Paella is a Spanish rice dish that includes different combinations of vegetables and a meat, characteristically seasoned with saffron, but also has other spices depending on the recipe and area in Spain it comes from. It would seem a natural dish, since rice is grown in Spain, and all meats and seafood in some regions are plentiful, that this dish would be a natural. Since there are many workers in the fields, cooking it over an open fire also would be the most practical.
Traditionally the paella would have been prepared over a fire of vine or orange tree prunings but, as chef Alberto Herráiz – who has just published a book entitled Paella and thus has some claim to be an expert on the subject – explains, “the ability to control the degree of heat precisely when cooking over wood or charcoal calls for great skills and forms part of the paellero’s inherited know how. In this video below, you will learn how to cook this sensational paella in your home.