Paella

[JEBar]

last summer we have had the pleasure to camp twice with couple from California .... with us leaving for home the following morning they offered to cook Paella for us .... OK, I admit that until they mentioned it, I'd never heard of it .... below are some pictures of the special burner, pan and the building of the meal .... I just looked it up and it appears that its a big deal in many areas .... for a quick look at some info about it, check out this link ===> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella .... per Google, Paella has a pretty good size following with bunches of recipes and some very specific cooking equipment .... some of their cooking pots and burners are 4' or more in diameter .... I won't even pretend to know the recipe or how to cook what's shown below .... if anyone has any experience with this type of cooking and/or recipes, please post about it

[clovishound]

I had some paella in Spain many years ago. Ordered it at a small bar/grill. He tried to warn me that it has a strong flavor that not everyone likes. I was very good. Of course, over there they are firm believers in "hair teeth and eyeballs" when it comes to seafood. As I remember, the small mussels were particularly tasty.

[JEBar]

the one shown above was OK .... it did have at least one spice that I could have done without but that's a matter of preference .... we found it to be interesting and it was a fun way to spend some time visiting while the food was cooking

[CT_Shooter]

That looks really good, JEBar.

While in High School, I was dating the sweet girl that would later become my wife. She once prepared Paella as a special dinner just for me. She made it in her parents' kitchen and it wasn't anything like what your CA friends prepared last summer, but it was very special and, as I recall, very good.

Thanks for the jogging those memories.

[daytime dave]

I also had it in Spain. It was a wonderful regional dish there. It came tableside in a huge copper pan twice the size of that one in your photographs. We were on the coast, so it was jammed full of seafood. I liked it. Very true about "all in" as far as the seafood. It was a very visual presentation like your friends made. It was lots of rice. I think healthy doses of saffron as well. We were on an organized type tour and that was a side trip to the small coastal village. We have the pottery and still use it produced by local artisans from the area.

[RetiredSeabee]

We lived in Spain for three years. Had a lot of Paella from different regions. All different and all good it was considered camping food. Easy to make in a single pan. And made with whatever was available in the area. I made some pretty good ones and still do. The first year I made one for a celebration at work most of the crew were Spanish. For the next event they asked me to make Paella again. It became a tradition for me after that.

[ditto1958]

Was at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic about 10 years ago. It was lunch time, and we noticed people lining up for something. Turned out it was paella day, and it was kind of a big deal there that people looked forward to. I got in line and got a nice big plate of it, and wow, was it ever good.

I've always meant to try my hand at making it, but haven't gotten around to it yet.