In Valencia it is worth trying more than the classic paella: restaurant menus list dozens of rice dishes — with meat, fish, seafood or vegetables, cooked over a fire or in the oven, dry or with stock. Each name stands for its own ingredients and way of cooking. Here is how these dishes differ, what to choose and where to try them.
What real Valencian paella is
Paella is a Valencian rice dish cooked in a round, shallow pan. Its history is tied to the countryside around Valencia and to the Albufera, a lagoon surrounded by rice fields. Nobody can name the exact date it appeared, but rice “Valencian-style” already turns up in eighteenth-century written sources, so speaking of a three-hundred-year history is quite reasonable.
The classic Valencian paella — paella valenciana — is made with chicken and rabbit. The combination comes from its rural origins: local rice varieties (bomba, for example), local vegetables and the meat of animals people usually kept at home. Two vegetables are essential: wide green runner beans and garrofó, a large flat white bean with a soft, slightly creamy texture. Tomato, olive oil, salt, rosemary, saffron and sweet paprika complete the list.
Traditional paella does have variations. Sometimes duck replaces the chicken; there is paella with snails, and in winter, in season, with artichokes. These depend on the area, the season and the family recipe.
Saffron gives the rice its aroma and a golden tint. A good paella should not be bright yellow. A very intense, even yellow may come from food colouring. That's no disaster, but if you are served a paella of a delicate “beige” colour, don't be surprised — that is exactly how it should look.
In Valencia paella is traditionally a lunch dish. It is a meal for an unhurried get-together with family or friends, especially at weekends. If you want to follow local custom, plan your paella for the daytime. In traditional restaurants you won't find rice on the dinner menu.
A thin layer of rice and the socarrat crust
The word paella itself means “pan” in Valencian: the dish is named after the vessel it is cooked in. The familiar round paella pan has two handles, a wide base and low sides. This shape lets the rice spread in a thin layer and the extra liquid evaporate. In a finished paella the grains keep their shape and stay separate. Each grain should still have a firm centre.
A thin toasted layer of rice — socarrat — may form on the bottom. Many people love paella above all for its deep flavour and crunch.
Rice in a rectangular tray — the llanda
On restaurant menus you may also see arroz a la llanda, or arroz en llanda. A llanda is a rectangular metal tray, so the name first of all tells you what the rice was cooked in. Paella is traditionally made in a round pan over a fire, while rice in a llanda is usually cooked or finished in the oven. It also lies in a thin layer, but the ingredients vary widely: meat and mushrooms, say, or fish and seafood. There is no single set recipe behind the word llanda.
Rice with seafood: a banda, del senyoret and arroz negro
Valencia, of course, also cooks rice with seafood.
Arroz a banda
One of the best-known seafood rices is arroz a banda. Its origins are linked to fishermen's cooking: fish that wasn't fit for sale went into a rich stock, which was then used to cook the rice. Fish and rice were served separately — hence the name a banda, “on the side”. The heart of the dish was the flavour of the stock soaked up by the rice. Modern restaurants often place the seafood right on top of the rice.
Arroz del senyoret
Arroz del senyoret translates as “the gentleman's rice” or, a little more ironically, “rice for the master”. Its defining feature is convenience: the prawns and mussels are already peeled, the fish is boned, and the squid or cuttlefish is cut into pieces. You can simply eat, without taking the seafood apart with your hands.
Arroz negro
Arroz negro — black rice — is easy to recognise by its colour. Ordinary rice is coloured with cuttlefish ink and cooked in fish stock, usually with pieces of shellfish and sometimes other seafood. The ink affects the flavour too, adding a distinctive taste of the sea. It is often served with allioli, a white garlic sauce, both for flavour and for the striking contrast.
Fideuà: the same pan, but with noodles
Next to the seafood rice dishes you will almost certainly find fideuà on the menu. There is no rice in it at all: its place is taken by short thin noodles cooked in fish stock with fish and seafood. It is usually made in the same wide pan. Fideuà is said to come from Gandia, a town south of Valencia.
Rice from the oven: arroz al horno and arroz con costra
Baking is another important way of cooking rice in Valencian cuisine. Arroz al horno literally means “rice in the oven”. The traditional version is a hearty dish with pork ribs, pork belly, blood sausage, chickpeas, potato and tomato. A whole head of garlic often sits in the middle and turns soft as it bakes. This rice is usually cooked in an earthenware dish.
Arroz al horno was born of thrift: it used the stock, chickpeas and meat left over from cocido or puchero, a meat stew with vegetables and pulses. Today it is often made from scratch, but the combination of rice, rich meat stock and chickpeas has remained its signature.
Arroz con costra — “rice with a crust” — is especially typical of the province of Alicante. It is cooked with meat and local sausages, and towards the end beaten eggs are poured over the top. In the oven the egg rises into a golden cap — the costra, or crust, that gives the dish its name — with rice soaked in meat stock underneath.
Meloso and caldoso: what these words mean on the menu
Finally, the word meloso on a menu describes the texture of the rice. Arroz meloso is juicy and velvety, with a thick stock that the rice starch turns almost creamy. In consistency it sits between dry rice and arroz caldoso, which keeps plenty of liquid stock.
Arroz meloso has no fixed set of ingredients. It may come with seafood, meat, mushrooms or vegetables. It is served in deep pot-like dishes, often with a ladle.
Where to try paella and other rice dishes in Valencia
My choices are Mood Food, Espurnes and Bodega Valencians. Mood Food has both the classic Valencian paella with chicken and rabbit and other interesting combinations. At Espurnes, try the rice in a llanda. At Bodega Valencians, go for arroz meloso or the oven-baked arroz al horno. Be sure to book a table in advance: when you do, you will most likely be asked to choose your rice straight away.
Addresses: Mood Food — Carrer del Pintor Salvador Abril, 7; Espurnes — Carrer de l’Ambaixador Vich, 6; Bodega Valencians — Carrer dels Valencians, 2.
