Javea and Valencian Paella

A friend of ours, David Kaye, invited us to his finca a few months ago and he cooked us a wonderful paella. We asked David for the recipe. Because he made it look so easy, when he was preparing and cooking it. I thought that I would have a go. Obviously, years of practice. The content, presentation and flavour did not disappoint us, it was marvellous! So, we had some friends around last Sunday and tried to emulate Davids paella recipe.

Of course, there are many variations of the Spanish paella and each region of Spain has their way of cooking and different ingredients. Some paella dishes are fish and rice only, the Valencian paella is 'mixta', meat and fish. Others are cooked with the ink from a squid for flavour. All of them are delicious, if cooked well with fresh ingredients. I have had some restaurant paellas in the past that were too salty or too fishy, others with little or no content. Its not difficult to cook a great dish of meat, prawns, rice and mussels, especially if you have a friend called David, looking after you when asked to give experience and support.

Ingredients for 8 to 10 people.

1 Large red pepper - chopped.

4 ripe tomatoes - chopped.

3 onions - chopped.

1 whole bulb of garlic, chopped.

1 tbs rosemary.

1/2 tsp turmeric.

1/2 tbs paprika.

saffron or colouring.

350 grams pork ribs, chop all the fiollowing into small pieces.

350 grams shoulder of pork.

450 grams chicken.

150 grams chorizo sausage, not the picante, sliced.

150 grams chopped green beans.

15 large uncooked prawns.

1 kl mussels, steam to open.

olive oil.

ground pepper.

1.5 litres chicken stock.

750 grams paella rice.

Davids recipe, using shoulder of pork and pork ribs, tastes great, but I love rabbit and chicken thighs, so I added rabbit pieces. I found the thighs in the fridge the next day, as I forgot to add them....

This was originally a peasants dish, cooked by workers in the fields or on the beach, armed with a large circular dish, fire wood and rice, maybe a recently caught rabbit or chicken and if they were lucky, had fishermen as friends, so prawns and squid were added.

So, here we go.

Heat 6 tbs of olive oil, place the red peppers, tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and turmeric, gently cook and turn this mixture into a jam type consistency, don't burn them.

Place these into a separate saucepan, these will be added later. Add 2/3 tbs olive oil, the meat, cut into say, 2 inch square pieces to the pan, you could add pieces of chicken breasts, but it could dry up too quickly, meat on the bone has more flavour. Add the chorizo slices. Cook the meat slowly, it could take 35 minutes, to cook through to the bone. Depending on the size of your dish, ours was 60cm on a gas ring measuring 50cm. There was enough food to serve 10 -12 people. Once the meat is nearly cooked, add the onions, paprika, try to achieve a brown, golden colour on the meat. Add rice evenly, cook for a further 5 minutes. Now, add the stock, if you don't have the time to make your own, its easier to buy from most supermarkets, introduce the previously cooked peppers and tomatoes. and stir for the last time.

Once bubbling, lay the prawns, green beans on the surface of the now steaming firm mixture. Turn the prawns, without disturbing the paella. Finally add the steamed, cooked, opened mussels, press firmly into the rice. The stock will evaporate and allow all the flavours to soak into the rice. Its now ready to serve! Garnish with slices of lemon and serve. Supply bread and Alioli, as the Spanish like it. Que Aproveche!!

Steve Nott
Javea Casas
http://www.javeacasas.com