Think paella and pink
Most often, my inbox is packed either with ready-made products or sauces, foods that someone else has prepared for me or cookbooks filled with recipes that invite me to do everything from scratch.
I love both, but I was especially pleased a few weeks ago when I received a two-for-one. It was a recipe for authentic Spanish paella -- and nearly every ingredient I would need.
This ultra-creative invitation to cook had arrived courtesy of Gloria Ferrer's Cuvee Club, who apparently put together the $60 kit in order to promote Rene Barbier Petillant, a $6 effervescent rose wine from Spain. (The packet was printed on Rene Barbier stationery.)
Even though the suggestion was to take my kit to a park or to the beach for an outdoor picnic, I just couldn't wait. I plunked it in the middle of my kitchen table, unpacked the wares and got to work. An hour and a half later, I pulled my first effort at making paella out of the oven and called the troops to dinner.
I have no idea if my paella was authentic tasting or not, but it was a lively dish, thanks to the smoked La Chinata paprika, the saffron, and the perfect beads of Peregrino Calasparra rice. The best part is that even though I would never select a pink wine for dinner, this inexpensive Petillant wine was a perfect companion for the spicy richness of the dish. Alone, it tastes slightly sweet and sour. With the paella, it was clean and refreshing.
For information, visit http://www.LaTienda.com.
Catalan Sauteed Polenta & Butter Beans
Eating Well Staff
This dish is a satisfying vegetarian meal complete with spinach, beans and polenta, inspired by classic Spanish flavors. Note: Look for smoked paprika with other specialty spices; it's available in three varieties: sweet, bittersweet and hot. Sweet is the most versatile, but if you like a little bit of heat, choose the hot variety. You can find Spanish products in specialty-foods stores or online at tienda.com. Make it a Meal: Enjoy with a green salad tossed with sherry vinaigrette and a glass of Jean-Luc Colombo Côtes du Rhône. Source: EatingWell Magazine, October/November 2006
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This dish is a satisfying vegetarian meal complete with spinach, beans and polenta, inspired by classic Spanish flavors. Note: Look for smoked paprika with other specialty spices; it's available in three varieties: sweet, bittersweet and hot. Sweet is the most versatile, but if you like a little bit of heat, choose the hot variety. You can find Spanish products in specialty-foods stores or online at tienda.com. Make it a Meal: Enjoy with a green salad tossed with sherry vinaigrette and a glass of Jean-Luc Colombo Côtes du Rhône. Source: EatingWell Magazine, October/November 2006
Hot Stuff
Spanish Peppers Grown in Virginia Soil
Brandon Fox
Spain's addictive little peppers, pimientos de padron , were hard to find beyond farmers markets until Williamsburg, Va.-based La Tienda decided to import seed and grow its own in Hanover County. The green peppers are picked just after they have formed and are not as hot as the ones that grow to full size (which turn bright red and have the heat of habanero chili peppers). Now that the peppers are affordable and available nationally, cooks everywhere whose appetites have been whetted by evocative descriptions in travel magazines can bring a little bit of Spain into their kitchen with a click of the mouse.
La Tienda's Jonathan Harris suggests a simple preparation: Fry the peppers in a thin layer of very hot olive oil until they start to puff up, then transfer them to a plate and sprinkle with sea salt. "Every once in a while you'll eat a hotter one, which is a little surprise," he says. $13.50 per pound (60 to 80 count, enough for four to six servings, Harris says), plus shipping. Call 800-710-4304 or go to www.tienda.com.
-- Brandon Fox
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
This Legendary Rich Dish Brings Spanish Flair to the Table
Erica Marcus, Newsday Staff Writer
In the pantheon of great international party dishes, you'd be hard-pressed to find one more misunderstood than paella.
Here's what paella is not: It is not a yellow rice casserole. It is not a repository for all manner of meats and vegetables. It is not the Spanish national dish.
What paella is is a method of cooking rice, native to Valencia on Spain's eastern coast, that involves sauteing ingredients in olive oil in a wide, shallow pan, adding rice and liquid and then cooking, uncovered and with a minium of stirring, until the rice is just tender.
Penelope Casas, an authority on Spanish food (and the author of many cookbooks), explained that the name refers to the pan in which paella is cooked. "The paella - the pan - is wide and shallow," she said. "It is made from carbon steel, it heats up quickly, and over time it discolors and gets ugly-looking." (In other words, don't spend your money on a $200 paella pan; you can get the real thing for about $40.)
In Valencia, Casas said, there are restaurants devoted to making paella. Some make the dish in their kitchens, others use a specially made propane burner-on-a-tripod, still others cook paella in the most traditional way: over an open wood fire.
In her definitive book "Paella: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain" (Holt), Casas adapts traditional recipes for the American home cook. And she is bullish that a true paella requires nothing that can't be easily obtained in most supermarkets. "The only indispensable ingredients are rice, water and olive oil," she writes. "Everything else is the subject of endless debates and discussions by Spaniards."
When Casas published "Paella" in 1999, short-grain Spanish rice was hard to find on these shores. But the recent push by Spain to introduce its foods to Americans has brought many more imported products into specialty stores. Optimally, Casas would have us use the highest-quality Spanish short-grain rice, called Bomba, for paella. But she has also made entirely creditable - if unusually creamy - paellas with Italian Arborio rice; she particularly likes Beretta's Superfino brand.
The yellow color of some paellas comes from saffron, but Casas said that it is really a supporting player most of the time. Still, it's worth seeking out high-quality, authentic Spanish "thread" saffron that hasn't been pulverized into an orange powder. Ditto Spanish paprika - pimentón - which has a haunting, smoky quality all its own.
Casas labors mightily to combat the notion, widely held by Americans, that "paella is a random assortment of seafood, meat and vegetables." Even in Valencia, she said, restaurants now serve such "mixed" paellas "because the tourists want them," but the Valencians don't really approve of them. "By mixing, you detract from the integrity of the main ingredients," she said.
On the other hand, Valencia boasts an almost infinite variety of paellas, more than 60 of which Casas presents in her book. "Of course, there's a tremendous variety," she says. "Where paella comes from, they eat it every day."
THE MEAL UNFOLDS
Paella makes a show-stopping centerpiece for a special-occasion meal. Since it is fairly labor-intensive and must be completed at the last minute, the best strategy for serving it to company is to select accompaniments that require a minimum of effort, like opening a can.
As it happens, Spain is famous for its canned products. Consider serving stuffed olives (pimentos, almonds, cheese, tuna or anchovy paste are all common fillers), ventresca (tuna belly) preserved in olive oil, or piquillos, the distinctive pointy red peppers from the region of Navarra.
Spain produces a number of great cheeses, among them Manchego, a forceful sheep's milk cheese from La Mancha (like Don Quixote), Idiazabal, a smoked goat cheese from the Basque region, Tetilla, a mild cow's milk cheese from Galicia, and Cabrales, from Asturias, one of the world's great blues.
What goes better with cheese than ham? A few years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lifted its ban on serrano, Spain's version of Italian prosciutto. The very best serrano, made from the hind legs of acorn-fed Iberico pigs, won't be available here until 2007, but in the meantime, you can buy chorizo sausage and lomo (cured pork loin) made from Iberico pigs.
Most specialty markets - Fairway, Whole Foods, Uncle Giuseppe's among them - stock a good selection of Spanish canned goods, cheeses and ham. You also can pay a visit to Despaña (two locations in New York; call 212-219-5050) or go online to latienda.com.
To drink, try a sampler of Spanish wines. Dorothy Jacobs of Pop's Wine & Spirits in Island Park suggested a quartet of reasonably priced selections. We started with a sparkling Cava, Codorniu Brut, Cuvée Raventós (about $10) and a crisp white Albariño, Rias Baixas, Martin Códax (about $14). With the clam paella, a rosé, Gran Feudo, Julián Chivite (about $10) and, with the Valencian paella, a classic Rioja, Marques de Riscal, Reserva (about $15).
You'll want a simple dessert, perhaps a flan, or, even simpler, vanilla or dulce de leche ice cream topped with toasted almonds.
- ERICA MARCUS
Read more
In the pantheon of great international party dishes, you'd be hard-pressed to find one more misunderstood than paella.
Here's what paella is not: It is not a yellow rice casserole. It is not a repository for all manner of meats and vegetables. It is not the Spanish national dish.
What paella is is a method of cooking rice, native to Valencia on Spain's eastern coast, that involves sauteing ingredients in olive oil in a wide, shallow pan, adding rice and liquid and then cooking, uncovered and with a minium of stirring, until the rice is just tender.
Penelope Casas, an authority on Spanish food (and the author of many cookbooks), explained that the name refers to the pan in which paella is cooked. "The paella - the pan - is wide and shallow," she said. "It is made from carbon steel, it heats up quickly, and over time it discolors and gets ugly-looking." (In other words, don't spend your money on a $200 paella pan; you can get the real thing for about $40.)
In Valencia, Casas said, there are restaurants devoted to making paella. Some make the dish in their kitchens, others use a specially made propane burner-on-a-tripod, still others cook paella in the most traditional way: over an open wood fire.
In her definitive book "Paella: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain" (Holt), Casas adapts traditional recipes for the American home cook. And she is bullish that a true paella requires nothing that can't be easily obtained in most supermarkets. "The only indispensable ingredients are rice, water and olive oil," she writes. "Everything else is the subject of endless debates and discussions by Spaniards."
When Casas published "Paella" in 1999, short-grain Spanish rice was hard to find on these shores. But the recent push by Spain to introduce its foods to Americans has brought many more imported products into specialty stores. Optimally, Casas would have us use the highest-quality Spanish short-grain rice, called Bomba, for paella. But she has also made entirely creditable - if unusually creamy - paellas with Italian Arborio rice; she particularly likes Beretta's Superfino brand.
The yellow color of some paellas comes from saffron, but Casas said that it is really a supporting player most of the time. Still, it's worth seeking out high-quality, authentic Spanish "thread" saffron that hasn't been pulverized into an orange powder. Ditto Spanish paprika - pimentón - which has a haunting, smoky quality all its own.
Casas labors mightily to combat the notion, widely held by Americans, that "paella is a random assortment of seafood, meat and vegetables." Even in Valencia, she said, restaurants now serve such "mixed" paellas "because the tourists want them," but the Valencians don't really approve of them. "By mixing, you detract from the integrity of the main ingredients," she said.
On the other hand, Valencia boasts an almost infinite variety of paellas, more than 60 of which Casas presents in her book. "Of course, there's a tremendous variety," she says. "Where paella comes from, they eat it every day."
THE MEAL UNFOLDS
Paella makes a show-stopping centerpiece for a special-occasion meal. Since it is fairly labor-intensive and must be completed at the last minute, the best strategy for serving it to company is to select accompaniments that require a minimum of effort, like opening a can.
As it happens, Spain is famous for its canned products. Consider serving stuffed olives (pimentos, almonds, cheese, tuna or anchovy paste are all common fillers), ventresca (tuna belly) preserved in olive oil, or piquillos, the distinctive pointy red peppers from the region of Navarra.
Spain produces a number of great cheeses, among them Manchego, a forceful sheep's milk cheese from La Mancha (like Don Quixote), Idiazabal, a smoked goat cheese from the Basque region, Tetilla, a mild cow's milk cheese from Galicia, and Cabrales, from Asturias, one of the world's great blues.
What goes better with cheese than ham? A few years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lifted its ban on serrano, Spain's version of Italian prosciutto. The very best serrano, made from the hind legs of acorn-fed Iberico pigs, won't be available here until 2007, but in the meantime, you can buy chorizo sausage and lomo (cured pork loin) made from Iberico pigs.
Most specialty markets - Fairway, Whole Foods, Uncle Giuseppe's among them - stock a good selection of Spanish canned goods, cheeses and ham. You also can pay a visit to Despaña (two locations in New York; call 212-219-5050) or go online to latienda.com.
To drink, try a sampler of Spanish wines. Dorothy Jacobs of Pop's Wine & Spirits in Island Park suggested a quartet of reasonably priced selections. We started with a sparkling Cava, Codorniu Brut, Cuvée Raventós (about $10) and a crisp white Albariño, Rias Baixas, Martin Códax (about $14). With the clam paella, a rosé, Gran Feudo, Julián Chivite (about $10) and, with the Valencian paella, a classic Rioja, Marques de Riscal, Reserva (about $15).
You'll want a simple dessert, perhaps a flan, or, even simpler, vanilla or dulce de leche ice cream topped with toasted almonds.
- ERICA MARCUS
Express Lane
2 High on the hog
Amy Culbertson
In porkdom, the equivalent of Kobe beef would be pork from Spain's legendary Iberico hogs. Up till now, you couldn't even buy it in the U.S.
A breed distinct from the white or pink pigs raised in most of Europe and North America, the Iberico, or black pig, is the holy grail of the ham-obsessed. One such person is author Peter Kaminsky, who explains in his book Pig Perfect (Hyperion, $22) that the Iberico, which roams free in oak-dotted pastures, "represents the way of life and the values of Spain, much as the longhorn steer does in the American image of its past."
At the pinnacle of Iberico pighood are those labeled de bellota, which eat vast quantities of acorns for several months, sometimes gaining a pound a day. "Right after that, the party is over," as Spanish-food importer Don Harris of the Virginia-based La Tienda company puts it, and they are slaughtered -- "in Spain they use the word 'sacrifice'" -- to make the ultimate cured pork.
The Iberico breed has more marbling than the white pig, which makes for superior texture and flavor. The acorns' heart-healthy monounsaturated oleic acid gives the bellota pork high levels of HDL, or good cholesterol.
Iberico products are at last beginning to make their way into the United States, from the first slaughterhouse in Spain built to satisfy the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rules. The fabled hams will come later, because of their long curing time, but Iberico sausages are available at Central Market and online at www.latienda.com.
Central Market has a limited supply of dry-cured bellota sausages made by Fermin, including three types of chorizo (flavored with pimenton, the Spanish smoked paprika) and salchichon, for about $20 to $30 a pound. The salchichon has a deep, intense, complex flavor and black-pepper bite; the chorizo is rich and mouth-coating, with smoky overtones.
The coveted lomo, or dry-cured loin, will not be available in Fort Worth until October, according to Central Market bakery, deli and cheese business development manager Edouard Damez, but is now being sold in the Plano and Dallas stores -- for $89.99 a pound.
Central Market also is selling the first USDA-approved serrano (ham) made from pigs slaughtered in Spain (other serranos sold in the U.S. are slaughtered in other parts of Europe and shipped to Spain for curing and export). Fermin's serrano paleta, made from the shoulder, or foreleg, is not from Iberico hogs, but its sweet, nutty, rich flavor makes it worth the $24.99-a-pound price tag.
At www.latienda.com, the bellota lomo is available, for $97 a pound, but the bellota sausages have already sold out; Harris expects a new shipment in October. Still in stock are non-bellota Iberico sausages, both chorizo and salchicon, for about $44 to $49.50 a pound.
Read more
Amy Culbertson
In porkdom, the equivalent of Kobe beef would be pork from Spain's legendary Iberico hogs. Up till now, you couldn't even buy it in the U.S.
A breed distinct from the white or pink pigs raised in most of Europe and North America, the Iberico, or black pig, is the holy grail of the ham-obsessed. One such person is author Peter Kaminsky, who explains in his book Pig Perfect (Hyperion, $22) that the Iberico, which roams free in oak-dotted pastures, "represents the way of life and the values of Spain, much as the longhorn steer does in the American image of its past."
At the pinnacle of Iberico pighood are those labeled de bellota, which eat vast quantities of acorns for several months, sometimes gaining a pound a day. "Right after that, the party is over," as Spanish-food importer Don Harris of the Virginia-based La Tienda company puts it, and they are slaughtered -- "in Spain they use the word 'sacrifice'" -- to make the ultimate cured pork.
The Iberico breed has more marbling than the white pig, which makes for superior texture and flavor. The acorns' heart-healthy monounsaturated oleic acid gives the bellota pork high levels of HDL, or good cholesterol.
Iberico products are at last beginning to make their way into the United States, from the first slaughterhouse in Spain built to satisfy the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rules. The fabled hams will come later, because of their long curing time, but Iberico sausages are available at Central Market and online at www.latienda.com.
Central Market has a limited supply of dry-cured bellota sausages made by Fermin, including three types of chorizo (flavored with pimenton, the Spanish smoked paprika) and salchichon, for about $20 to $30 a pound. The salchichon has a deep, intense, complex flavor and black-pepper bite; the chorizo is rich and mouth-coating, with smoky overtones.
The coveted lomo, or dry-cured loin, will not be available in Fort Worth until October, according to Central Market bakery, deli and cheese business development manager Edouard Damez, but is now being sold in the Plano and Dallas stores -- for $89.99 a pound.
Central Market also is selling the first USDA-approved serrano (ham) made from pigs slaughtered in Spain (other serranos sold in the U.S. are slaughtered in other parts of Europe and shipped to Spain for curing and export). Fermin's serrano paleta, made from the shoulder, or foreleg, is not from Iberico hogs, but its sweet, nutty, rich flavor makes it worth the $24.99-a-pound price tag.
At www.latienda.com, the bellota lomo is available, for $97 a pound, but the bellota sausages have already sold out; Harris expects a new shipment in October. Still in stock are non-bellota Iberico sausages, both chorizo and salchicon, for about $44 to $49.50 a pound.
The Main Ingredients
Smoky spice: Smoking enlivens ordinary paprika
Robert J. Byers and Tara Tuckwiller, Staff writers
Last December, we were browsing the eclectic row of shops and restaurants known as the Strip District in Pittsburgh. While I comparison-shopped for Steelers knockoffs, Tara stumbled onto a grail of sorts in the form of a Penzeys Spices store.
Within an hour, she had most of her Christmas shopping done and we were in possession of some cool new spices and spice blends for our home kitchen. Among those was a 4-ounce packet of smoked Spanish paprika. One whiff of its potent, smoky aroma and I nearly dropped my Terrible Towel.
Now, we have long been devotees of Hungarian paprika. We still keep both sweet and hot Hungarian on our spice rack for those times when smoky just won't do. But once you get hooked on this stuff, it's hard not to reach past the good ol' Pride of Szeged and try yet another experiment with the smoke: perhaps smoky chicken paprikash, smoky scrambled eggs or cabbage rolls.
Paprika comes from a little red chili pepper that is dried and finely ground. It's the same pepper used to make pimentos.
In the dark years, before the Hungarian version became more readily available in the U.S., bland, inferior grades of paprika were used mostly as a garnish -- like the sprinkle on top of deviled eggs or potato salad.
Spain is the world's other great purveyor of true paprika, where it is called pimentón. The smoked variety originates in La Vera, where the climate and true-to-tradition method of drying peppers in a sea of smoke from smoldering oak logs creates a deeply flavored spice.
In Spain, smoked paprika is an integral part of paella and chorizo sausage. It is also used widely in fish and tomato dishes.
Here in the U.S., smoked paprika is finding a home in spice rubs for chicken, beef or pork, and in warm potato dishes and stews.
If you aren't going to be in the Strip District or Penzeys anytime soon, you can order smoked Spanish paprika at Penzeys.com or from the excellent online Spanish food merchant Tienda.com.
Read more
Robert J. Byers and Tara Tuckwiller, Staff writers
Last December, we were browsing the eclectic row of shops and restaurants known as the Strip District in Pittsburgh. While I comparison-shopped for Steelers knockoffs, Tara stumbled onto a grail of sorts in the form of a Penzeys Spices store.
Within an hour, she had most of her Christmas shopping done and we were in possession of some cool new spices and spice blends for our home kitchen. Among those was a 4-ounce packet of smoked Spanish paprika. One whiff of its potent, smoky aroma and I nearly dropped my Terrible Towel.
Now, we have long been devotees of Hungarian paprika. We still keep both sweet and hot Hungarian on our spice rack for those times when smoky just won't do. But once you get hooked on this stuff, it's hard not to reach past the good ol' Pride of Szeged and try yet another experiment with the smoke: perhaps smoky chicken paprikash, smoky scrambled eggs or cabbage rolls.
Paprika comes from a little red chili pepper that is dried and finely ground. It's the same pepper used to make pimentos.
In the dark years, before the Hungarian version became more readily available in the U.S., bland, inferior grades of paprika were used mostly as a garnish -- like the sprinkle on top of deviled eggs or potato salad.
Spain is the world's other great purveyor of true paprika, where it is called pimentón. The smoked variety originates in La Vera, where the climate and true-to-tradition method of drying peppers in a sea of smoke from smoldering oak logs creates a deeply flavored spice.
In Spain, smoked paprika is an integral part of paella and chorizo sausage. It is also used widely in fish and tomato dishes.
Here in the U.S., smoked paprika is finding a home in spice rubs for chicken, beef or pork, and in warm potato dishes and stews.
If you aren't going to be in the Strip District or Penzeys anytime soon, you can order smoked Spanish paprika at Penzeys.com or from the excellent online Spanish food merchant Tienda.com.
Pork Leg Futures
The ABCs of salumi
Russ Parsons
What's the hottest news in the world of cured meats? Jamón Iberico is coming to the United States. One of the treasures of Spanish gastronomy, jamón Iberico is made from black-footed pigs (hence the alternate name pata negra) that have been raised on acorns and wild plants.
Though it has been made in Spain for centuries, only in July was a producer certified by the Department of Agriculture to ship the hams to the U.S.
It is wildly expensive, even in Spain. In the U.S., prices are predicted to be in the $80 per pound range, with boneless hams going for as much as $139 per pound. But it's not coming any time soon. Because of the amount of time required to cure the hams, the first ones won't be arriving for more than a year - late fall of 2007 at the earliest.
Still, at least one website, www.tienda.com, is already taking deposits of $199 per ham. Owner Don Harris says about 250 customers have already reserved their hams, and one was so excited he actually flew to Spain to visit it. "Another guy said he wasn't going to set his wedding date until he can be assured he can serve his ham at the banquet," Harris says.
Ham on a Roll
Jamón Iberíco
Rob Walker
Some months ago, Harry Saltzman and his wife, Barrett Cobb, were planning one of their regular trips to Europe. Saltzman, a retired music professor who lives in Manhattan, is a foodie, and he was looking forward to the Spanish segment of the itinerary. A week before they left, he received an e-mail message from La Tienda, an online store he had patronized. The subject heading was "Do you want to visit your ham?"
Saltzman originally came across La Tienda while...
Stuck in a Stew Over Rice
It seems that every recipe calls for a different kind of rice: white or brown, long grain or short grain, and so on. I can tell white from brown, but am I supposed to take a ruler with me to the market to measure how long the rice grains are?
Robert L. Wolke
Absolutely. Paella rice must be absorbent enough to soak up the savory broth from the seafood or meat and must cook up to just the right degree of "clumpiness."
In American restaurants, the sins committed daily against this legendary Spanish dish must be overwhelming the check-in clerks at the Hades Hotel. Paella is not just a pile of Uncle Ben's with a bunch of stuff stuck in it. Nothing against old Ben, but his rice (which is parboiled, then dried) is American long grain, and that just won't cut the mostaza in Spain.
Botanically speaking, all rice belongs to only two plant species: Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. But tens of thousands of cultivated varieties (known as cultivars) have been developed and propagated for at least 6,000 years in China and around the world. And they all have properties that best suit them to the indigenous cuisines.
More than anything else, what differs from one rice cultivar to another is the relative proportions of two kinds of starch (rice is 77 to 80 percent starch). The two kinds are amylose, whose molecules are straight chains, and amylopectin, whose molecules are branched and bushy.
Most American rice is rich in amylose, whose straight molecules don't absorb much water, so the grains stay relatively dry and fluffy when cooked. Chinese and Japanese rice, on the other hand, is richer in amylopectin, whose bushy molecules can trap a lot of water. On cooking, the water swells and bursts the starch granules, releasing their gluey contents, and the grains therefore tend to stick together, the better to be picked up with chopsticks or, as in many Asian countries, with the fingers.
What about the lengths of the grains? That's just a rough way of classifying types of rice without going raving mad trying to name them all. Luckily, their sizes and shapes really do correspond more or less to the kinds of starch they contain: Short-grain rices are generally high-amylopectin, absorbent and sticky. If you ever do take a ruler to the supermarket, here are the standard shapes: Long-grain rice is three or more times as long as it is wide. Short-grain rice is less than twice as long as it is wide and is often almost round. In the United States, we recognize a medium-grain size, which is two to three times as long as it is wide.
On a quick trip to my local supermarket, I discovered that all Uncle Ben's rice products are labeled long grain, River Rice products are labeled medium grain, and most of the products whose names end in -Roni don't specify their type of rice at all.
In recent years, several specialty rices have become popular in the United States. Aromatic rices, such as Indian and Pakistani basmati and Thai jasmine, contain more of the fragrant chemical 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline than usual and have a nutty, popcorn-like flavor. Italian arborio rice is high in amylopectin and perfect for making risotto because it can absorb three times its own volume of flavorful stock or broth, becoming creamy in the process. In a pinch, it will make a pretty good paella.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Albufera rice-growing region just south of Valencia, Spain, the home of that country's most famous dish, paella valenciana. From Santos Ruiz Álvarez, a personable young agricultural engineer who heads the council Denominacion de Origen Arroz de Valencia, which regulates and controls the quality of Valencian rice, I learned more about rice than I could shake a banderilla at. This is not a recipe column, but I can't resist pointing out a few essential qualities of a paella-worthy rice.
A medium- short-grain rice is indispensable. The three main varieties cultivated in Valencia are Bahia, Senia and Bomba. In the center of each of these grains is a perla (pearl), a dense nucleus of concentrated starch that imparts a certain toothy substance to the cooked rice. Another quite acceptable rice for paella is Calasparra, grown in the mountains of Murcia, southwest of Valencia.
Álvarez says he prefers Senia because it absorbs more of the flavorful broth, but he admits that when cooking for company he uses Bomba because it is more tolerant of being overlooked and overcooked during the sherry and cava sipping that inevitably precedes the convivial meal. In Spain, paella is often cooked by the men in the family on Sundays, over an open fire if possible. And a good time is had by all.
Imported paella rice is available from La Tienda.
Further Adventures in Kitchen Science" (W.W. Norton, 2005). He can be reached atwolke@pitt.edu.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
Read more
Robert L. Wolke
Absolutely. Paella rice must be absorbent enough to soak up the savory broth from the seafood or meat and must cook up to just the right degree of "clumpiness."
In American restaurants, the sins committed daily against this legendary Spanish dish must be overwhelming the check-in clerks at the Hades Hotel. Paella is not just a pile of Uncle Ben's with a bunch of stuff stuck in it. Nothing against old Ben, but his rice (which is parboiled, then dried) is American long grain, and that just won't cut the mostaza in Spain.
Botanically speaking, all rice belongs to only two plant species: Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. But tens of thousands of cultivated varieties (known as cultivars) have been developed and propagated for at least 6,000 years in China and around the world. And they all have properties that best suit them to the indigenous cuisines.
More than anything else, what differs from one rice cultivar to another is the relative proportions of two kinds of starch (rice is 77 to 80 percent starch). The two kinds are amylose, whose molecules are straight chains, and amylopectin, whose molecules are branched and bushy.
Most American rice is rich in amylose, whose straight molecules don't absorb much water, so the grains stay relatively dry and fluffy when cooked. Chinese and Japanese rice, on the other hand, is richer in amylopectin, whose bushy molecules can trap a lot of water. On cooking, the water swells and bursts the starch granules, releasing their gluey contents, and the grains therefore tend to stick together, the better to be picked up with chopsticks or, as in many Asian countries, with the fingers.
What about the lengths of the grains? That's just a rough way of classifying types of rice without going raving mad trying to name them all. Luckily, their sizes and shapes really do correspond more or less to the kinds of starch they contain: Short-grain rices are generally high-amylopectin, absorbent and sticky. If you ever do take a ruler to the supermarket, here are the standard shapes: Long-grain rice is three or more times as long as it is wide. Short-grain rice is less than twice as long as it is wide and is often almost round. In the United States, we recognize a medium-grain size, which is two to three times as long as it is wide.
On a quick trip to my local supermarket, I discovered that all Uncle Ben's rice products are labeled long grain, River Rice products are labeled medium grain, and most of the products whose names end in -Roni don't specify their type of rice at all.
In recent years, several specialty rices have become popular in the United States. Aromatic rices, such as Indian and Pakistani basmati and Thai jasmine, contain more of the fragrant chemical 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline than usual and have a nutty, popcorn-like flavor. Italian arborio rice is high in amylopectin and perfect for making risotto because it can absorb three times its own volume of flavorful stock or broth, becoming creamy in the process. In a pinch, it will make a pretty good paella.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Albufera rice-growing region just south of Valencia, Spain, the home of that country's most famous dish, paella valenciana. From Santos Ruiz Álvarez, a personable young agricultural engineer who heads the council Denominacion de Origen Arroz de Valencia, which regulates and controls the quality of Valencian rice, I learned more about rice than I could shake a banderilla at. This is not a recipe column, but I can't resist pointing out a few essential qualities of a paella-worthy rice.
A medium- short-grain rice is indispensable. The three main varieties cultivated in Valencia are Bahia, Senia and Bomba. In the center of each of these grains is a perla (pearl), a dense nucleus of concentrated starch that imparts a certain toothy substance to the cooked rice. Another quite acceptable rice for paella is Calasparra, grown in the mountains of Murcia, southwest of Valencia.
Álvarez says he prefers Senia because it absorbs more of the flavorful broth, but he admits that when cooking for company he uses Bomba because it is more tolerant of being overlooked and overcooked during the sherry and cava sipping that inevitably precedes the convivial meal. In Spain, paella is often cooked by the men in the family on Sundays, over an open fire if possible. And a good time is had by all.
Imported paella rice is available from La Tienda.
Further Adventures in Kitchen Science" (W.W. Norton, 2005). He can be reached atwolke@pitt.edu.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
The spice of Spain
With its garlic, olives and other heady flavors, the country's cuisine is invigorating America.
Star News Services
"Tapas are an inexpensive way to taste a lot of food without having to commit to a 40-bite chewfest or some big main course that bores me to tears a third of the way through." -- Celebrity chef Mario Batali
Spanish cuisine, an explosion of sizzling, colorful innovative fare, is all the rage not only in its native country but in the United States, too. Daring preparations by a generation of innovative chefs have made the cuisine hot, chic and casual. "Spain has really arrived," says Anya von Bremzen, author of The New Spanish Table (Workman Publishing, $22.95). "People have lost interest in French cooking, Italian has become too commonplace and everyone loves Mediterranean. Spanish cuisine is very simple, very minimalist and direct, but very striking and dramatic."
Among the hallmarks of Spanish cuisine are lots of smoky flavors. Olive oil, almonds, garlic, saffron, paprika, potatoes, rice, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, sausages, ham, olives (mostly green) and lamb play starring roles. Spain has one of the longest coastlines in Europe, so seafood also is a regular -- clams, shrimp, whole baked fish.
Spaniards are restrained in their cooking, allowing one major ingredient in a dish to solo. "Spanish cooking is about one ingredient tasting very good, like tossing sardines with garlic and parsley and leaving it alone," von Bremzen says. "Even when chefs riff on it, they don't put a lot on the plate."
In the last 10 years Spain has become one of the most interesting places in the world to eat because of the new-wave creative chefs who use science and theory and creative design in their dishes, von Bremzen says.
At his world-famous restaurant El Bulli, north of Barcelona, chef Ferran Adria has snared the international spotlight by applying science to cooking. Adria, the Salvador Dali of the culinary world, deconstructs traditional dishes and mixes unusual ingredients, such as chocolate and salt.
"People wanted to shake off the old lifestyle," says von Bremzen, whose book combines new and classic recipes. "Eating new food was part of being modern. The Spanish are very adventurous."
In her book, von Bremzen serves up 300 authentic recipes from a wealth of sources -- chefs, tapas bars, market vendors, taxi drivers, Spanish food writers, restaurant critics, cheese makers and so on.
Spain's most familiar and widely copied dining format -- tapas, or small-plate noshing -- puts flexibility on the menu. With tapas, hosts can show off their skills at multiple dishes, or fudge it by mounting last night's stew atop crusty bread slices accompanied by bowls of olives and almonds.
"Tapas provides the freedom to have not one but six, seven, eight dishes," says Jose Andres, author of Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America (Clarkson Potter, $35), written with Richard Wolffe. "It's the union of the high-end tasting menu and informal cooking. Tapas gives you the freedom in a simple, informal way to share a lot of things.
"There are no rigid rules. ... Almost anything can be served in small portions."
Andres considers himself a hybrid, melding traditional Spanish cooking and dishes with the bounty of local ingredients in the United States. Geared to home cooks, his book doesn't require special expertise.
Getting some of the ingredients for Spanish cooking may require planning. Specialty food stores and larger supermarkets will carry some of the special cheeses and olives, or look on Internet sites such as www.latienda.com
Did you know?
The word "tapa" literally means lid. The first tapas were pieces of bread used to cover wine glasses to keep out the flies, according to author Peter S. Feibleman in The Cooking of Spain and Portugal.
Green olives filled with piquillo peppers and anchovy
Makes 4 servings
8 extra-large green olives, unpitted
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
2 piquillo peppers (see note)
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
3 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Sea salt to taste
Using the flat side of a knife, press each olive until pit pops out, being careful not to split the olive in half. Cut the anchovy fillets lengthwise to create 8 long slices, and cut the piquillo peppers into 8 ( 1/2 -inch-wide) strips.
Place 1 anchovy slice and 1 pepper strip in each olive. You can be generous with the filling, allowing the anchovy and pepper to spill out of the olive.
Split open garlic clove by placing it on a chopping board and pressing down hard with the base of your hand or with the flat side of a knife. In a small bowl, mix garlic, olive oil, orange zest and vinegar. Place stuffed olives in dressing and allow to marinate 30 minutes. Then sprinkle with a little sea salt and arrange on a plate, with toothpicks for serving.
Note: Piquillos are Spanish wood-roasted sweet peppers available in jars at specialty markets. Per serving: 122 calories (82 percent from fat), 11 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), 3 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 255 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.
Tortilla with potatoes, artichokes and peppers
Makes 4 to 6 tapas servings
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed, divided
1/2 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 large boiled Yukon Gold potato, quartered and thinly sliced
3 marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed, patted dry and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced Spanish piquillo peppers (from a jar or can) or roasted red bell peppers (see note)
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons chicken stock or broth
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until limp but not brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add potato and cook, stirring gently, 5 minutes. Stir in artichokes and peppers and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl and let cool completely.
Place eggs, chicken stock or broth, and a few small pinches of salt in a medium bowl and beat until just scrambled. Add potato mixture and stir until well-combined. Let stand about 10 minutes.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke. Pour egg mixture into skillet and flatten it with a spatula until the top is fairly even. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, moving and shaking the skillet, running a thin spatula around the edge and sliding it into the middle so some of the egg runs under. Cook tortilla in this fashion until top is a little wet but not liquid, about 5 minutes.
Run the thin spatula under the tortilla to make sure no part of the bottom is stuck to the skillet. Top skillet with a rimless plate slightly larger than the skillet and, using oven mitts, quickly invert tortilla onto plate. If skillet looks dry, add more olive oil. Slide tortilla back into skillet, uncooked side down. Shake skillet to straighten tortilla and push in edges with spatula. Reduce heat to very low and cook tortilla until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Invert tortilla onto a serving plate and pat the top with a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Let it cool a little, then cut tortilla into wedges. To serve as tapas, cut tortilla into squares and serve with toothpicks.
Note: Piquillos are Spanish wood-roasted sweet peppers available in jars at specialty markets. Per serving, based on 4: 234 calories (70 percent from fat), 19 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 216 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams protein, 312 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber.
Rustic bread with dark chocolate, olive oil and salt
Makes 4 servings
4 ( 1/2 -inch-thick) slices rustic bread (see note)
4 ounces dark chocolate
4 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Toast bread slices until brown. Using a knife, break chocolate into small pieces. Scatter over toasted bread and place in a preheated 200-degree oven until chocolate melts, about 5 minutes.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle a little salt on top and serve.
Note: Use country bread with a thick crust and a light interior full of holes, not a dense sourdough. Per serving: 323 calories (60 percent from fat), 23 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 30 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 184 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.
Sizzling garlic shrimp
Makes 4 tapas servings
1/4 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined 1
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1 cup fragrant extra-virgin olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small dry red chili, such as arbol, crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Country bread, for serving
Pat shrimp dry with paper towels, then sprinkle shrimp with salt. Place olive oil and garlic in a 10- to 11-inch large, heavy skillet and heat over medium-low until oil shimmers and garlic begins to sizzle gently. Cook until garlic is very fragrant but not colored, 2 to 3 minutes, reducing heat if necessary. Add chili and stir a few seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, until they just begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste, stir in parsley and cook a few seconds longer. Serve shrimp with plenty of bread alongside.
Per serving: 638 calories (80 percent from fat), 56 grams total fat (8 grams saturated), 217 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 29 grams protein, 213 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber.
Simple tapas party
A tapas party is an easy way to entertain. With careful shopping, you can do the whole party without cooking a lick. A basic Spanish menu:
Cheeses such as manchego, cabrales and mahon. Serve them on a tray with nuts and dried fruit.
Cured sausages, including chorizo (no relation to the greasier Mexican chorizo) and salchichon. If you are not able to find these, go with dry Italian salami.
Serrano ham, a cousin to prosciutto. Slice it thinly and cut in half horizontally.
Crusty bread and seasoned toasts or croutons
Green olives
Marcona almonds
Gourmet potato chips, such as Terra or Kettle
From bottles or jars: marinated mushrooms, olive tapenade, calamari in olive oil, smoked sardines in lemon-flavored olive oil, stuffed olives, marinated red peppers
Spanish wines. Serve them in plain juice glasses, as they do at tapas bars in Spain.
Read more
Star News Services
"Tapas are an inexpensive way to taste a lot of food without having to commit to a 40-bite chewfest or some big main course that bores me to tears a third of the way through." -- Celebrity chef Mario Batali
Spanish cuisine, an explosion of sizzling, colorful innovative fare, is all the rage not only in its native country but in the United States, too. Daring preparations by a generation of innovative chefs have made the cuisine hot, chic and casual. "Spain has really arrived," says Anya von Bremzen, author of The New Spanish Table (Workman Publishing, $22.95). "People have lost interest in French cooking, Italian has become too commonplace and everyone loves Mediterranean. Spanish cuisine is very simple, very minimalist and direct, but very striking and dramatic."
Among the hallmarks of Spanish cuisine are lots of smoky flavors. Olive oil, almonds, garlic, saffron, paprika, potatoes, rice, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, sausages, ham, olives (mostly green) and lamb play starring roles. Spain has one of the longest coastlines in Europe, so seafood also is a regular -- clams, shrimp, whole baked fish.
Spaniards are restrained in their cooking, allowing one major ingredient in a dish to solo. "Spanish cooking is about one ingredient tasting very good, like tossing sardines with garlic and parsley and leaving it alone," von Bremzen says. "Even when chefs riff on it, they don't put a lot on the plate."
In the last 10 years Spain has become one of the most interesting places in the world to eat because of the new-wave creative chefs who use science and theory and creative design in their dishes, von Bremzen says.
At his world-famous restaurant El Bulli, north of Barcelona, chef Ferran Adria has snared the international spotlight by applying science to cooking. Adria, the Salvador Dali of the culinary world, deconstructs traditional dishes and mixes unusual ingredients, such as chocolate and salt.
"People wanted to shake off the old lifestyle," says von Bremzen, whose book combines new and classic recipes. "Eating new food was part of being modern. The Spanish are very adventurous."
In her book, von Bremzen serves up 300 authentic recipes from a wealth of sources -- chefs, tapas bars, market vendors, taxi drivers, Spanish food writers, restaurant critics, cheese makers and so on.
Spain's most familiar and widely copied dining format -- tapas, or small-plate noshing -- puts flexibility on the menu. With tapas, hosts can show off their skills at multiple dishes, or fudge it by mounting last night's stew atop crusty bread slices accompanied by bowls of olives and almonds.
"Tapas provides the freedom to have not one but six, seven, eight dishes," says Jose Andres, author of Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America (Clarkson Potter, $35), written with Richard Wolffe. "It's the union of the high-end tasting menu and informal cooking. Tapas gives you the freedom in a simple, informal way to share a lot of things.
"There are no rigid rules. ... Almost anything can be served in small portions."
Andres considers himself a hybrid, melding traditional Spanish cooking and dishes with the bounty of local ingredients in the United States. Geared to home cooks, his book doesn't require special expertise.
Getting some of the ingredients for Spanish cooking may require planning. Specialty food stores and larger supermarkets will carry some of the special cheeses and olives, or look on Internet sites such as www.latienda.com
Did you know?
The word "tapa" literally means lid. The first tapas were pieces of bread used to cover wine glasses to keep out the flies, according to author Peter S. Feibleman in The Cooking of Spain and Portugal.
Green olives filled with piquillo peppers and anchovy
Makes 4 servings
8 extra-large green olives, unpitted
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
2 piquillo peppers (see note)
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
3 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Sea salt to taste
Using the flat side of a knife, press each olive until pit pops out, being careful not to split the olive in half. Cut the anchovy fillets lengthwise to create 8 long slices, and cut the piquillo peppers into 8 ( 1/2 -inch-wide) strips.
Place 1 anchovy slice and 1 pepper strip in each olive. You can be generous with the filling, allowing the anchovy and pepper to spill out of the olive.
Split open garlic clove by placing it on a chopping board and pressing down hard with the base of your hand or with the flat side of a knife. In a small bowl, mix garlic, olive oil, orange zest and vinegar. Place stuffed olives in dressing and allow to marinate 30 minutes. Then sprinkle with a little sea salt and arrange on a plate, with toothpicks for serving.
Note: Piquillos are Spanish wood-roasted sweet peppers available in jars at specialty markets. Per serving: 122 calories (82 percent from fat), 11 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), 3 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 255 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.
Tortilla with potatoes, artichokes and peppers
Makes 4 to 6 tapas servings
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed, divided
1/2 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 large boiled Yukon Gold potato, quartered and thinly sliced
3 marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed, patted dry and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced Spanish piquillo peppers (from a jar or can) or roasted red bell peppers (see note)
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons chicken stock or broth
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until limp but not brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add potato and cook, stirring gently, 5 minutes. Stir in artichokes and peppers and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl and let cool completely.
Place eggs, chicken stock or broth, and a few small pinches of salt in a medium bowl and beat until just scrambled. Add potato mixture and stir until well-combined. Let stand about 10 minutes.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke. Pour egg mixture into skillet and flatten it with a spatula until the top is fairly even. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, moving and shaking the skillet, running a thin spatula around the edge and sliding it into the middle so some of the egg runs under. Cook tortilla in this fashion until top is a little wet but not liquid, about 5 minutes.
Run the thin spatula under the tortilla to make sure no part of the bottom is stuck to the skillet. Top skillet with a rimless plate slightly larger than the skillet and, using oven mitts, quickly invert tortilla onto plate. If skillet looks dry, add more olive oil. Slide tortilla back into skillet, uncooked side down. Shake skillet to straighten tortilla and push in edges with spatula. Reduce heat to very low and cook tortilla until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Invert tortilla onto a serving plate and pat the top with a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Let it cool a little, then cut tortilla into wedges. To serve as tapas, cut tortilla into squares and serve with toothpicks.
Note: Piquillos are Spanish wood-roasted sweet peppers available in jars at specialty markets. Per serving, based on 4: 234 calories (70 percent from fat), 19 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 216 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams protein, 312 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber.
Rustic bread with dark chocolate, olive oil and salt
Makes 4 servings
4 ( 1/2 -inch-thick) slices rustic bread (see note)
4 ounces dark chocolate
4 tablespoons Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Toast bread slices until brown. Using a knife, break chocolate into small pieces. Scatter over toasted bread and place in a preheated 200-degree oven until chocolate melts, about 5 minutes.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle a little salt on top and serve.
Note: Use country bread with a thick crust and a light interior full of holes, not a dense sourdough. Per serving: 323 calories (60 percent from fat), 23 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 30 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 184 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.
Sizzling garlic shrimp
Makes 4 tapas servings
1/4 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined 1
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1 cup fragrant extra-virgin olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small dry red chili, such as arbol, crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Country bread, for serving
Pat shrimp dry with paper towels, then sprinkle shrimp with salt. Place olive oil and garlic in a 10- to 11-inch large, heavy skillet and heat over medium-low until oil shimmers and garlic begins to sizzle gently. Cook until garlic is very fragrant but not colored, 2 to 3 minutes, reducing heat if necessary. Add chili and stir a few seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, until they just begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste, stir in parsley and cook a few seconds longer. Serve shrimp with plenty of bread alongside.
Per serving: 638 calories (80 percent from fat), 56 grams total fat (8 grams saturated), 217 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams carbohydrates, 29 grams protein, 213 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber.
Simple tapas party
A tapas party is an easy way to entertain. With careful shopping, you can do the whole party without cooking a lick. A basic Spanish menu:
Cheeses such as manchego, cabrales and mahon. Serve them on a tray with nuts and dried fruit.
Cured sausages, including chorizo (no relation to the greasier Mexican chorizo) and salchichon. If you are not able to find these, go with dry Italian salami.
Serrano ham, a cousin to prosciutto. Slice it thinly and cut in half horizontally.
Crusty bread and seasoned toasts or croutons
Green olives
Marcona almonds
Gourmet potato chips, such as Terra or Kettle
From bottles or jars: marinated mushrooms, olive tapenade, calamari in olive oil, smoked sardines in lemon-flavored olive oil, stuffed olives, marinated red peppers
Spanish wines. Serve them in plain juice glasses, as they do at tapas bars in Spain.
Mediterranean Grilling
Joanna Howard
Conjure up a Moroccan bazaar in your backyard this summer with aromas of spiced lamb, eggplant, preserved lemons and sharp green olives cooked over smoldering coals in clay braziers. You can also capture flavors over a hibachi or on your grill using a clay tagine, a large dish with a conical or domed lid. Spanish terra cotta cazuelas—or casserole dishes—translate well to the barbecue for holding paella or sizzling garlic shrimp tapas. To make sure that your tagine or cazuela is lead-free and safe for cooking on direct heat (stove or grill top) look for labels that say "contains no lead or cadmium," or "sin plomo" on Spanish imports. If you don't see these labels, ask the store for manufacturer documentation. Note: Brightly colored tagines and those with interior glazes are for serving only and should not be used for cooking.
When grilling with earthenware, remember:
*Tagines and cazuelas should be soaked before first use. Cazuelas require a six-hour soak; tagines need only an hour. The soaking helps keep steam circulating throughout the dome during cooking.
*To prevent cracking, cazuelas and tagines must not be heated above 400 degrees F. Use a grill-top thermometer or set your temperature controls to "low" or "slow roast." Fire Magic Grill-Top thermometers are available from www.barbecues.com ($18.90; 800-413-5896).
*Use a heavy trivet to protect both your counters and your earthenware from rapid temperature changes.
Product Picks
Lead-free Spanish cazuelas: 13-inch paella cazuela or 4.5-inch handled tapas cazuela ($29.50 and $7.50; www.tienda.com, 800-710-4304).
Handmade lead-free terracotta tagines: exterior-glazed Beldi tagine or unglazed Rifi tagine ($38 and $34; www.tagines.com, 877-277-7227).
Read more
Conjure up a Moroccan bazaar in your backyard this summer with aromas of spiced lamb, eggplant, preserved lemons and sharp green olives cooked over smoldering coals in clay braziers. You can also capture flavors over a hibachi or on your grill using a clay tagine, a large dish with a conical or domed lid. Spanish terra cotta cazuelas—or casserole dishes—translate well to the barbecue for holding paella or sizzling garlic shrimp tapas. To make sure that your tagine or cazuela is lead-free and safe for cooking on direct heat (stove or grill top) look for labels that say "contains no lead or cadmium," or "sin plomo" on Spanish imports. If you don't see these labels, ask the store for manufacturer documentation. Note: Brightly colored tagines and those with interior glazes are for serving only and should not be used for cooking.
When grilling with earthenware, remember:
*Tagines and cazuelas should be soaked before first use. Cazuelas require a six-hour soak; tagines need only an hour. The soaking helps keep steam circulating throughout the dome during cooking.
*To prevent cracking, cazuelas and tagines must not be heated above 400 degrees F. Use a grill-top thermometer or set your temperature controls to "low" or "slow roast." Fire Magic Grill-Top thermometers are available from www.barbecues.com ($18.90; 800-413-5896).
*Use a heavy trivet to protect both your counters and your earthenware from rapid temperature changes.
Product Picks
Lead-free Spanish cazuelas: 13-inch paella cazuela or 4.5-inch handled tapas cazuela ($29.50 and $7.50; www.tienda.com, 800-710-4304).
Handmade lead-free terracotta tagines: exterior-glazed Beldi tagine or unglazed Rifi tagine ($38 and $34; www.tagines.com, 877-277-7227).
Paella is Spain's gift, to be enjoyed with gusto -- and saffron
Marlene Parrish
VALENCIA, SPAIN -- Every travel destination has its bragging rights. London has impressive museums. Tuscany claims food. Napa has wine. Rome has architecture. The Caribbean has climate. Miami has a beach.
But there is no need for separate vacations. Valencia has it all.
My husband, Bob, and I can't see enough of Spain, and we travel there as often as we can. A few weeks ago, double bait drew us to Valencia, a city of close to 2 million people about halfway down the country's Mediterranean coast.
We were eager to see the new City of Arts and Sciences complex, where Lorin Maazel has been named the first music director of the performing arts center, a wildly contemporary venue designed by Valencian-born architect Santiago Calatrava. And we wanted to hang out on Valencia's beachfront, more than four miles of 100-yard-wide (really!) public beach, just minutes from the city's center.
Sightseeing, visiting with friends and casual poking around are our pastimes. But eating and learning about regional food specialties are our passion.
For most folks, breakfasts are a highly personal affair. Bob tolerates only breakfast pastries, but I choose the thinnest slices of Iberico ham (hands down the world's best), local cheeses, pan tomate (grated tomato on grilled toast with olive oil) and black coffee.
Valencians go for fartons, glazed yeast pastries the shape of hot dog buns, and dunk them in glasses of chilled horchata, a sweet, white beverage also called tiger nut milk. The duo is the local version of after-school cookies and milk.
Supper comes after 10 p.m., when it's still light in Spain. We make the rounds of the tapas bars in the barrios of the old walled city. Half a dozen bars and several dozen tapas later, we mosey back to the hotel at midnight. But for the Valencians, the night is just beginning, and pubs will be open until early morning.
Midday is the heaviest meal in the Spanish day, and it's eaten about 2 p.m., followed by a welcome siesta. When in Spain, we eat as the Spanish eat. And paella and its many rice-dish cousins often are our meals of choice.
Paella, a Spanish classic
Even though paella (pronounced natively as pa-EL-ya; more common in the United States is the Mexican pie-AY-ya) is known as the national dish of Spain; it is a regional specialty, and of the 13 autonomous regions of the country, Valencia is the epicenter of this emblematic dish.
In Valencia, restaurant menus have a featured section for their rice specialties.
Arroz negra, shockingly black, is rice paella and squid with its ink. Senyoret is rice with seafood, and there are others made with quail, lobster, duck or crab.
Hispania, the Roman name for Spain, means "land of rabbits." Because they hippety-hop all over the country, rabbit is a common ingredient in traditional cooking, found in many dishes, especially Valencia's original farmers paella, paella de conejo.
Fideua, a Valencian specialty, is paella made with narrow, macaroni-shaped pasta with a hole as thin as a pin.
Obviously, paella doesn't have a fixed identity or recipe. That's what makes it so easy on the cook and the purse.
The only essential ingredients of any paella are olive oil, saffron and rice, the three main staples of the Spanish agriculture and economy.
Toppings can include shellfish, chorizo sausage, snails, chicken, rabbit, lobster, crab, peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, beans, garlic and whatever else may be in the garden. Usually, Spanish cooks will make all-seafood, or all-poultry or -meat, but not a mixture.
But no matter what the traditionalists say about not pairing meat with seafood, most Americans I know poke around in the paella looking for the snappy bite of chorizo before they go for anything else.
When paella goes topless, it's called arroz a banda, as flavorsome a dish as you can imagine, infused with essences of seafoods, herbs, rich fish broth and olive oil.
Largely unknown to Americans, this is perhaps the icon of Spanish paella. Garlic mayonnaise, called aioli, is the essential condiment.
Above, saffron, in jar, and bomba rice make the best paella.
Rice matters
Paella is all about the rice. Spanish short-grain rice defines the dish and gives it its toothsome texture.
Rice has been in the Iberian peninsula since the 8th century. Europe's first rice fields were sown in the wetlands along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in an area surrounding the Albufera, a freshwater lagoon near Valencia.
The very first paellas were made by rice threshers in the marshlands, who made midday meals over open fires.
The wide, flat, two-handled paella pan allowed food to be cooked quickly, using a minimum of fuel.
The initial dishes were rice and broth. Later, more ingredients gave it substance.
The reapers might catch a rabbit, bag a wild duck or pick vegetables from a nearby plot, adding whatever was in season.
In homes today, paella is a Sunday dinner dish. It is always served in the afternoon, never at night, and usually cooked outdoors by men and perfumed with wood smoke.
The best short-grain rice is a local variety called bomba. It doubles, even triples, in length when cooked, and is forgiving because it doesn't get gummy and stick together.
Senia, bahia and calasparra rice are also as good, but when they are hard to find, Arborio can be a substitute in a pinch. You can't use long-grain or Asian varieties.
Bomba rice can be ordered on the Web at www.tienda.com.Arborio rice can be found at most groceries in the international or ethnic food aisles.
An American party dish
Paella is a no-worries, great summer entree, the ultimate one-dish main course for entertaining.
Presentation is beautiful, even dramatic.
It suits a buffet or a group seated around a table, and paella can be eaten hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Once you've done the shopping, most of the prepping can be done in advance. If you can saute, you can make a paella.
Want to buy a paella dinner before you try to make your own? Not a good idea. It's highly unlikely you'll find a decent one in a restaurant.
Often, turmeric or yellow food coloring is used instead of expensive saffron. The rice isn't the genuine kind, and the toppings might be precooked and plopped on the rice, probably Uncle Ben's, instead of being an integral part of the dish.
No, it's better to make paella yourself. Here are some things to consider.
Use a classic paella pan, or at least one that is shallow, flat-bottomed, slope-sided and has two handles. A 14-to-16-inch pan serves six to eight and will fit into the oven. A wide, shallow casserole will work in a pinch, but the rice will be soupy.
Estimate 1/2 cup of short grain rice per serving. The ideal rice will be moist, plump and tender with the flavor of every ingredient in every grain.
Broth is the key to flavor and quality. Whether you use homemade or canned broth, kick up the flavor. After sauteing chicken, for instance, deglaze the pan with some of the broth. Or, reserve the shrimp shells and saute them in olive oil until they turn pink. Then add some broth and simmer for five minutes. Strain the seasoned broth, discarding the shells.
Use saffron. Expensive, yes. Optional, no. Saffron threads add unique flavor and the classic color. Crush threads between two teaspoons and steep in some of the broth to extract both hue and essence. Saffron is available at Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. and Penzeys Spices in the Strip District, at Whole Foods, East Liberty, and at larger Giant Eagle groceries.
Make the paella in three steps. Compose the dish on top of the range and cook halfway. Place in the oven until almost done. Then allow the paella to rest, out of the oven and covered, where the rice will absorb the remaining broth and finish cooking.
This is showbiz. Bring the pan to the table for oohs and ahhs. Traditionally, paella is eaten communally, right from the pan. For American sensitivities, the host can spoon out portions. Garlic mayonnaise is the ideal condiment.
For a party menu, offer olives and toasted almonds with a glass of dry sherry. At home, pour a rioja wine, but at a picnic, sangria or rose is a good choice. A dessert of chilled, pinwheel-cut orange slices is refreshing.
Add fresh figs, a dish of dark chocolate and take your bows.
See? Not hard at all.
AMERICA'S FAVORITE SEAFOOD PAELLA / 16-INCH PAN
PG TESTED
This recipe goes step-by-step for your success. Do all of the advance sauteing in a large, preferably black iron skillet, rather than in the paella pan, because the skillet's idiosyncrasies will be familiar to you and therefore reliable. Also, the skillet is a better fit to the stovetop burner than a large paella pan. When guests come, just turn on the oven, compose the dish in the paella pan and allow it to bake until the rice is cooked.
Note: Do not crowd the surface of the rice in the pan. If you want more seafood, cook it separately.
Here's the step-by-step method. The recipe uses a 16-inch paella pan. We bought our pans in Valencia. Why that size? Because they fit into the suitcases.
• 24 small clams in the shell, cleaned
• 12 to 20 mussels in the shell, cleaned and beards removed
• 1 1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
• 5 to 6 cups chicken or fish broth
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron (a good pinch of the strands)
• 1/2 pound chorizo sausage (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, about
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 1 red pepper, chopped fine
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped fine
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 1/2 cups Spanish short-grain rice, bomba preferred
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas, defrosted
• Lemon wedges, for garnish
• Aioli (garlic mayonnaise), recipe follows
Advance preparation:
Discard any clams that do not close when tapped. Scrub them under running water. Discard any mussels that do not close when tapped. Scrub under running water. Place both in a bowl and refrigerate. Clean shrimp (reserve shells), remove black vein and refrigerate.
To enhance the flavor of the broth, place reserved shrimp shells in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Heat and cook until they turn red. Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to the pan and let it simmer quietly for about 5 minutes. Strain the broth into a glass measure. Discard the shells.
Crush the saffron between 2 spoons or with the fingers. Place the crushed saffron along with a few strands of whole saffron into the hot broth to steep. Add enough additional chicken broth to make 5 cups. Place 1 cup additional plain broth off to the side. You may or may not need some of it.
Cut chorizo, if using, into 4-inch lengths and simmer in water for 15 minutes. Cool and slice into 1/4-inch slices. Set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet. Add the chopped onion and peppers to the oil and saute over medium-low heat until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and paprika and cook another 2 minutes, but do not let the garlic brown. The vegetables are called the sofrito. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the sofrito aside to cool.
Finish the dish:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place an oven rack on the lowest position. Then, about 35 minutes before you want to serve, begin to assemble the dish.
Place the sofrito in a 16-inch paella pan, spreading it out. Distribute the rice over the vegetables and stir to coat. On another burner in a medium saucepan, bring 5 cups broth to simmer.
Pour the broth over the rice and vegetables.
Bring to a boil on top of the stove, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Do not stir.
Turn off the heat. Add sausage slices, pushing them into the rice. Add shrimp. Add clams and mussels, hinges down.
Carefully place the paella in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Check the dish. If the rice seems too dry, add part of the reserved 1 cup broth. Do not stir the rice. When done, the shellfish will be open and the rice should have a bit of a bite. If necessary, bake 3 minutes longer.
Remove the paella from the oven. Toss the peas over the dish. Cover with a tea towel or foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. As it stands, the remaining liquid will be absorbed and the rice will become tender. This is a very important step.
Garnish with lemon wedges. Place the paella directly onto the center of the table and allow guests to help themselves. Pass garlic mayonnaise.
Serves 6 to 8.
-- Marlene Parrish
Egg warning
The American Egg Board has warned against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of foodborne illness.
To ensure food safety, replace all raw or lightly cooked eggs in recipes with cooked eggs, or use pasteurized egg products such as Egg Beaters.
To cook eggs but keep them liquid, stir together the whole eggs or yolks with some liquid from the recipe (at least 2 tablespoons liquid per yolk).
Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the yolk mixture coats a metal spoon with a thin film, bubbles at the edges or reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Immediately place the saucepan in ice water and stir until the whole egg or yolk mixture is cool. Continue with the recipe.
-- Amy McConnell Schaarsmith
SMOKY GARLIC MAYONNAISE (AIOLI)
PG TESTED
This is a classic accompaniment to paella. Serve leftover mayo as a dip for raw vegetables or serve with fish. A blender does the smoothest job.
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 cup lightly flavored extra virgin olive oil
• 1 or 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Break the egg into the blender container. Add pimenton, mustard, salt and vinegar. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Cover, and turn the motor onto low speed.
Immediately uncover and pour in the remaining oil in a fine, steady stream. Do not hurry. When all of the oil has been incorporated, add the chopped garlic. Continue to blend for 1 minute until smooth.
Allow the mayonnaise to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour before using so the flavors will mellow and soften. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Don't serve it cold because chilling dulls the olive oil flavor.
Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
-- Marlene Parrish
RABBIT PAELLA WITH RED PEPPER AND ALMONDS / 16-INCH PAN
This classic rabbit paella has a hint of
sweetness from the red pepper and subtle flavor from the almonds and garlic. Want to use chicken instead of rabbit? They are interchangeable, but because rabbit is never served with skin, substitute skinless chicken. (I prefer juicy thighs.) This paella also can be made in a fireproof earthenware casserole instead of a paella pan. The result, however, is a slightly moist rice.
• One 2-1/2-pound rabbit, small chicken or chicken thighs, skin and fat removed
• 2 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds
• 1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed), reserve the liquid
• About 5 to 5 1/2 cups chicken broth, canned or homemade
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• 1/4 teaspoon crumbled thread saffron
• Kosher or sea salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups imported Spanish rice (bomba preferred) or Arborio short-grain rice
Cut the rabbit or chicken with kitchen shears into pieces about 2 inches in size. If using thighs, leave whole. (Discard the bony tips of the rabbit legs.) Sprinkle all over with salt.
Toast the almonds on a cookie sheet in a 350-degree oven until lightly brown, about 4 minutes. Combine the liquid from the chickpeas with the broth to make 5 1/2 cups. Mash 1/2 cup of the chickpeas through a strainer into the broth. Reserve the remaining 3/4 cup chickpeas for the rice. (If there are extra, keep for some other use.)
In a mortar or mini-processor, mash to a paste the garlic, parsley, pimento, saffron, almonds and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mash in 1 tablespoon of the broth. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place oven rack in the lowest position. Keep the broth hot over the lowest heat.
Do this next part of the preparation in a large skillet. (Your familiar kitchen skillets will conduct heat and fit over the burner better than the paella pan.) Heat the oil and saute the rabbit or chicken pieces over high heat about 5 minutes (do not fully cook). Remove to a warm platter. Add the onion and pepper to the skillet and cook slowly until the vegetables are slightly softened. Add the tomatoes, turn up the heat and saute 2 minutes more.
Scrape the vegetables and oil into a 16-inch paella pan. Stir in the rice and coat well with the vegetable mixture. Add the reserved mortar mixture and stir. Then add chickpeas and rabbit or chicken. Pour in 5 cups of broth, bring to a boil then simmer without stirring for 10 minutes.
Taste for salt and correct seasoning.
Transfer the paella to the oven and cook an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until the rice is almost al dente. Remove to a warm spot, cover with a tea towel and let the dish rest for 5 to 10 minutes until the rice is fully cooked. Serve with garlic mayonnaise on the side.
Makes 6 servings.
-- Adapted from "Paella!", Penelope Casas
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VALENCIA, SPAIN -- Every travel destination has its bragging rights. London has impressive museums. Tuscany claims food. Napa has wine. Rome has architecture. The Caribbean has climate. Miami has a beach.
But there is no need for separate vacations. Valencia has it all.
My husband, Bob, and I can't see enough of Spain, and we travel there as often as we can. A few weeks ago, double bait drew us to Valencia, a city of close to 2 million people about halfway down the country's Mediterranean coast.
We were eager to see the new City of Arts and Sciences complex, where Lorin Maazel has been named the first music director of the performing arts center, a wildly contemporary venue designed by Valencian-born architect Santiago Calatrava. And we wanted to hang out on Valencia's beachfront, more than four miles of 100-yard-wide (really!) public beach, just minutes from the city's center.
Sightseeing, visiting with friends and casual poking around are our pastimes. But eating and learning about regional food specialties are our passion.
For most folks, breakfasts are a highly personal affair. Bob tolerates only breakfast pastries, but I choose the thinnest slices of Iberico ham (hands down the world's best), local cheeses, pan tomate (grated tomato on grilled toast with olive oil) and black coffee.
Valencians go for fartons, glazed yeast pastries the shape of hot dog buns, and dunk them in glasses of chilled horchata, a sweet, white beverage also called tiger nut milk. The duo is the local version of after-school cookies and milk.
Supper comes after 10 p.m., when it's still light in Spain. We make the rounds of the tapas bars in the barrios of the old walled city. Half a dozen bars and several dozen tapas later, we mosey back to the hotel at midnight. But for the Valencians, the night is just beginning, and pubs will be open until early morning.
Midday is the heaviest meal in the Spanish day, and it's eaten about 2 p.m., followed by a welcome siesta. When in Spain, we eat as the Spanish eat. And paella and its many rice-dish cousins often are our meals of choice.
Paella, a Spanish classic
Even though paella (pronounced natively as pa-EL-ya; more common in the United States is the Mexican pie-AY-ya) is known as the national dish of Spain; it is a regional specialty, and of the 13 autonomous regions of the country, Valencia is the epicenter of this emblematic dish.
In Valencia, restaurant menus have a featured section for their rice specialties.
Arroz negra, shockingly black, is rice paella and squid with its ink. Senyoret is rice with seafood, and there are others made with quail, lobster, duck or crab.
Hispania, the Roman name for Spain, means "land of rabbits." Because they hippety-hop all over the country, rabbit is a common ingredient in traditional cooking, found in many dishes, especially Valencia's original farmers paella, paella de conejo.
Fideua, a Valencian specialty, is paella made with narrow, macaroni-shaped pasta with a hole as thin as a pin.
Obviously, paella doesn't have a fixed identity or recipe. That's what makes it so easy on the cook and the purse.
The only essential ingredients of any paella are olive oil, saffron and rice, the three main staples of the Spanish agriculture and economy.
Toppings can include shellfish, chorizo sausage, snails, chicken, rabbit, lobster, crab, peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, beans, garlic and whatever else may be in the garden. Usually, Spanish cooks will make all-seafood, or all-poultry or -meat, but not a mixture.
But no matter what the traditionalists say about not pairing meat with seafood, most Americans I know poke around in the paella looking for the snappy bite of chorizo before they go for anything else.
When paella goes topless, it's called arroz a banda, as flavorsome a dish as you can imagine, infused with essences of seafoods, herbs, rich fish broth and olive oil.
Largely unknown to Americans, this is perhaps the icon of Spanish paella. Garlic mayonnaise, called aioli, is the essential condiment.
Above, saffron, in jar, and bomba rice make the best paella.
Rice matters
Paella is all about the rice. Spanish short-grain rice defines the dish and gives it its toothsome texture.
Rice has been in the Iberian peninsula since the 8th century. Europe's first rice fields were sown in the wetlands along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in an area surrounding the Albufera, a freshwater lagoon near Valencia.
The very first paellas were made by rice threshers in the marshlands, who made midday meals over open fires.
The wide, flat, two-handled paella pan allowed food to be cooked quickly, using a minimum of fuel.
The initial dishes were rice and broth. Later, more ingredients gave it substance.
The reapers might catch a rabbit, bag a wild duck or pick vegetables from a nearby plot, adding whatever was in season.
In homes today, paella is a Sunday dinner dish. It is always served in the afternoon, never at night, and usually cooked outdoors by men and perfumed with wood smoke.
The best short-grain rice is a local variety called bomba. It doubles, even triples, in length when cooked, and is forgiving because it doesn't get gummy and stick together.
Senia, bahia and calasparra rice are also as good, but when they are hard to find, Arborio can be a substitute in a pinch. You can't use long-grain or Asian varieties.
Bomba rice can be ordered on the Web at www.tienda.com.Arborio rice can be found at most groceries in the international or ethnic food aisles.
An American party dish
Paella is a no-worries, great summer entree, the ultimate one-dish main course for entertaining.
Presentation is beautiful, even dramatic.
It suits a buffet or a group seated around a table, and paella can be eaten hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Once you've done the shopping, most of the prepping can be done in advance. If you can saute, you can make a paella.
Want to buy a paella dinner before you try to make your own? Not a good idea. It's highly unlikely you'll find a decent one in a restaurant.
Often, turmeric or yellow food coloring is used instead of expensive saffron. The rice isn't the genuine kind, and the toppings might be precooked and plopped on the rice, probably Uncle Ben's, instead of being an integral part of the dish.
No, it's better to make paella yourself. Here are some things to consider.
Use a classic paella pan, or at least one that is shallow, flat-bottomed, slope-sided and has two handles. A 14-to-16-inch pan serves six to eight and will fit into the oven. A wide, shallow casserole will work in a pinch, but the rice will be soupy.
Estimate 1/2 cup of short grain rice per serving. The ideal rice will be moist, plump and tender with the flavor of every ingredient in every grain.
Broth is the key to flavor and quality. Whether you use homemade or canned broth, kick up the flavor. After sauteing chicken, for instance, deglaze the pan with some of the broth. Or, reserve the shrimp shells and saute them in olive oil until they turn pink. Then add some broth and simmer for five minutes. Strain the seasoned broth, discarding the shells.
Use saffron. Expensive, yes. Optional, no. Saffron threads add unique flavor and the classic color. Crush threads between two teaspoons and steep in some of the broth to extract both hue and essence. Saffron is available at Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. and Penzeys Spices in the Strip District, at Whole Foods, East Liberty, and at larger Giant Eagle groceries.
Make the paella in three steps. Compose the dish on top of the range and cook halfway. Place in the oven until almost done. Then allow the paella to rest, out of the oven and covered, where the rice will absorb the remaining broth and finish cooking.
This is showbiz. Bring the pan to the table for oohs and ahhs. Traditionally, paella is eaten communally, right from the pan. For American sensitivities, the host can spoon out portions. Garlic mayonnaise is the ideal condiment.
For a party menu, offer olives and toasted almonds with a glass of dry sherry. At home, pour a rioja wine, but at a picnic, sangria or rose is a good choice. A dessert of chilled, pinwheel-cut orange slices is refreshing.
Add fresh figs, a dish of dark chocolate and take your bows.
See? Not hard at all.
AMERICA'S FAVORITE SEAFOOD PAELLA / 16-INCH PAN
PG TESTED
This recipe goes step-by-step for your success. Do all of the advance sauteing in a large, preferably black iron skillet, rather than in the paella pan, because the skillet's idiosyncrasies will be familiar to you and therefore reliable. Also, the skillet is a better fit to the stovetop burner than a large paella pan. When guests come, just turn on the oven, compose the dish in the paella pan and allow it to bake until the rice is cooked.
Note: Do not crowd the surface of the rice in the pan. If you want more seafood, cook it separately.
Here's the step-by-step method. The recipe uses a 16-inch paella pan. We bought our pans in Valencia. Why that size? Because they fit into the suitcases.
• 24 small clams in the shell, cleaned
• 12 to 20 mussels in the shell, cleaned and beards removed
• 1 1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
• 5 to 6 cups chicken or fish broth
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron (a good pinch of the strands)
• 1/2 pound chorizo sausage (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, about
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 1 red pepper, chopped fine
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped fine
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 1/2 cups Spanish short-grain rice, bomba preferred
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas, defrosted
• Lemon wedges, for garnish
• Aioli (garlic mayonnaise), recipe follows
Advance preparation:
Discard any clams that do not close when tapped. Scrub them under running water. Discard any mussels that do not close when tapped. Scrub under running water. Place both in a bowl and refrigerate. Clean shrimp (reserve shells), remove black vein and refrigerate.
To enhance the flavor of the broth, place reserved shrimp shells in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Heat and cook until they turn red. Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to the pan and let it simmer quietly for about 5 minutes. Strain the broth into a glass measure. Discard the shells.
Crush the saffron between 2 spoons or with the fingers. Place the crushed saffron along with a few strands of whole saffron into the hot broth to steep. Add enough additional chicken broth to make 5 cups. Place 1 cup additional plain broth off to the side. You may or may not need some of it.
Cut chorizo, if using, into 4-inch lengths and simmer in water for 15 minutes. Cool and slice into 1/4-inch slices. Set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet. Add the chopped onion and peppers to the oil and saute over medium-low heat until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and paprika and cook another 2 minutes, but do not let the garlic brown. The vegetables are called the sofrito. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the sofrito aside to cool.
Finish the dish:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place an oven rack on the lowest position. Then, about 35 minutes before you want to serve, begin to assemble the dish.
Place the sofrito in a 16-inch paella pan, spreading it out. Distribute the rice over the vegetables and stir to coat. On another burner in a medium saucepan, bring 5 cups broth to simmer.
Pour the broth over the rice and vegetables.
Bring to a boil on top of the stove, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Do not stir.
Turn off the heat. Add sausage slices, pushing them into the rice. Add shrimp. Add clams and mussels, hinges down.
Carefully place the paella in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Check the dish. If the rice seems too dry, add part of the reserved 1 cup broth. Do not stir the rice. When done, the shellfish will be open and the rice should have a bit of a bite. If necessary, bake 3 minutes longer.
Remove the paella from the oven. Toss the peas over the dish. Cover with a tea towel or foil and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. As it stands, the remaining liquid will be absorbed and the rice will become tender. This is a very important step.
Garnish with lemon wedges. Place the paella directly onto the center of the table and allow guests to help themselves. Pass garlic mayonnaise.
Serves 6 to 8.
-- Marlene Parrish
Egg warning
The American Egg Board has warned against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of foodborne illness.
To ensure food safety, replace all raw or lightly cooked eggs in recipes with cooked eggs, or use pasteurized egg products such as Egg Beaters.
To cook eggs but keep them liquid, stir together the whole eggs or yolks with some liquid from the recipe (at least 2 tablespoons liquid per yolk).
Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the yolk mixture coats a metal spoon with a thin film, bubbles at the edges or reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Immediately place the saucepan in ice water and stir until the whole egg or yolk mixture is cool. Continue with the recipe.
-- Amy McConnell Schaarsmith
SMOKY GARLIC MAYONNAISE (AIOLI)
PG TESTED
This is a classic accompaniment to paella. Serve leftover mayo as a dip for raw vegetables or serve with fish. A blender does the smoothest job.
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 cup lightly flavored extra virgin olive oil
• 1 or 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Break the egg into the blender container. Add pimenton, mustard, salt and vinegar. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Cover, and turn the motor onto low speed.
Immediately uncover and pour in the remaining oil in a fine, steady stream. Do not hurry. When all of the oil has been incorporated, add the chopped garlic. Continue to blend for 1 minute until smooth.
Allow the mayonnaise to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour before using so the flavors will mellow and soften. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Don't serve it cold because chilling dulls the olive oil flavor.
Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
-- Marlene Parrish
RABBIT PAELLA WITH RED PEPPER AND ALMONDS / 16-INCH PAN
This classic rabbit paella has a hint of
sweetness from the red pepper and subtle flavor from the almonds and garlic. Want to use chicken instead of rabbit? They are interchangeable, but because rabbit is never served with skin, substitute skinless chicken. (I prefer juicy thighs.) This paella also can be made in a fireproof earthenware casserole instead of a paella pan. The result, however, is a slightly moist rice.
• One 2-1/2-pound rabbit, small chicken or chicken thighs, skin and fat removed
• 2 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds
• 1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed), reserve the liquid
• About 5 to 5 1/2 cups chicken broth, canned or homemade
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
• 1/4 teaspoon crumbled thread saffron
• Kosher or sea salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups imported Spanish rice (bomba preferred) or Arborio short-grain rice
Cut the rabbit or chicken with kitchen shears into pieces about 2 inches in size. If using thighs, leave whole. (Discard the bony tips of the rabbit legs.) Sprinkle all over with salt.
Toast the almonds on a cookie sheet in a 350-degree oven until lightly brown, about 4 minutes. Combine the liquid from the chickpeas with the broth to make 5 1/2 cups. Mash 1/2 cup of the chickpeas through a strainer into the broth. Reserve the remaining 3/4 cup chickpeas for the rice. (If there are extra, keep for some other use.)
In a mortar or mini-processor, mash to a paste the garlic, parsley, pimento, saffron, almonds and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mash in 1 tablespoon of the broth. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place oven rack in the lowest position. Keep the broth hot over the lowest heat.
Do this next part of the preparation in a large skillet. (Your familiar kitchen skillets will conduct heat and fit over the burner better than the paella pan.) Heat the oil and saute the rabbit or chicken pieces over high heat about 5 minutes (do not fully cook). Remove to a warm platter. Add the onion and pepper to the skillet and cook slowly until the vegetables are slightly softened. Add the tomatoes, turn up the heat and saute 2 minutes more.
Scrape the vegetables and oil into a 16-inch paella pan. Stir in the rice and coat well with the vegetable mixture. Add the reserved mortar mixture and stir. Then add chickpeas and rabbit or chicken. Pour in 5 cups of broth, bring to a boil then simmer without stirring for 10 minutes.
Taste for salt and correct seasoning.
Transfer the paella to the oven and cook an additional 10 to 12 minutes, or until the rice is almost al dente. Remove to a warm spot, cover with a tea towel and let the dish rest for 5 to 10 minutes until the rice is fully cooked. Serve with garlic mayonnaise on the side.
Makes 6 servings.
-- Adapted from "Paella!", Penelope Casas
