As I said at the end of the last post – which you will need to consult for
the list of ingredients and tools !! – the recipe for Paella Valenciana
which I offer you today, originates with my dear old friend Palmyra Espuig
Peris from the village of Alcásser in the Garden of Valencia. Unfortunately, Palmyra
is no longer with us. She passed away peacefully 12 years ago. But I found
another dear friend - Donna Maria Brull Hervás - willing to do the honours, and
to cook us a delicious Paella Valenciana ‘como
Dios manda’ (as the expression goes) of which the pictures below grace this
lengthy post.
Therefore, let us set to work without more ado! Here we go with the
step-by-step creation of a state-of-the-art Paella Valenciana!
PAELLA VALENCIANA: CREATION
1. First of all, make sure that you have all the ingredients ready
at hand, cut, chopped, cleaned, opened, mixed and defrozen where needed.
2. Set up your special Paella Pan on your special Paella Burner. Light
the fire. Set it to medium heat. Pour the cup of oil into the pan, toss a
little salt into the oil, and let the oil gain heat.
3. Put the pieces of rabbit and of chicken into the oil, and fry
them slowly until they are perfectly golden brown. This should take about 10
minutes.
3a. THE
COOK’S PREMIUM: Keep good track of the whereabouts of the rabbit’s liver
and kidneys. These will be done long before the rest of the meat, and once they
are, remove them from the pan, put them on a plate, and sprinkle some salt on
top. They are a delicacy, and it is a sacred Valencian tradition that the liver
and kidneys are the cook’s by right; although often she shares them with the children
running about, and sometimes even with a spouse. (In fact: you can usually tell
the state of a Valencian matrimony by the pieces of rabbit liver that get
tossed towards the spouse…)
3b. NOT
FOR PURISTS: When the meat is almost done, add a clove of pressed garlic
and let it fry along. Alternatively, some cooks fry an entire clove of garlic in
the oil before the meat is put into the pan, and remove it once done.
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| Veggies added |
4. Now add the Ferradura string
beans and the Garrofón white beans,
and let them cook along with the meat. Note that the vegetables should not be
over-fried, but should merely be ‘brought up to temperature’. They should not be
allowed to burn at the edges. So 5 minutes really ought to do it.
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| Veggies done |
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| Tomato added |
4a. NOT
FOR PURISTS: Once the vegetables have heated up, add a 450 cc / 500 grams can
of Tomate Frito (i.e. peeled and
pre-cooked tomato), or weak tomato paste, or a finely chopped fresh tomato. Stir
and let fry. The tomato will be absorbed by the meat and the beans. Yet other
cooks will add a finely chopped quarter onion at this here point.
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| Tomato absorbed |
5. Add the fresh, clean, and if possible filtered water. Remember that this – next to the amount of rice
thrown in – is the most delicate side of Paella creation. There should neither
be too much nor too little water in the pan at this point. The traditional rule
of thumb is as follows: the level of the
water should cut exactly through the middle of the screws that fix the handles
to the pan (you will observe that in the picture, a little bit of water is
still lacking). Bring the water to a boil, then lower the flames until the
water merely simmers.
6. Add half a teaspoon of Azafran
strands to the water (or if you have none: Saffron
Colorante). Natural saffron not only provides
the typical yellow colour of the Paella, but also adds a subtle extra taste.
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| The alternative... |
6a. NOT
FOR PURISTS: As you put in the saffron, you may also add a spoonful of
paprika powder. Please note I have never seen this done, and consider it
unnecessary.
6b. NOT
FOR PURISTS EITHER: At the same time you put in the saffron, add a beef cube
to the broth. Remember that beef cubes are salty, so you must be more cautious
with the salt later on.
7. Now let the water simmer for anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes.
This is how the precious broth is made. What you should understand is that the
longer the broth boils, the more of the meat flavours will get into the rice,
and the weaker the meat itself will taste. Also remember that the longer you
let the broth simmer, the more water will evaporate. This may cause trouble
with the rice later on (see § 10c below). So you may want to add
a little more water if you plan to let the broth boil a longer while.
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| Doña Maria adding the rice |
8. Now then for the Moment
Supreme! Carefully sprinkle the rice into the broth. Make sure to spread it
evenly through the pan, and to get all the grains below the surface level. Bring
to a boil again, then lower the flames until the entire contents of the pan is simmering
peacefully.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:
during the first few minutes, you may still shift and tilt and wriggle the pan,
so as to get the rice to spread out evenly, or even stir the mass with a spoon.
However, as soon as the rice begins to absorb the broth, swell, gain volume and
settle, the dish should be left rigorously alone! Only this guarantees a
perfectly flat top surface and an even consistency of the Paella once boiled.
9. Now get yourself a nice glass of wine. Find a comfy position near
the pan (do not walk away: you are playing with fire). Hang in there for about 15
minutes, as you say prayers to the divinity of your choice, and make sure that
the bubbling is constant and the cooking process takes place undisturbed. (In
the mean while, if you wish, you may decorate the top of the rice with, for
instance, slices of pre-cooked red pepper, as in the picture, where Dona Maria
wrote the name ‘Palmira’ for this very special occasion.)
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| Decorating... |
10. After this quarter of an hour, it is time to wake up and get
alert. Ever so carefully locate a tiny bite of rice which you can remove
without doing damage to the composition, put it in your mouth and try the
texture. There are various possibilities:
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| Cover with a Valencian newspaper |
a.
If the rice is Al Diente: kill the fire immediately and
cover the pan with the Valencian Newspaper. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes
(but 10 minutes is often better), then get a sturdy fellow to carry the heavy red-hot
pan to the table. Make sure the guests are gathered around with the wooden
spoons ready in their hands when you remove the newspaper. Collectively cry out
Ooooh in admiration, attack and eat. You
have triumphed! (Those who read Spanish may inform themselves about
the correct way of eating a Paella, on This Here hilarious website).
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| Have a sturdy Valencian fellow carry the pan to the table... |
b.
If the rice is still too hard,
but broth remains at the bottom: let the Paella simmer a little longer. Repeat
the process of tasting after 5 minutes; and again 5 minutes later if need be. (Note
that total cooking time of the rice is usually between 20 and 25 minutes.)
Once the rice is done, follow
the instruction in a. above.
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Gather the guests around the table
(But WHY is Hannibal ALWAYS the first??) |
c.
If the rice is still too hard
but NO broth remains in the pan: curse yourself, for you fucked up long ago and
you must now, in this Ultimate Moment, do the Horrid Thing: i.e. add fresh water. This desperate emergency
measure is sure to wipe out the deeper flavours of your Paella, but you have no
choice. Either you add liquid, or you throw the whole junk into the garbage bin
and order pizza.
So: get some boiling water, and cautiously
add a careful splash. Make sure, however, to err on the safe side, because there
is a vast danger that you overcompensate
and overdo the water. Now cover the
Paella with the paper, and wet the paper, as you let the fire run a few minutes
longer. Pray again, hope against all expectations, and try once more after 5
minutes. Follow a. if things work out well.
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| Reveal your Triumph! |
d.
The rice is already soggy. Now NOTHING
can be done. Just serve this trash, and pretend that that is what Valencians
eat, since the place is on the coast and humidity is roughly 97 % there
throughout the year. And try again next week. If you dare…
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| Thank you, dear friend! |
Important
Notas Bene
How much rice should you use on how much water, for how many people?
This is an
extremely difficult question to answer. Usually, when one makes spaghetti or a
rice dish, one counts 50 grams of pasta per person. That is, however, too
little when one makes Paella, as people tend to eat more of a well-cooked dish.
Hence most recipes call for 75, or even 85 grams of rice per person (i.e. 500
grams for 6 guests). The volume of water should then be measures as 2 to 2 ½
cups of water on every 1 cup of rice.
However, as § 5 above makes clear, the success of a Paella is not a matter of having
enough rice per person, but of pouring in the correct volume water according to
the size of your Paella Pan! And the amount of rice follows from that!
Consequently do the smart thing until you’ve learned to do things by
experience: pour the water into the pan using a handy cup, and count the cups.
Then divide that number by two, and pour in half as many cups of rice (or
rather slightly less). For instance: if you poured in 8 cups of water, toss in
3 ½ cups of rice.
Alternative order of water and rice.
Among experienced and expert Paella cooks,
opinions vary as to the order in which rice and water are put into the pan.
Some insist that one ought to add the rice first, and let it fry for a while,
and only then add the water. This is a known and useful technique for many rice
dishes, but - in my humble opinion - for the best effect, one really needs to
produce a broth from boiling meat before the rice is added, as described in § 7 above.
My rice is BURNING on the bottom !!!
Calm down! Calm
down! It is supposed to burn on the
bottom of the pan! It fact, this precious golden brown crust, full of the
ripened essences of all flavours, and easily scraped off the bottom and mixed
with the rice, is the Valencians’ most favoured part of the Paella, and goes by
the hallowed name of Socorrat. T’is a
little like boiled billy goats’ balls in Morocco, or jellied sheep’s eyes in
Egypt: we don’t find it very appetising; but they would kill for it.
Of course, if your socorrat has turned pitch raven black,
you may have had the fire a wee bit too high during the cooking process, and it
becomes advisable not to eat this culinary variety of carbon… Next time: lower
them flames!!
WHAT Valencian Newspaper, you fraud?
As soon as I posted this chapter, several
readers objected to the use of a blank piece of paper in the above pictures,
where in the earlier post I had expressly insisted that a Valencian newspaper
be used to cover the Paella. Well, it so happens that this WAS a Valencian
newspaper, dear reader! It was the section in last year’s special Christmas
issue, listing all the Valencian politicians who were not being investigated
for corruption, nepotism and tax evasion.
