Es verano. Come paella. Sea feliz.

by natalieclaw

A while back, a friend of mine asked if I had a good recipe for paella.

My brain flashed back to every amazing paella I’d eaten in Spain: that first one in Valencia with my family, the one in Barcelona that came as the third course after pan con tomate and a baroque tower of glorious shellfish, the one at the hostel in Granada that was the diameter of a wagon wheel and perched on one tiny burner, the other Barcelona one enjoyed in the sun with a friend from home after an icy trip to Belgium and before an icier trip to Vienna, the opulent one I treated myself to on Easter day in Zaragoza, the one that was a sight for empty stomachs on a jaunt to Granada, and the only homemade one, in Aracena, with two of the best families in the world teaching me how to prepare the dish outside on their farm, just before I left for the states.

Despite my best efforts to pay attention, I don’t completely remember all I was taught on that last paella session. Being my final day in town, surrounded by friends who had become second family, I was too busy being a sap instead of taking diligent notes. And as a general rule, I don’t ever think of my last trip to Spain as my last trip to Spain– I’ll get another tutorial at some point.

So, in short, the answer to the recipe question was surprisingly, no. (Although I did talk a good deal about finding an amazing abuela to adopt me and teach me how to make all Spanish food that has ever existed.. somehow that plan fell through.)

What I can offer, however, are my notes.
These are by no means exhaustive: the very nature of this dish is to improvise with whatever you have available, so these notes are simply some guidelines that I’ve field collected over the years. Paella changes from region to region in Spain; mine is just another variation, Paella Californiana.

Create yours.