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Paella History: Everything You Would Want To Know About This Spanish Special Dish In 1 Place

Lobster Paella

What is the History of Paella?

A lot of people often wonder What´s the Paella History? or When was paella first invented?

The answer to this and other questions in the article below.

They also brought spices that are used to make the dish such as Paprika and Saffron. The rest of the ingredients depended on the area of Spain that you lived. If you were close to the sea, you would have it with fish and seafood, but if you lived inland the ingredients would be meat or rabbit.

But, Why is Paella so important in Spain? Because it was a full meal in the middle of the working day. It was iniatially a dish for farmers and fishermen, since they would only carry parts of the ingredients and the rest was grabbed from nature. Farmers would add meats such as rabbit, lamb and often snails. The spices would join all these flavours together for a nutritious lunch.

PAELLA HISTORY: FARMERS COOKING PAELLA DRAWING
Farmer Preparing Lunch for Everyone

Fishermen would carry the rice, saffron, olive oil, paprika and vegetables to be added to fish and prawns and anything else they had in hand such as crabs or octopus. In both these cases paella would be cooked by one person while the rest of the coworkers kept labouring until it was ready to share with everybody. It was also common that each member would bring an ingredient each day, taking turns.

Women Cooking Paella

There is another unconfirmed story that says the first to make Paella was a man in love with a woman, who cooked a Paella to win her heart. Being a Mediterranean man, he added seafood and fish and some spices to intice her love. Maybe that´s why, even though cooking has been done by women traditionally, men have been cooking paellas since time immemorial, there must be something to this story.

Naming, Etymology, and Paellera

The name Paella goes back to the Latin patella (Knee bone). This is due to the shape of the Paella Pan, which looks like an inverted patella. In Modern Valencian Paella just means pan. Any Pan, regardless of shape and size.

There is an uncorfirmed rumor that the name may come from the shortened spanish word for “Para Ella” (For her) namely Pa´ Ella. Once again romance gets mix in with our spanish paella history.

The word Paella entered the English language through the English-speaking visitors of València during the 20th century.

Paella is popular EVERYWHERE. Of course everyone in Spain loves Paella. Some of the most famous ones are Seafood, Pork, Prawns, Rabbit, Mixed Paella and others. There are literally 1000s of Paella Recipes out there. But also, there is a legion of fans all over the world. The interest for this simple yet elaborate dish keeps growing every year.

Traditional Forged Iron Tripod

Traditional Forged Iron Tripod

Traditional Paella Cooking

The cooking setup was very simple. Firewood, a forged Iron tripod and a Paella pan. Even today, this basic setup is still used this way, especially by families that go to the countryside to spend the weekend. But, most people use a Paella Burner to cook it, due to the better flame control and comfort.

Nowadays, Paella is also served in restaurants as a specialty. A lot of restaurants will offer Paella (or fideuà) in their menu in Spain. The most authentic form of Paella is Paella Valenciana, made with chicken and rabbit meat and green vegetables like beans and artichokes. You can add some alioli on the side.

Seafood and Mixed Paella

The Seafood and Mixed Paella are some of the most popular Paellas in Spain, and it is also known as a Paella mixta. It is a typical Paella from the Valencian community (eastern Spain), which the ancient Arabic recipes have influenced.

The main ingredients of this Paella are rice, seafood, fish, chicken, and rabbit. The combination of elements depends on the seasoning and your taste. You can use any fresh seafood available; clams, mussels, squid are typical.

The meat used to make this Paella is chicken and rabbit. Other types of meat can be included, but they are not typical such as chorizo sausage or pork ear/tail. The most common seafood used to prepare this Paella are prawns, mussels, cuttlefish, and clams. However, you can use any kind of fresh seafood available such as squid or octopus, if you prefer.

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