There’s no doubt that the paella is the most famous dish of Spanish cuisine. Its origins come from the Valencian Region, in the east of the country, but it is so popular that you can try very good examples in other places of Spain and the world. That’s why, a paella in Madrid is one of the main attractions of the Madrilenian gastronomy too.
In this article you will learn the most famous recipes of the paella. As you may know, in WhattodoinMadrid.com you can book a very special plan for your travel to Madrid: a Paella Experience, leaded by our great chef Julia Hernández Sans. So, read carefully this text and when you will meet Julia the day of the plan, ask her and suggest your personal ideas, as at the beginning of the experience you will have the chance of choosing the very own ingredients that your dish will carry.
Besides, some concepts must be explained before you cook and try a paella. First of all, the special pan you will use. Of course, people can use whatever pan they want to cook rice at home, but in order to get the perfect result it is necessary to use a paellera. This is a special pan, much flatter than the regular ones, completely circle and made of iron. All of this will make easier the boiling process and will improve the final result of the rise and the ingredients.
Among all the ingredients you will use in your paella, you have to pay special attention to the rice. Not all types of rice are good to use in a paella, but it has to have two main features: it must be able to hold all the tastes the broth and the rest of ingredients give and by the other hand, it must be able to keep the same shape and not to open itself up. Julia Hernández Sans will tell you more details about how the perfect rice must be.
Paella in Madrid: these are the Recipes
Valencia Paella
There are several types of paella in Madrid. The most genuine is the ‘Valencian paella’, whose recipe comes from Valencia, the city where this dish was born. Valencian people never fry the rice in oil before boiling it. Green vegetables, garlic, tomato, local beans and spices like saffron and rosemary are the main ingredients of this recipe, as well as chicken or rabbit.
Seafood Paella
The seafood paella is a variant that will make you get impressed, specially if you love shellfish. In this recipe, there aren’t most of the vegetables Valencian paella uses and the meat is exchanged into different types of shellfish, like squids, mussels or crayfish. The other secret this recipe keeps is the broth: it doesn’t use simple water, but the broth that remains after boiling the shellfish, which also gives taste to the rice grains. Seafood paella is one of the most colourful dishes of Spanish cuisine, as the way the ingredients are set in the pan is worth taking a picture.
Mixed Paella
Finally, the mixed paella is in fact a mix of the other two recipes and it has got famous recently. It uses less vegetables than the Valencian one, but it combines meat of chicken or rabbit with shellfish they usually put in seafood paella.
So, if you want to discover Spain completely, begin by the cuisine: a paella in Madrid will be your best choice. Check the best restaurant to eat paella in Madrid.
