Country 8: Paella from Spain.

Spain (and Spanish food) has a special place in my heart as Barcelona is where my wife and I got engaged. On that trip we tried some incredible versions of Paella, but most weren't the original Valencian version. You see, paella is a very important dish to this region and they are extremely particular to what can and cannot be labelled as an authentic paella. Seafood and meat together, not a real paella. Spicy chorizo sausage used in it, not a real paella. No crispy layer of rice on the bottom, not a real paella (side note: they call this crispy layer the "socarrat" which comes from the Catalan language meaning "burned"). You get the picture.

A Valencian paella consists of a meat (rabbit traditionally, but chicken can be used as a substitute), green beans and butter beans (aka lima beans). Saffron added to the rice gives it its yellow colour and earthy flavour. I have made paella in the past but not with the traditional butter beans/green beans. I was really happy with what the butter beans added to the dish, they were really tender and flavourful.

The only place I went slightly off authentic was not use a traditional paella pan (which are huge, like 22"). I used a cast iron pan which worked pretty well, the only negative is without the large pan to spread the rice out, you get a little bit less of that delicious, crispy socarrat. I enjoy making and eating paella, so if I can find the space, I might have to add a paella pan to my pantry (say that 5 times fast).

If you look at the photo below you can see bits of that socarrat mixed in with the dish after serving.

I really enjoyed this process and learning what makes an authentic paella. It left a ton of leftovers that we were more than happy to keep eating through the week. Please see the updated map images below:

Thanks for reading,

Untill the next meal!

Brandon