Paella - It's Only Rice, Right?

Rice. Many food cultures have their special rice dishes. Others eat rice at literally every meal. There's risotto in Italy. Red beans and rice in New Orleans. Congee in China. Chelo, pilaf and pulao in the Middle East. Sushi rice. Jasmine rice. Red rice and black rice. Thai rice. Sweet rice. Sticky rice. White rice. Brown rice. On and on. And then, in Spain, there's paella.

So, this is a quick post about paella. Specifically, the paella I make at home, the dish I've been trying to master for years. When done well, a thing of beauty - the rice taking on the flavors of the rest of the ingredients, without any one of those flavors overpowering another. Texture is important; gummy or overcooked or undercooked - not good. You also want a bit of socarrat at the bottom of the paella - the wonderful, crusty and crunchy bits that form from cooking paella on an open fire - or, as in my case, on my stove.

So, where to start?  First off, paella is about rice. I've tried a bunch of different rices, all claiming to be "the best" for paella...

Paella rices from Spain

What my experiments have shown me is that the best rice for paella is also the most expensive, coming in at about $15 for a kilo, but hey - you get what you pay for. (Oh, it's the one in the upper left hand corner, Calasaparra Bomba rice). And if you think that's expensive, wait'll you see the price for saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, and that which is necessary in any fine paella.

I also use a traditional paella pan, which can be a pain in the ass, as they're meant to be used over an open fire, or on a specially built paella burner. In my kitchen, there are 2 paella pans - a small one, which is good for 2 or 3 servings (or, for Significant Eater and me), and a larger one, which will easily serve 6. Here's an early attempt, in a 2-serving pan...

Chicken and chorizo paella

Generally, paellas start with a base, called sofrito in Spain. Other than in Catalan areas of Spain, where it's a sofregit, which is like an Italian battuto, which is like a French mirepoix, which is like the holy trinity in New Orleans, which is -   oh, forget it.  You sort of start with sautéing the base, gently and for what can seem like a long time, if you do it right. The base, in this case, is olive oil, tomatoes and onions, with an addition of garlic and maybe some pimenton, which is smoked Spanish paprika. Then you add the liquid, (i.e. stock), which had better be good, otherwise your paella will suck. Unless, of course, you add the rice before you add the stock, into which the saffron has infused (who said this was gonna be easy?!). You'll also add back maybe the chicken, which you've already browned, along with the chorizo, if you're using that, but no one said you have to.

Then it cooks; quickly, at first, and then more slowly, as the liquid reduces. Some people (heathens) and some recipes (meant for heathens), call for cooking paella in the oven, after its initial phase. Bull. It's meant to be cooked over fire. (OK - you can cook it in the oven - it's easier.)  For me, I go the stovetop route, which involves rotating the pan every other minute, so that it's all exposed equally to the heat of the flame. Basically, you're not leaving the kitchen while you're cooking - so make sure your guests already have drinks and other stuff to eat...

Snacks for guests

And make sure you have your booze in the kitchen with you. You probably also want to make sure you've tried your hand at paella a few times before you serve it at a dinner party. But you already knew that - anything you're serving at a dinner party - you should've already tried to prepare once or twice, right? What if it sucks...

Sucky paella - only for me

Paellas can be made from seafood. Or chicken. Or vegetables. Or, I guess, other stuff. But Valencia's traditional paella, called, ummm, paella Valenciana, is made with rabbit, snails, a few kinds of beans, and other stuff. It was a dish prepared by rice farmers, and they used what they found in the fields, hence the rabbit and snails.

So - are you ready to make paella? Are you waiting for a recipe? Well, you're not getting one here - I'm not exactly the Julia Child of paella. I can point you to Despaña, which is where I shop for great Spanish ingredients and cookware. La Tienda's another good resource for the above. To start, you can read a David Rosengarten article in Saveur. And there are plenty of paella cookbooks at Amazon.

Then maybe, just maybe, after you've taken in all the above, bought a paella pan, bought the right rice, saffron, pimenton, etc., and practiced making paella a few times, you can impress your guests - or even just your signifcant other. Because believe me, when done right, paella is one of the world's great rice dishes...

Chicken and seafood paella for 6

¡Buen apetito!

Yes We Can

Just so you know - this isn't a political discussion. After all, this is a food blog - at least most of the time. So what's the deal with the title? Well...

Quimet et Quimet is a "tapas" bar in Barcelona that Significant Eater and I absolutely adored. You could walk right by and not even know it's there - it's a bit off the beaten path but worth the ride...

But once you step inside...

A whole Spanish world of goodies awaits. There are montaditos, there are pintxos (pinchos), there are banderillas; all of which qualify as tapas, by the way. As Penelope Casas defines in her book Tapas - The Little Dishes of Spain:

tapas are not necessarily a particular kind of food; rather, they represent a style of eating and a way of life that are so very Spanish...

So what makes Quimet et Quimet stand out? For one, most of the ingredients come out of cans. Yes, cans (don't forget that reference in the title). For two, the proprietor (pictured above in the orange shirt) is a genius at putting together these things. Ask for some tuna and get this...

A beautiful hunk of tuna, topped with pimento and served with olives and a spicy chili pepper...all from cans and all of which is for sale and some of which is insanely expensive.

Want some artichokes or something with anchovies? Check it out...

Artichoke hearts drizzled with olive oil and sherry vinegar along with an anchovy, sweet roasted onion and olive banderilla. And if you want to impress your friends, those are some easy tapas to put together.

Ask for montaditos (mounted bread) and you're liable to end up with these...

Or these, consisting of herring and a host of other ingredients...

And don't worry...if you think it's all about canned food, there are some other worthy bites as well. When Significant Eater and I were just about full, we asked for an assortment of cheeses - and this magically appeared. We were barely able to finish it...

That's five or six cheeses from Spain, any of which can hold their own against those of France. Served with a couple of sweet accompaniments (from cans, no doubt), they're the perfect way to end a delicious meal. Next time you're in Barcelona, go...you won't be disappointed.

Quimet et Quimet

c/Poeta Cabanyes, 25
Open 1 PM - 4 PM and 8 PM to 12 Midnight
93 442 31 42

Back to Barcelona - Restaurant Gelonch

Yeah, yeah...I know. I have been one lazy bastard when it comes to blogging. Maybe it's the weather? Or being under the weather? Maybe it's politics? Maybe it's that I hate the fact that our vacation came and went "in the blink of a young girl's eye (with apologies to BS)...glory days?" Maybe it's a combo of everything? Anyway...back to Barcelona. At least this way I can relive our vacation vicariously through a blog post and photos.

First off, I gotta say, Barcelona is one helluva big, beautiful city. Stunning architecture, broad boulevards, huge placas, tiny placetas, right on the Mediterranean (of course I'm a big fan of the beach), etc. etc. I mean, even the lifeguard stands are works of art...

Passeig de Gracia is just one of the wide boulevards...

While Placeta de Manuel Ribé is just one of the tiny placetas...

For architecture, there's always Señor Gaudí, who spent a lifetime enriching Barcelona (until he was run over by a tram, that is)...

Great museums? Yep. And the food? Pretty friggin' outrageous. So let's put it this way - if you're thinking about taking a trip to Barcelona, just go. You'll be happy you did.

Looking back to our favorite meal in Barcelona...there were plenty of wonderful tapas (more about them soon) and some great traditional meals as well. But as far as Significant Eater and I were concerned, the most amazing meal we had was at Restaurant Gelonch. Here Chef Robert Gelonch blew us away with dish after dish of near-flawless food - something like 9 courses for the set price of 45 euros...that's not a typo...45 euros.

So, what did we eat? After starting with a pair of oysters topped with a passion fruit and gin and tonic gelee, there was "Wagyu beef carpaccio on a cracker with grilled artichoke and rucola," tasting as fantastic as it looked...

Followed by "Cuttlefish taglierini with deconstructed pesto," with the tenderest cuttlefish imaginable...

Then the "smoke bell..."

Hiding "8 vegetables mini cream with grilled vegetable and baked tomato broth..."

Next up: "octopus and Iberian pork shoulder “Mil Feulle” with baked garlic smoothie and sautéed Chinese garlic..."

After which came "Confited codfish with pistaccio sand, griottines (Morello cherries) and confited quail sauce..."

Of course, another pig course, namely "Iberian piglet 24H – 70º C without bone, served with croissant, tupinambour (Jerusalem artichoke) and cajou nuts..."

I love pig two ways. Significant Eater does too, but I don't know if she liked it more than this course: "Assorted cheese with bananas and honey cream, coffee crumble, sweet baked endives and eggplant ice cream..."

And then, "Catalan cream custard foam with apple sorbée, lemon soft jello, caramelized apple and confited lemon peel," which was really good, but I don't have a picture. I think chef might've known I forgot to take a picture, so he also sent this out as a gift of the house, in case we were still hungry...

Even though I took notes throughout the meal, why bother? It was all delicious, nothing that I wouldn't eat again (including the eggplant ice cream), some of which I'm dying to eat again (hello Iberian piglet, and as good as Great NY Noodltown's piglet is, it isn't Iberian piglet), cooked by a passionate chef with a small brigade and served by a wonderful waiter who knew each dish backwards and forwards and graciously answered all of our questions.

Still thinking about Barcelona? Go. I can't wait to return.

Restaurant Gelonch
Carrer de Bailén, 56
08009 Barcelona,
93 265 82 98