Paella

Paella
	Valencian paella
Course	Main course
Place of origin	Spain
Region or state	Valencia
Associated cuisine	Valencian cuisine, Spanish cuisine
Serving temperature	warm
Main ingredients	Short-grain rice, chicken, rabbit, vegetables, green beans, garrofons, saffron
Similar dishes	Paelya (in Philippines), Fideuà
	Cookbook: Paella; Media: Paella;

Paella (/paɪˈɛlə/,^[1] /pɑːˈeɪjə/,^[2] py-EL-ə, pah-AY-yə, Valencian: [paˈeʎa]; Spanish: [paˈeʝa]) is a rice dish originally from the Valencian Community. Paella is regarded as one of the community's identifying symbols.^[3]^[4] It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.

The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire, paella being the word for a frying pan in Valencian/Catalan language. As a dish, it may have ancient roots, but in its modern form, it is traced back to the mid-19th century, in the rural area around the Albufera lagoon adjacent to the city of Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.^[5]

Paella valenciana is the traditional paella of the Valencia region, believed to be the original recipe, and consists of Valencian rice, olive oil, rabbit, chicken, saffron or a substitute, tomato, ferradura or flat green bean, lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), salt and water.^[6] The dish is sometimes seasoned with whole rosemary branches. Traditionally, the yellow color comes from saffron, but turmeric and Calendula can be used as substitutes. Artichoke hearts and stems may be used as seasonal ingredients. Most paella cooks use bomba rice, but a cultivar known as senia is also used in the Valencia region.^[7]

Paella de marisco (seafood paella) replaces meat with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables, while paella mixta (mixed paella) combines meat from livestock, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans, with the traditional rice.

Other popular local variations of paella are cooked throughout the Mediterranean area, the rest of Spain, and internationally.

^ "paella". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
^ "paella". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^ Canela, Joan (24 September 2023). "La paella com a símbol d'identitat però també d'acollida". La Veu del País Valencià (in Catalan). Retrieved 2 March 2024. ... la paella és segurament el principal tret identitari que uneix (o no) els habitants d'aquest raconet del món entre el Sénia i el Segura. [... paella is probably the main identity trait that unites (or not) the inhabitants of this corner of the world between the Cenia and Segura [rivers]. (i.e. Valencians)]
^ Panadero, Amparo (11 March 2019). "La paella valenciana quiere ser Patrimonio de la Humanidad". Diario16 (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2020. En el caso de la paella valenciana, se trata de una tradición culinaria y social que constituye un icono de hospitalidad y un símbolo de unión e identidad valencianas ...
^ "Info about Paella on About.com". Spanishfood.about.com. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
^ Vidal-González, P.; Medrano-Ábalos, P.; Sáez Álvarez, E.J. (March 2022). "A nightmare glocal discussion. What are the ingredients of Paella Valenciana?". International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. 27: 5. doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2021.100430. Our study confirms the existence of 10 basic ingredients, which appear whenever it is cooked in the homes of the 277 towns and cities of the Province of Valencia, the origin of the recipe. Nine of them are used more than 90% of the times and the tenth, rabbit, is used in 89% of cases. These 10 ingredients are olive oil, saffron or substitute colouring, tomato, chicken, ferradura or flat green bean, lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), rabbit, rice, salt and water.
^ "Senia Rice". Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[1] "paella". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.

[2] "paella". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

[3] Canela, Joan (24 September 2023). "La paella com a símbol d'identitat però també d'acollida". La Veu del País Valencià (in Catalan). Retrieved 2 March 2024. ... la paella és segurament el principal tret identitari que uneix (o no) els habitants d'aquest raconet del món entre el Sénia i el Segura. [... paella is probably the main identity trait that unites (or not) the inhabitants of this corner of the world between the Cenia and Segura [rivers]. (i.e. Valencians)]

[4] Panadero, Amparo (11 March 2019). "La paella valenciana quiere ser Patrimonio de la Humanidad". Diario16 (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2020. En el caso de la paella valenciana, se trata de una tradición culinaria y social que constituye un icono de hospitalidad y un símbolo de unión e identidad valencianas ...

[Info_about_Paella_on_About.com-5] "Info about Paella on About.com". Spanishfood.about.com. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2010.

[Vidal-González_et_al_2022-6] Vidal-González, P.; Medrano-Ábalos, P.; Sáez Álvarez, E.J. (March 2022). "A nightmare glocal discussion. What are the ingredients of Paella Valenciana?". International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. 27: 5. doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2021.100430. Our study confirms the existence of 10 basic ingredients, which appear whenever it is cooked in the homes of the 277 towns and cities of the Province of Valencia, the origin of the recipe. Nine of them are used more than 90% of the times and the tenth, rabbit, is used in 89% of cases. These 10 ingredients are olive oil, saffron or substitute colouring, tomato, chicken, ferradura or flat green bean, lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), rabbit, rice, salt and water.

[7] "Senia Rice". Retrieved 27 August 2021.

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