A Spanish dish that we have all come to love, us British enjoy nothing better than a large bowl of paella and a cup of warm sangria to get us excited for the summer.
This Spanish dish is more than just a delicious meal, it is a dish that allows you to incorporate left-over ingredients and improve the flavours by throwing them into a pan to slowly simmer and cook.
An ancient dish from Spain, the version of a paella recipe that we know has been around since the mid-19th century, created from around the Albufera lagoon, close to Valencia. Across Spain paella is viewed as a regional dish from Valencia, yet to us British, we view a paella recipe as the National dish from Spain.
The term paella is a Valencian word translated as pan, with the word paella being used across many Spanish speaking countries and is used to refer to metal and clay cooking pans, yet claims are being made that the origin of the word lays in the Arabic language, which when translated means ‘leftovers’.
A dish for peasants and servants, the dish was created with leftover ingredients, added into a large Paella pan to slow cook to release all the final flavours before mixing with spices such as saffron to create a delicious dish.
Originally created with short-grain white rice, chicken, rabbits, butter beans, artichoke, tomatoes and saffron, for poorer Valencians, they would enjoy a paella with only snails to substitute for meat.
With many different options available, choose either Valencia Paella, vegetarian, seafood, or mix it up with both a seafood and meat Paella, or perhaps you would rather go authentic and add snails to the dish?
With different options available, choosing which ingredients to add to your Paella can seem like hard work, do you go for chorizo and chicken or would you prefer prawn and baby squid? With Paella there is no need to choose, instead throw all your choices into the pan to slowly cook surrounded by delicious spices of saffron and rosemary.
If you are thinking of making your own Paella this Valentine’s Day, we have a Paella pan suited to your needs. No matter whether you are a novice or an experienced chef, why not follow our authentic Valencia Paella recipe, inspired by the Moorish port city of Valencia and lazy afternoons spent unwinding along the soft tranquil beach of Playas de Valencia.
If you wish to reminisce over holidays spent in Spain and add some romance to your Valentine’s Day, take a look at our recipe and our Paella pan.