49 Fun Facts About Paella

Paella originally comes from which Spanish region?

Paella comes from the Valencian Community on Spain's east coast, where it developed among rice farmers and is regarded as one of the region's identifying symbols.

Paella takes its name from what?

The word simply means frying pan in Catalan and Valencian.

Which large flat white bean is a traditional ingredient of paella valenciana?

Garrofó, a large flat white butter bean of the lima family, is one of the core ingredients of traditional paella valenciana, simmered with the meat before the rice goes in.

Which of these is a traditional meat in paella valenciana?

Rabbit is one of the two standard meats in paella valenciana, browned in the pan with chicken before the rice goes in; duck is an optional addition.

Which mollusc is a traditional ingredient of paella valenciana?

Poorer Valencians sometimes used snails as the only meat.

Which lagoon near Valencia is the traditional birthplace of paella?

Paella was born around the Albufera, a freshwater lagoon just south of Valencia city, where rice farmers cooked the first one-pot meals over open fires in the paddies.

On which day of the week is paella traditionally on Spanish restaurant menus?

Thursday is paella day on the menú del día in many Spanish restaurants, a custom that holds across Spain, not just in Valencia.

Which people introduced rice cultivation to Spain?

The Arabs (Moors) of Al-Andalus began cultivating rice in Spain around the 10th century, and rice had become a staple there by the 15th century.

What is the Latin root of the word paella?

Paella derives from Latin patella, a small pan, reaching Catalan via Old French paelle; the same root gave Italian padella and French poêle.

What is the traditional paella pan called in many Spanish-speaking regions outside Valencia?

Outside Valencia the pan is usually called a paellera; Valencian speakers use paella for the pan and the dish alike.

Which etymologist argued paella comes from Old French paelle rather than directly from Latin?

Joan Coromines, the Catalan etymologist, argued paella came via Old French paelle, reasoning that direct descent from Latin patella would have produced 'padella'.

A disputed theory derives paella from an Arabic word meaning what?

The theory links paella to Arabic baqiyah, 'leftovers', but etymologists reject it: the word descends from Latin patella via Old French paelle, with no Arabic-period attestation.

What rice variety do most paella cooks use?

Bomba, a short-grain Spanish rice that resists overcooking, is what most paella cooks use; Valencians themselves often prefer the stickier senia cultivar.

Which flat green bean is a traditional paella valenciana ingredient?

Ferradura (also called bajoqueta) is the flat green bean of traditional paella valenciana; artichoke hearts often stand in for it in winter.

Which herb is sometimes added to paella in whole branches?

Rosemary is the herb sometimes laid on a paella in whole sprigs; Valencians say it is unnecessary if the snails in the pan have already been grazing on rosemary.

What rodent was a main ingredient of early Valencian paellas?

The water vole (rata de marjal), a marsh rodent of the Albufera, went into early Valencian paellas alongside eel and butter beans in the 18th century.

Which novelist described Valencians eating water voles in the 1902 novel Canas y barro?

The realist novel is set among the fishermen and peasants of the Albufera.

In what year did a local newspaper first use 'paella' to mean the recipe rather than the pan?

A local Valencian newspaper first used 'paella' for the recipe rather than the pan in 1840, a usage traced by food historian Lynne Olver.

Which ingredients do Valencians call 'absolutely out of the question' in paella valenciana?

Seafood belongs to paella de marisco, a separate recipe.

Besides the meat, what does paella de marisco leave out that paella valenciana includes?

Paella de marisco swaps the meat for seafood and omits the beans and green vegetables of the Valencian original; the shellfish are traditionally served in the shell.

Mixed paella is sometimes nicknamed what, for its riot of ingredients?

Mixed paella (paella mixta), a free-style combination of seafood, land meat and vegetables, is sometimes called a preparación barroca, or baroque preparation, for its riot of ingredients.

What pejorative name do Valencians give paellas with chorizo and other 'wrong' ingredients?

Valencians dismiss paellas with chorizo or other 'wrong' ingredients as arroz con cosas, 'rice with things', insisting they are not paella at all.

Which British chef's chorizo paella recipe became a famous 'rice with things' controversy?

Jamie Oliver's 2016 chicken-and-chorizo paella tweet outraged Spaniards as 'arroz con cosas'; Gordon Ramsay's recipe drew similar complaints.

Which food writer showed in El Pais that old Valencian paella did include chorizo?

Ana Vega, the food historian who writes as 'Biscayenne', showed in El País's El Comidista that old Valencian cookbooks did put chorizo in paella, vindicating Jamie Oliver.

Which wood traditionally fuels the open fire under a Valencian paella?

Orange tree branches, plentiful in Valencia's groves, traditionally fuel the open fire under a paella; pine branches and cones are added for aromatic smoke.

How do diners traditionally eat paella in Valencia?

In Valencia diners traditionally eat straight from the pan, each working their own wedge with a spoon; some recipes have the pan rest, covered, for five to ten minutes first.

What is the prized layer of scorched rice at the bottom of the pan called?

Socarrat is the prized layer of toasted, caramelised rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan, welcome as long as it is not actually burnt.

Which restaurateur claims the 2001 paella that fed about 110,000 people?

Valencian restaurateur Juan Galbis claims his 2001 paella fed about 110,000 people, outdoing his own 1992 paella for about 100,000 that Guinness World Records lists.

Which Valencian rice town hosts the International Paella Valenciana Contest each September?

Sueca, a rice-growing town beside the Albufera, has hosted the Concurs Internacional de Paella Valenciana every September since 1961, drawing cooks from around the world.

What is the official Unicode name of the paella emoji?

The paella emoji's official Unicode name is 'Shallow Pan of Food'; it was approved in Unicode 9.0 in June 2016.

Which company changed its paella emoji from seafood to chicken after online protests?

Apple redrew its paella emoji for iOS 10.2 in 2016 after Valencians protested that the first design showed seafood; the final version shows chicken and green beans instead.

What kind of rice does the Philippine version of paella use?

Filipino paelya, like the local arroz a la valenciana, is made with sticky glutinous rice, called malagkit, rather than the short-grain rice used in Spain.

Which Louisiana dish was influenced by paella?

Jambalaya, Louisiana's one-pot rice dish, is widely thought to have grown out of Spanish paella, with Caribbean and French Provençal influences layered on.

Which Dominican dish is described as a descendant of paella?

Locrio, the Dominican Republic's one-pot rice dish of meat or seafood cooked with sofrito, is described as a descendant of paella; arroz con pollo is another Latin American adaptation.

What makes arros negre black?

Arròs negre gets its black colour from squid or cuttlefish ink; the Valencian dish is cooked with the cephalopod itself and is not traditionally called a paella.

Fideua is a paella-like dish that swaps rice for what?

Fideuà, from the Valencian coast, replaces rice with short pasta noodles (fideus) cooked in fish stock with seafood, and is often served with allioli.

Which town is the birthplace of fideua?

Fideuà was born in Gandia, on the Valencian coast, in the early 20th century; legend says a ship's cook used noodles so the rice-loving captain would leave more for the crew.

What is added to arroz con costra to give it its name?

Arroz con costra, a baked rice typical of Elche in the south of the Valencian Community, is finished with beaten egg that sets into the crust (costra) that names it.

What does 'senyoret' mean in the name of the peeled-seafood rice arroz del senyoret?

Senyoret is Valencian for 'little lord' or young master: the seafood is served already peeled so the pampered diner need not dirty their hands.

What does 'a banda' mean in the name of the fishermen's rice arròs a banda?

A banda means 'apart' or 'on the side': Valencian fishermen boiled their catch for stock, cooked the rice in it, and served the fish separately, often with allioli.

What do Latin American and Filipino 'arroz a la valenciana' use instead of saffron?

Annatto (achiote or atsuete) seeds give Latin American and Filipino arroz a la valenciana their orange-yellow colour in place of costly saffron, a swap made across the Spanish colonies.

Bomba rice can absorb roughly how many times its volume in water without bursting?

Bomba rice absorbs two or three times its volume in liquid without bursting, which is why it needs more stock than similar grains and keeps its shape.

Which Murcian town gives its name to a Denominacion de Origen bomba rice?

Calasparra, a town in north-west Murcia, names the Denominación de Origen rice grown along the Segura river; Moratalla and Hellín share the DO.

Saffron comes from which part of the Crocus sativus flower?

Saffron is the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus, three crimson threads per flower, each hand-picked and dried.

Roughly how many crocus flowers are needed for a kilogram of saffron?

About 150,000 crocus flowers go into a kilogram of saffron, some 440,000 hand-picked stigmas and roughly forty hours of labour.

Which country grows roughly ninety percent of the world's saffron?

Iran grows roughly ninety percent of the world's saffron, most of it in the Khorasan provinces; Spain's La Mancha crop is tiny by comparison.

How far from Valencia city is the lagoon where paella was born?

The Albufera lies about 11 km south of Valencia city, between the rice fields and the sea; it has been a Ramsar wetland of international importance since 1990.

Which food historian said paella unites the Roman utensil and the Arab grain?

Lourdes March, the Valencian food historian, wrote that paella unites the Roman utensil (the pan) and the Arab grain, rice, which she called 'the basic food of humanity for centuries'.

Arròs al forn, Valencia's oven-baked rice with chickpeas and black pudding, is cooked in what?

Arròs al forn is baked in a wide earthenware casserole (cassola de fang) with chickpeas, potato, tomato, morcilla and a whole head of garlic, traditionally using leftover stew broth.