and eat directly from it with a spoon. In this case, it is considered bad manners to reach across the pan for that particularly plump shrimp. Stick to your own pie-shaped section of rice in front of you.
  27. 27. As paella is a plato único (see #4), that means no second course to fuss with. Your work as a cook is done. Sit down. And enjoy.

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