Argh!
I hate being a purist sometimes. Little things just bother me so much, especially when I’m stressed out like I am right now (as i have been for months; something has to give). As many of you know, I make paellas. It’s a birthright and I try to make them well and as traditionally as possible except for that outside over the coals thing because I have no outside or coals in the middle of the city.
I see posts like this, though and they just make me irate. Firstly, paella pans never have tops. Secondly, they shouldn’t be made in the oven. And thirdly, it’s not considered right to mix seafood and land animal meat (ie. chicken and seafood). It’s just not the way plus it creates an ingredient problem because if you make a seafood paella, you should use shrimp or fish stock and for a chicken or pork dish, you should use chicken stock. Chicken stock is a bit strong for something like seafood. And fourthly and most importantly, what in God’s name are you doing making paella with long-grain rice??? If you can’t find Calasparra, use arborio or some other short or medium grain.
And there’s one more thing. The sofrito gets the paprika, not the chicken. And make sure it’s smoked Spanish de la Vera paprika for the best results.
Posted on August 5th, 2008 under Food • 
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August 15th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
You have your way of making Paella and I have mine. Why are you getting so mad about. I like long grain rice so be it. Did you see how the spanish people cook their paella. They do have meat (chicken or rabbit) with seafood. By the way cooking is very personal as long as I make my family happy. There are hundred and thousand of paella recipe out there and they are all different !!!
August 16th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Hey, babe, usually strangers I’ve never met don’t care so much about what pisses me off and what doesn’t. Thanks for taking interest. Of course I can’t know this from a post online, but you sound genuinely distressed. It makes me wonder what my full list of pet peeves would do to you.
You can do whatever you want in your kitchen. No one’s stopping you. You can even make mojitos without rum, baklava without honey, pesto without olive oil. It’s a free country. Have at it.
This was posted on a Saturday night. Go have a beer.