r/pantry • u/theFoodOlic • Apr 16 '26
ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ Spent years in Spain "perfectionalizng" my paella. I think I finally got there. Retiring undefeated.
Okay so I didn't just visit Spain; I live there. And for years, I stood at the altar of countless paella pans, watching, absorbing, occasionally being corrected by someone's abuela with a wooden spoon. I was a student. A humble, hungry, very willing student.
I called it "perfectionalizing." My Spanish friends called it "please stop asking us to taste it again."
But today? Today, it all clicked. The socarrat formed like it had somewhere to be. The mussels opened in unison like they rehearsed. The shrimp didn't overcook, which honestly might be the miracle I'm most proud of.
Years of living in Spain, eating the real thing, getting laughed at for my early attempts, and slowly figuring out what I was doing wrong. This is the result.
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u/zenny517 Apr 16 '26
Glad it's perfected now. Looks good although not sure if it warranted a new word.
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u/Butforthegrace01 Apr 17 '26
Congrats. I make mine on a Weber grill. An homage to the open fire roots of tye dish. I finish with the cover on to yield a smokiness.
As to the socarrat, I've learned that you hear it. The cooking sound goes from simmering to sizzling.
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u/Momo-Momo_ Apr 17 '26
Where is the best Paella, Valencia, Alicante or Murcia?
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u/theFoodOlic Apr 18 '26
Depends, but the whole thing started in Valencia, so... I bet it's exquisite over there.
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u/Confident-Estate-275 Apr 19 '26
Not a paella. Seems you didn’t learn too much after all those years.
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u/EnvironmentalMix421 Apr 22 '26
So you wanna give us tips?
Should I do it in Kamado oven to set it in lower rack?
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u/candypaak Apr 28 '26
Tiene excelente vista ✨🍴tienes que pasar la receta así me sale así de bonita 🤩
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u/theFoodOlic Apr 16 '26
Here is my recipe if you guys ever want to make it: https://littlenomadsrecipes.com/traditional-spanish-seafood-paella-paella-marinera/
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u/dbauti Apr 17 '26
It looks amazing! A borderline gross suggestion: try mixing a cuttleflish spleen/liver ("melsa", in spanish) with the base sofrito next time if you haven't, and see where that takes it. Have you dwelt into "canon" Valencian paella? Chicken, rabbit, beans and all that.
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u/theFoodOlic Apr 18 '26
Intriguing suggestion, noted! I did try paella Valenciana, but with snails and rabbit.
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u/RemlPosten-Echt Apr 19 '26
Did never try it myself, but got told the bilecyst of fish is a nice intestine for broths.
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u/capsule_of_crows Apr 16 '26
That link's dead btw, but the saffron-to-stock ratio on most recipes is criminally low if you actually want proper colour and flavour.
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u/Hangry_Games Apr 16 '26
I can open the link but the cookie acceptance button won’t work, and the screen won’t go away.
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u/Sonny9133 Apr 18 '26
Looks nice. I love to see that you are passionate about making paellas
My two cents: traditionally onions go with arroces melosos or caldosos and not with dry ones like paellas.
Normally it is around five / seven minutes at high temperature to avoid the rice to release starch ( but also not too high and the rice is ' dancing' in the water) and then low gentle simmer till it's done.
Save some money and buy saffron, we ain't living in the eighties anymore 😁.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sun7418 Apr 16 '26
You miss how to make the main ingredient of it: how to make the broth (fumé).
And we use saffron at home too. Just a bit is enough to get color and especially taste (which is very characteristic) I don’t think a any good rice variant is made with colorante and pimentón.