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Valencia

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Paella valenciana

Traditional Valencian paella. Presentation may differ from this recipe. Jan Harenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized source thumbnail; display may crop to fit.

Descubre

Valencia’s rice-growing landscape provides the setting for paella valenciana. This version combines rice, chicken, rabbit, and beans in a wide pan, with saffron and a carefully managed fire shaping the result.

La Gente

A thin, even layer helps the rice cook consistently. Once the liquid is added, follow the recipe’s instruction to leave the grains undisturbed. The crisp socarrat at the bottom is a reward of heat control, never a reason to burn the pan.

Sabor

Valencia cooks with saffron, olive oil, and smoke. Rosemary from the hills, sweet pimentón for warmth, garlic in some houses, and the flavor of the fire. The rice takes on the meat and the beans and the stock and gives them back in every grain. There is no heat and very little herb. The point is the rice.

Spice DNA · Smoke medium · Herb low · Sweet none · Heat none · Acid low

Seasonings to explore

Spanish Saffron. The real thing, in threads. Badia sells it. This is the color and the reason.
Paprika. Pimentón dulce, a pinch in the sofrito. Valencia allows it.
Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. A spoon in the sofrito, for the houses that do. Adds a savory garlic base.
Rosemary leaves. A sprig laid on the rice at the end and taken off before serving.
Sazón with Saffron. The colorant that half of Spain actually uses on a weekday. Badia makes one. A Valencian uses saffron on Sunday and this on Wednesday and does not discuss it.

Badia does not sell the pan or the orange wood.

Cocina

Paella valenciana

The ten ingredients, the Sunday way. Thin layer. Never stir. Let it stick.

Serves 6, in a 16 to 18 inch pan

½ cup olive oil
1 chicken, about 3 lb, cut in 12 pieces
1 rabbit, cut in pieces, or 1 lb more chicken thighs
Salt
½ lb flat green beans, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 cup large lima beans, fresh or frozen
2 ripe tomatoes, grated
1 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, optional
1 tsp Badia Paprika
½ tsp Badia Spanish Saffron threads, toasted a few seconds in a dry spoon and crumbled
8 cups water
3 cups bomba rice
1 sprig rosemary, or 1 tsp Badia Rosemary leaves in a tea ball
12 snails, optional, if you are from the right village

Brown the meat. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high. Salt the chicken and rabbit and brown them slowly and thoroughly, 15 to 20 minutes, until deep gold. Do not rush this. The browning is a third of the flavor.
The beans. Push the meat to the edges. Add the green beans and lima beans to the center and cook 5 minutes.
The sofrito. Push the beans out. Add the tomato and garlic to the center and cook until it darkens and the oil separates, 5 minutes. Add the paprika and stir 10 seconds.
Water and saffron. Pour in the water. Add the saffron. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes so the meat and beans make the stock. Taste it. It should be a little saltier than you want.
The rice. Raise the heat to high. Scatter the rice evenly across the pan in a thin layer, stir once to spread it, and never again. Boil hard 8 minutes.
Lower and wait. Reduce to medium-low. Lay the rosemary on top. Cook 10 minutes more, until the liquid has gone below the rice. If the rice is not done and the pan is dry, add a little hot water at the edges.
The socarrat. For the last 1 to 2 minutes, raise the heat. Listen for a crackle. Smell for toast, not burn. Then off.
Rest. Cover with a clean towel 5 minutes. Remove the rosemary. Bring the pan to the table and eat from it with spoons, each person working their own wedge, and whoever gets the socarrat says nothing and is envied.

Pueblos de Valencia

Valencia · El Palmar · El Saler · Sueca · Cullera · Alzira · Xàtiva · Gandía · Dénia · Xàbia · Alicante · Elche · Orihuela · Benidorm · Castellón · Vila-real · Sagunto · Requena · Utiel