Pile on the Paella
Any excuse for a party! That’s the Spanish! They are lucky to be blessed with good weather and so, they use any pretext, any festival in their crowded calendar to have a party. Every neighbourhood, hamlet, village, town and city boasts its own festivals, yes I am using the plural as each one celebrates something at least every quarter. It may be a saint’s day, a national holiday, a bountiful harvest, a birth or even a death. Anything at all in fact, and out come the tables, chairs, the barbeque or the paella pan. Let the fiesta begin!
Although each part of Spain has its own regional dish, Paella is usually the one that is widely used in festivals as it is a fairly easy dish to prepare outdoors.
In the North, where the weather is often similar to Britain, Galicia and Asturias boast lots of sauces and Atlantic seafood.
In the Pyrenees, by the French border, a popular dish is chilindrón, a sort of meat casserole which always includes sautéed peppers, tomatoes and onions.
The region of Cataluña is famous for its cazuela or zarzuela, a simple stew that can have anything for main ingredients from meats to fish.
Andalucía, in the South is famed for its fried fish. Bars will always offer you a tapa with your drink. It could be a slice of Spanish omelette or a pincho which is anything on a small skewer.
Castilla-Leon in central Spain, the daily diet is dominated with roast meats and cocidos another variation of the cazuela.
Valencia, where rice is grown in abundance, is famous for the popular Paella Valenciana.
Whereas in small neighbourhoods, people get together to cook it in a household pan called paellera, in larger gatherings, town councils usually hire professional catering companies to feed hundreds if not thousands of hungry fiesta goers.
Last October, while visiting the Costa Blanca, we happened to stumble on one of these village fiestas in San Miguel de Salinas. We arrived as the chefs began lighting a wood fire under a giant paellera. Unlike the mad foreign tourists standing in the blazing autumn sun, the locals were settled inside a large marquee laden with long tables and benches. Many had brought their own food and drink and sat there chattering loudly as only Spaniards do, and chomping away on various nibbles. A few had brought their own disposable barbecues and were already grilling meats and fish at the back of the marquee. The ingenious ones had dragged in a wheelie bin full of bottles, cans, water and ice.
I was very interested in watching the chefs cook the paella over the fire. I could tell by their calmness that they had done this on numerous occasions. Once the chicken pieces and vegetables were cooked, they added the rice and left the paella to bubble away as the fire began to die down. Over the years, I have watched various YouTube videos on paella making and every single one is different, but as long as the result is the same, who cares?
We joined an orderly queue of locals, tourists and expats and were handed a paper plate full to the brim with steaming paella and juicy chicken. I rushed to a nearby bar and bought a couple of beers to accompany the meal. I promised myself to be better organised next time and do as the locals do; bring along a cool bag full of goodies.
