Good afternoon, Robert. VS had posted this at one time...
The paella, i.e. the recipient not the recipe, is crucial. It has to be thin metal, it has to be round, it has to be perfectly flat (sorry, Robin, no woks; flatness is required for equal cooking without stirring - no stir-frying here), it has to have two handles (not one long one), it has to be extremely shallow (2 inches). A classic one is about 16 inches in diameter for six persons as a main dish or eight as an entrée.
To make things simpler, look at a real paella and at the main steps in preparing the dish in a Valencia-based link I've located while web surfing:
http://www.bemarnet.es/elianet/gastrono ... aella.html(The recipe itself, by local chef Juan Carlos Galbis, is a bit debatable. But the steps are correct. Please also note one of those gizmos which, applied to a gas stove, allow for equal head distribution, always crucial. Ideally, in Valencia, the paella valenciana is a country picnic dish that you make on a fire of either orange tree branches or vines. As you all know, the type of wood is crucial for such dishes, since the steam will condense above it and the aromas and flavors will fall back into it. If you use pine wood, you'll get an unpleasantly resiny paella.)
More notes. "Paella valenciana" is the mother of all paella dishes, and the only one that, in Valencia, uses the recipient's name; the others are known as "arroz con..." ("rice with..."): seafood, garbanzo beans, squid, whatever.
Rice was planted by the Arab settlers in the Albufera swamps back in the Middle Ages and has been the Valencia staple ever since. The farmers' original version can be entirely vegetarian or include some chicken (sometimes, locally, duck) and rabbit; if available, small mountain snails. What it does NOT include is: crustaceans, fish, pork, lamb, bell peppers, mountain ham, artichokes... (There are "arroz con..." versions for all of that. But I'll stick to the basic recipe).
The rice to be used is all-important. Try and find medium-grained Calasparra rice from Spain, which soaks up the juices and flavors while keeping its shape and finishing "dry". Arborio rice, ideal for risotto, is not advisable at all -- too soft and tender. Spanish rice is never washed. "Hard", chalky water is preferable, curiously, to sweet mountain water; you can add a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate to "harden" such water.
Not even for the "basic" Paella Valenciana can we find a single recipe (fortunately). Here's one of many, particularly orthodox since only various green and white beans are used as vegetables. (Serves six as a main course; use a 16-to-18 inch paella):
Ingredients:
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (either Andalusian, Greek, Portuguese or southern Italian, i.e. of a soft, sweet, ripe style; not a "green" Tuscan, Umbrian or Catalan oil.)
2 lb. (900 grams) chicken joints and 1 lb. 9 oz. (700 grams) rabbit joints, cut into rather large pieces.
12 oz. (350 grams) flat, wide, tender green beans (called "ferraura" in Valencia), cut in 1-inch bits.
8 oz. (200 grams), partially cooked (for one hour, after soaking them in cold water overnight), small, white, tender kidney beans, called "tabella" in Valencia. (If, in season, you can get them fresh, right off the pod, use them raw).
If available (they can be found, canned, in some shops specializing in Spanish products), 10 oz. (300 grams) cooked, very large (almost 1 inch long), dense, white kidney beans of the kind called "garrofó" in Valencia.
About 1/2 gallon (2 litres) water (see the previous note).
150 grams (5 oz) ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped.
2 whole heads of garlic, with the outer skin layers peeled off (for seasoning; these will not be eaten).
2 tsp. Murcia "pimentón" or sweet Hungarian paprika powder.
1/2 tsp. La Mancha saffron threads, crushed (with the help of some coarse salt in a mortar), then dissolved in a little warm water.
1 lb 2 oz (500 grams) Spanish medium-grained rice, unwashed. (See previous note. Many years ago an Italian rice called Avorio, not to be confused with the better-known risotto rice, Arborio, was available in the US, and it was perfect for paella. I don't know if it's still around.)
Salt.
24 small mountain snails (called "vaquetes" in Valencia). If not used, add a sprig of fresh rosemary, which will give the needed rustic touch.
Fire or heat is crucial. With regular home stoves, you may have to rotate the paella on two burners, always a delicate trick. Modern electric tops giving heat on a large surface can help. Valencian homes often have metal rings (see the photos in the abovementioned web site) to re-distribute a gas fire in a circle. You'll need a brisk heat to sauté the meat and vegetables, then a progressively lower heat to cook the rice. (Which is easy outdoors with a nice fire of vine cuttings that slowly dies down, of course...)
Steps:
1. Make sure the paella is level before even starting the fire. (Pouring the oil in it will give you a perfect idea).
2. Heat the oil, then sauté the chicken and rabbit pieces until quite golden. Sprinkle salt over each of them.
3. Add and sauté the green beans (and kidney beans, if they are fresh and uncooked) for a couple of minutes. Then add the whole garlic heads, the pre-cooked kidney beans and the chopped tomato, and cook it for an instant, always stirring. Add the paprika powder, stir in (and very quickly add the water; if not, the paprika will stick and burn unpleasantly).
4. The water is critical. The exact amount will determine the texture of the dish, and it is hard to gauge; about twice as much as the amount of rice used, plus some water for the initial cooking period without the rice, is a good rule of thumb, but experience and a couple slightly soupy or slightly sticky paellas may be needed to learn the right amount...). Pour three quarters of the water on the meat and vegetables, add the snails if you have them, or the rosemary sprig, and the saffron solution.
5. Bring water to a boil with a brisk fire, cook for 5 minutes. Add water if the level, through evaporation, goes below 1 inch or half the height of the pan.
6. Pour the rice. From the box, draw a cross with it so that it hardly supasses the surface of the boiling water. Then distribute it evenly through the paella. Taste and rectify the salt content if needed.
7. Cook over a brisk fire for some 10 minutes, then lower it and cook for 5-10 more minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is almost tender. When it's not quite done, remove from heat and let stand ("rest", as they say in Valencia) for about five minutes, until it's just tender but not sticky. Eat RIGHT AWAY!
The vegetarian version (we like to call it "vegetable-only"; vegetarianism is not wildly popular in Spain), with just the abovementioned vegetables (plus maybe some green and/or red pepper strips and some tender artichoke hearts) follows the same steps, except one important detail: you sauté the vegetables AND add the uncooked rice, briefly sautéeing it and coating it with the oil for a few seconds, before adding the water or (in this case, and if your dietary beliefs allow it) some light chicken stock to give some more substance to the dish.
As they say in the Valencian language, "bon profit!"
