Guide to Barcelona

The most typical Spanish dish, Paella

Wednesday, 30 June 2010 09:56

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All around the world Paella is regarded as the Spanish national dish. In fact, in Spain it is only regarded as one dish of many as its origin is in Valencia and only the people from there identify with the Paella as their typical symbol.There are three different types of Paella – Paella valenciana, Paella de marisco (seafood), and Paella mixta (mixed with meat, seafood and vegetables). However, worldwide there are probably thousands of different recipes, as this traditional Valencian dish has become a huge export success.

Paella originally only means pan but later on was used as a synonym for the traditional and now well-known rice dish.

The very early Paellas were made up of rice mixed with marsh rat, eel and butter beans, as it was a dish of poor fishermen. Later on, when living conditions improved, Paella ingredients changed as well into rabbit, chicken, duck, seafood, and sometimes snails.

Traditionally, Paella is cooked by men over an open fire, in a typical pan -often called paellera. People then eat the finished dish right out of the pan.

Another speciality of the Paella is the lowest layer in the pan –toasted rice- that comes from cooking the paella over an open fire. If the Paella is made in the oven one can cook the almost finished Paella for some time on the stove to achieve a similar result of toasted rice.

Nowadays it has also become a custom to cook Paella in huge pans for many people. This has even lead to a Guinness world record in 1992 when a chef from Valencia made Paella for more than 100 000 people.

When you want to eat paella in Barcelona you don´t need to search for places. In every street there is a restaurant where you can get it. The question is where can you get the best paella. Normal they only serve paella for a minimum of two people. When you want to order paella for one person you need to search for a restaurant. A Passeig de Garcia there is one restaurant, Navarra, where you can order paella for one person. When you walk down the Ramblas you will find many restaurant, but I don´t recommend going here. The restaurant are very mass production. They know tourist will go there anyway because they don´t want to search for restaurants. Another restaurant that I would really recommend is La Fonda. You will find this restaurant in a side way of Plaza Reial. The prices are very low and they serve good quality. When you like paella you should visit this restaurant.

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