Do local restaurants serve good paella?
They vary enormously because the dish is a cheat’s charter. Some restaurants take short cuts with yellow dye instead of expensive saffron, use ingredients for decoration instead of flavour, and go for speed heating rather than slow cooking. So, how can you spot genuine paella? • Beware of paella served in individual pans; it’s often nothing more than pre-prepared microwaved fast food. Go for a communal paellera with everyone tucking in at the same time. • The rice should have a crunchy taste from the crust at the bottom called socarrat. This is the slightly burnt juice of the meat and vegetables where all the flavour resides. • Fat juicy bomba rice is the key ingredient to a traditional paella Valenciana. The special starch grains are structured like an accordion. In the cooking process they fan out to absorb the precious stock from the rabbit, chicken and other ingredients. • Don’t be fooled by pictures of paellas stacked high with fancy seafood. If the rice isn’t tasty, it will be an
