{"id":2108,"date":"2025-07-01T19:14:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T19:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/?p=2108"},"modified":"2025-07-02T14:58:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T14:58:00","slug":"beans-paella-only-in-valencia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/beans-paella-only-in-valencia\/","title":{"rendered":"Paella – Valencia’s Signature Dish"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chances are, what you\u2019ve been calling paella all these years was simply a rice dish \u2013 good perhaps \u2013 but not paella. If it had chorizo \u2013 not paella. If it mixed seafood with meat \u2013 not paella.\u00a0 A true paella is made with tomatoes, (garlic), saffron, stock, beans, rabbit (or chicken) and snails, all nestled in an al dente bomba<\/em> rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These ingredients are all found practically at every Valencian\u2019s doorstep. It took a visit to the birthplace of paella \u2013 Valencia \u2013 to learn the nuances of cooking Spain\u2019s most famous dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Beginning . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started traveling to Spain after a column I wrote for my local newspaper referenced growing saffron crocus in the Catskill Mountains so I could make paella. (Saffron is one of the most expensive spices, so I definitely wanted to grow my own.) A Spanish friend forwarded my piece to some people of influence who invited me to attend a forum on the \u201cYear of Gastronomy\u201d in Spain. They liked how I reported on that and the curiosity and gravitas I brought to the journey. They have invited me back many times in the decades since.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Burning the children\u2019s statue during Fallas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But, while I\u2019ve been nearly all over Spain, I was never to Valencia! I\u2019ve wanted to see the City of Arts and Science<\/a> since they started building it twenty-five years or so ago. I also wanted to find out what Spain\u2019s biggest festival \u2013 Fallas, an explosion of fireworks and burning effigies throughout the city \u2013 was all about. And of course I wanted to taste paella on its home turf. Finally, I could.<\/p>\n\n\n

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City of Arts and Science.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Valencia Club Cocina<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I knew how to make paella already, but I visited Valencia Club Cocina<\/a> so chef Zaher could teach me the Valencian way. It is a lively, almost raucous cooking school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n