Paella is currently an internationally-known dish from Spain. It originated in the fields of a region called Valencia in eastern Spain. Today paella is made in every region of Spain, using just about any kind of ingredient that goes well with rice. There are as many versions of paella as there are cooks. It may contain chicken, pork, shellfish, fish, eel, squid, beans or peppers.

There is an old story saying that the Moorish kings’ servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that the word paella originates from the Arab word baqiyah meaning left-overs. However, linguists believe that the word paella comes from the name of the pan it is made in—the Latin term patella, a flat plate on which offerings were made to the Gods.

The stories of servants creating dishes from the King’s left-overs are romantic, but it is known for certain that it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that modern paella was created in an area around Albufera (a bay south of Valencia). At lunch time, workers in the fields would make the rice dish in a flat pan over a fire. They mixed in whatever they could find—such as snails and vegetables. For special occasions, rabbit and later chicken were added.

Olive oil is basic to paella. So is saffron, a very expensive spice. This precious spice, the dried stigmas of a summer-blooming crocus that is one of Spain’s most important crops (it takes the stigmas of 75,000 crocuses to make one pound of the spice), gives paella and other dishes their characteristic bright yellow color, and more importantly a distinctive flavor. If real saffron is not available, use yellow food coloring plus paprika to give it a sunny yellow color. The type of rice is also critical. The traditional Valencia rice, the one used for paella, is a round, medium-short grain rice. It has a marvelous capacity for absorbing the flavours with which it cooks—chicken, pork, olive oil, seafood, vegetables.

There is nothing more agreeable than a paella picnic, when everyone crams themselves into cars, the boots laden with food and drink, to bump their way down to a favourite beach or up into the mountains. There, wood is gathered for the fire and olives and sausage are nibbled, while discussion rages over the rice, glistening yellow and bubbling in the warm air. It is the most enjoyable of occasions.