45 Fun Facts About Paella

Paella takes its name from what?

Its cooking pan gave the dish its name: paella simply means frying pan in Valencian, and Valencian speakers use the word for every pan.

Which large flat white bean is a traditional ingredient of paella valenciana?

Garrofó, a large flat white butter bean of the lima family, is one of the core ingredients of traditional paella valenciana, simmered with the meat before the rice goes in.

Which of these is a traditional meat in paella valenciana?

Rabbit is one of paella valenciana's ten basic ingredients, fried in the pan with chicken before the vegetables and rice go in.

Which mollusc is a traditional ingredient of paella valenciana?

Snails went into early paellas because they were readily available in the fields around the rice paddies.

Which lagoon near Valencia is the traditional birthplace of paella?

Albufera, a freshwater lagoon just south of Valencia, is ringed by the rice paddies where paella most likely took shape.

On which day of the week is paella traditionally on Spanish restaurant menus?

Thursday is paella day on the menú del día in many Spanish restaurants, a custom that holds across Spain, not just in Valencia.

Which people spread rice farming through medieval Spain?

Arabs expanded rice farming across Al-Andalus with new irrigation, though rice may have reached Spain before them.

What is the Latin root of the word paella?

Patella, the Latin root of paella, is also the anatomical name for the kneecap.

Which sauce is traditionally served with arròs a banda and fideuà?

Allioli was a fundamental partner to arròs a banda, giving poor fishermen calories they could not get any other way.

Filipino paelya, usually saved for special occasions, is a staple of which holiday feast?

Christmas Eve's Noche Buena dinner is where paelya commonly appears, since its costly ingredients keep it off everyday tables.

A disputed theory derives paella from baqiyya, a word meaning what?

Leftovers is what baqiyya means, but critics doubt the link, since the word paella turns up in writing only centuries later.

What rice variety do most paella cooks use?

Bomba soaks up two or three times its volume in liquid without bursting, so the grains stay separate; a cultivar called senia is also used around Valencia.

Which flat green bean is a traditional paella valenciana ingredient?

Ferradura, one of Valencia's native flat green beans, is a core vegetable of paella valenciana and goes into the pan once the meat has been fried.

Which herb is sometimes added to paella in whole branches?

Rosemary goes in as a few whole sprigs, which stay in the pan for only a few minutes.

What rodent was a main ingredient of early Valencian paellas?

Water vole, known locally as rata de marjal or marsh rat, was once a main ingredient of paella in Valencia's rice country.

Which marsh fish was one of the main ingredients of early Valencian paellas?

Eel from the rice fields went into early paellas, until rising living standards brought chicken into the pan instead.

Nicaraguans sometimes nickname arroz a la valenciana after which kind of party?

Piñata gives the nickname: Nicaraguans sometimes call it arroz de piñata, since it's often served at children's birthday parties, themselves called piñatas.

Besides chicken, which bird is an accepted addition to traditional paella valenciana?

Duck appears as an optional meat in the classic paella valenciana ingredient list, and Valencia's official recipe register still accepts it.

Which vegetable stands in for green beans in Valencian paella during winter?

Artichoke hearts replace the hard-to-find beans in winter, giving a version some Valencians call paella d'hivern, winter paella.

Mixed paella is sometimes nicknamed what, for its riot of ingredients?

Baroque preparation is what some call mixed paella, the seafood-and-meat combination Spaniards outside Valencia created and Valencians reject as inauthentic.

What pejorative name do Valencians give paellas with chorizo and other 'wrong' ingredients?

Valencians dismiss paellas with chorizo or other 'wrong' ingredients as arroz con cosas, 'rice with things', insisting they are not paella at all.

Which British chef's chorizo paella recipe sparked a famous controversy in Spain?

Jamie Oliver's paella recipe included chorizo, which Valencians insist belongs in no paella of any kind.

Which wood traditionally fuels the open fire under a Valencian paella?

Orange tree branches traditionally fuel the fire under a Valencian paella, and they give the rice its characteristic flavour and aroma.

How do diners traditionally eat paella in Valencia?

Straight from the pan: diners skip plates and eat from the paella itself, traditionally with wooden spoons.

What is the prized layer of scorched rice at the bottom of a paella called?

Socarrat takes its name from the Valencian verb socarrar, 'to singe', and Valencians relish those toasted grains.

At which meal do Valencians traditionally eat paella?

Lunch is when Valencians traditionally eat paella, and the dish has long been their natural choice for festive gatherings.

Which fish is a classic choice for the seafood in fideuà?

Monkfish is a classic in fideuà, which a Gandia ship's cook reputedly invented because his rice-loving captain often left the crew without their share.

What is the official Unicode name of the paella emoji?

The paella emoji's official Unicode name is 'Shallow Pan of Food'; it was approved in Unicode 9.0 in June 2016.

Which rice gives Filipino paelya a softer texture than Spanish paella?

Glutinous rice, known locally as malagkit, gives paelya a soft, sticky texture, unlike the al dente grains favoured in Spanish paella.

Which Louisiana dish was influenced by paella?

Jambalaya blends Spanish, West African and French one-pot rice cooking, though some authors argue it is closer to pilaf than to paella.

Which Dominican dish is described as a descendant of paella?

Locrio is possibly a Dominican adaptation of paella, and in the Dominican Republic arroz con pollo itself goes by locrio de pollo.

What makes arros negre black?

Squid ink turns arròs negre black, and although the dish is cooked much like a paella, it is traditionally not called one.

Fideua is a paella-like dish that swaps rice for what?

Pasta noodles replace the rice in fideuà, which is cooked in the same wide, flat pan used for paella.

Paella began as a meal for which workers?

Farmhands cooked it with whatever grew or lived around the rice fields, long before families took it on countryside outings.

What is added to arroz con costra to give it its name?

An egg crust: beaten egg is poured over the rice near the end of cooking, then the dish goes into the oven until the egg sets.

What does 'senyoret' mean in the name of the peeled-seafood rice arroz del senyoret?

Senyoret is Valencian for 'little lord' or young master: the seafood is served already peeled so the pampered diner need not dirty their hands.

What does 'a banda' mean in the name of the fishermen's rice arròs a banda?

A banda means 'apart' or 'on the side': Alicante's fishermen served the rice and the fish separately, getting two dishes from one preparation.

What do Latin American and Filipino 'arroz a la valenciana' use instead of saffron?

Annatto, called achiote or achuete, colours many Latin American and Filipino versions in place of costly saffron, though some cooks use turmeric instead.

Some cooks scatter paella's rice over the fried meat and vegetables in which shape?

A cross is the typical pattern: some cooks scatter the rice this way over the fried meat and vegetables, then pour in the water or broth.

Saffron comes from which part of the Crocus sativus plant?

Saffron is the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus, three crimson threads per flower, each hand-picked and dried.

Roughly how many crocus flowers are needed for a kilogram of saffron?

About 150,000 flowers make a kilogram of saffron, since roughly 150 blooms yield a single gram, and picking that many takes about forty hours of labour.

Spain's La Mancha saffron is famous, but which country grows about ninety percent of the world's saffron?

Iran grows about 90 percent of the world's saffron, and La Mancha's growers won protected status partly to stop Iranian threads being sold as Spanish.

Seafood paella swaps the meat for shellfish and the water for what?

Fish stock replaces water in paella marinera, which also leaves out most of the vegetables found in the Valencian original.

Which botanical fruit is one of paella valenciana's ten basic ingredients?

Tomato is on the list of ten basic ingredients Valencian agriculture officials registered for paella valenciana, alongside olive oil, water, salt and saffron.

Arròs al forn, Valencia's oven-baked rice with chickpeas and black pudding, is cooked in what?

An earthenware casserole is the vessel, and families once carried it to the nearest bakery oven, since homes had no ovens of their own.