PAELLA is named after the PALLERA, a shallow round iron Valencian pan used for cooking this ancient medieval festive shepherd´s and hunter´s national dish of the Iberian Peninsula which comes in a wide variety of styles; coastal takes employing only shellfish, and / or mountain style chicken or feathered game and / or vegetable rice dishes which has become renowned throughout the world.
The world Pallera derived from the Catalan language, where it denotes in English, the word Skillet. The pan is made of metal and / or clay terracotta earthenware.
There are uncountable variations on Paellas, from home to home, restaurant to restaurant and region to region; Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Almeria going south along the Mediterranean Coast of the Iberian Peninsula and then, Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona going north ...
Here is a simplified easy to prepare Paella Valenciana in the USA ...
RECIPE:
1 pound of chicken
8 ounces of pork stew chunks
4 fl. oz. Evoo
2 large sun ripened tomatoes, skinned, seeded and minced
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika called La Pimentón de La Vera ( available in all Latin American Groceries )
3 oz. fresh shelled green sweet peas
4 fl. oz. of fresh green beans
12 fresh clams or mussels
10 oz. short grained arborio Valencian rice ( La Fallera if possible - www.latienda.com )
6 cups of chicken broth
10 threads of saffron threads; steeped in 105 degree farenheit water in a cup
12 Jumbo Shrimp
6 small squid sliced into rings or arcs; thoroughly rinsed and patted dried
halved lemons
2 large red bell peppers sliced into julienne strips
INSTRUCTIONS TO PREPARE ... YIELDS 6 PORTIONS ...
1) SLICE the chicken into chunks and the pork into bite size cubes, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper
2) sauté in Evoo in a paellera or paellera de cazuela ( earthenware ) and add the: tomato, garlic and smoked paprika
3) sauté 2 minutes
4) Now add the peas, the green beans and cook briefly; then, add the Rice
5) add half the boiling chicken broth and cook on simmer until partially absorbed into the rice
6) add half the remaining chicken stock or broth to the rice, simmering; and add the shellfish on top of the rice
7) simmer until the rice is tender; adding remaining chicken broth as needed and then, add the red bell pepper julienne strips, on top in between the shellfish, simmer another 1 1/2 mins. to 2 mins. until cooked through
8) when the dish is done, the rice should still be moist and a chewy tender profile
9) stir seafood / shellfish and serve in clay dishes with lemon wedges for drizzling to taste
SERVE WITH SANGRIA or WHITE SPARKLING WINE, and Crusty warm bread ...
Enjoy a taste of Valencia, Have a nice wkend.