Seafood Paella

Hello dear beautiful Steemian friends. May your day be easy for you today as you go about your day. Again, I’m sharing with you a delightful dish called “Seafood Paella.” But first, let’s learn together a little history of Paella; where and how it evolved and came about.

Valencia is a province of Spain. There are two official languages spoken in Valencia and these are Spanish and Valencian, which is a Catalan dialect.

In etymology, Paella is a Valencian word from Valencia, a province of Spain. But the word “Paella” is derived from the word “paelle” from an Old French word, and in turn comes from “patella” from the Latin word, which gives all their meaning to mean “pan” which is used for cooking and serving dishes.

While Valencians used the word “paella” for all pans to include specialized pans used for cooking paellas, the majority parts of Spain and all Hispanic America where Spanish language is predominantly spoken the word “paellera” is mainly used for specialized pan whereas “paella” is for a rice dish prepared in it.

During the 10th CE the Moors in Muslim Spain started cultivating rice, hence therefore; the Valencians would often made casseroles of rice, fish, and spices for family gatherings and religious feast, thus establishing the custom of eating rice in Spain. This led to rice becoming a staple by the 15th CE. Afterwards, it became customary for cooks to combine rice with vegetables, beans, and dry cod, providing an acceptable meal for Lent. Along Spain's eastern coast, rice was predominantly eaten with fish.

Spanish food historian named Lourdes March notes that the dish "symbolizes the union and heritage of two important cultures, the Roman, which gives us the utensil and the Arab which brought us the basic food of humanity for centuries.”
In 18th CE, Valencians used calderos, to cook rice on special occasions in the open air of their orchards near Lake Albufera in which during that time the main ingredient was water vole meat together with eel and butter beans. A novelist named Vicente Blasco Ibanez described the Valencian custom of eating water voles in Cañas y Barro (1902), a realistic novel about life among the fishermen and peasants near Lake Albufera.

In late 19th CE changes in Spain’s living standards along with the sociological aspect which gives rise to gatherings and outings in the countryside. This led to a change in paella's ingredients, as well, using instead rabbit, chicken, duck and sometimes snails. This dish became so popular that in 1840, a local Spanish newspaper first used the word paella to refer to the recipe rather than the pan.

The most widely used and complete ingredient list of this era was: short-grain white rice, chicken, rabbit, snails (optional), duck (optional), butter beans, great northern beans, runner beans, artichoke (a substitute for runner beans in the winter), tomatoes, fresh rosemary, sweet paprika, saffron, garlic (optional), salt, olive oil, and water. Poorer Valencians; however, sometimes used nothing more than snails for meat. Valencians insist that only these ingredients should go into making modern Valencian paella.

On the Mediterranean coast, Valencians used seafood instead of meat and beans to make paella. Valencians regard this recipe as authentic. In this recipe, the seafood is served in the shell. A variant on this is paella del senyoret, which uses seafood without the shells.

Later; however, Spaniards living outside of Valencia combined seafood with meat from land animals and mixed paella was born. This paella sometimes called preparacion barroca (baroque preparations) due to the variety of ingredients in its final presentation.

Today, paella’s popularity has spread throughout the world past Spain’s borders. As other cultures set out to make paella, the dish invariably acquired regional influences. Hence, paella recipes went from being relatively simple to a wide variety of seafood, meat, sausage or chorizo, vegetables and with many different seasonings to accompany it. But the most worldwide known recipe is “Seafood paella” (Wikipedia).

This dish is another favorite of mine. It is absolutely delicious. The cooking process is tedious, but worth it. Nevertheless, It's simply elegant, aromatic, savory and flavorful to the taste. Share this delicious dish with love ones, family, and friends. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

½ lb. lobster tails
½ lb. shrimp
½ lb. scallops
½ lb. mussels
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed, divided
4 tbl extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tbl paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp saffron threads
2 tsp dried oregano
1 onion, chopped, divided
2 c. chicken broth, divided
2 c. Arborio rice or any short-grain rice
1 medium red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 tomato, seeded, and chopped
½ c sweet peas
½ c. parsley, chopped
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

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Steps and Procedures:

Lobster tail: In a small boiling pot of 2 cups water with a pinch of salt, immerse the lobster tail for about 2 minutes. Remove, put into a bowl and let it cool down for 3 minutes. Then use a cutting shears to cut the shell and remove the meat, put in a chop board and cut into bite pieces. Discard the shell. Put the meat into a bowl or plate. Set aside.

Shrimp: Remove the shell from the shrimp leaving its tail on and deveined the shrimp. Put into a bowl or plate. Set aside.

Scallops: Wash the scallops and pat dry with paper towels and put into a bowl. Set aside.

Mussels: Wash and clean the mussels. Set aside.

Sautéing Seafood: In a medium sauce pan or medium Dutch pan, heat olive oil over high heat and then consecutively sauté lobster tail pieces, shrimps, and scallops; cook for about 2 minutes, remove and put each one in a plate or bowl and set aside.

Saffron broth: In a small sauce pan, over medium-low, heat one cup chicken broth and saffron threads. Just keep it warm in the saucepan until needed.

Parsley mixture: In a small bowl, combine parsley, 1 tbl olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and garlic. Set aside.

Cooking the Rice: In a large skillet or Dutch pan, heat olive oil medium heat and sauté garlic and onions until soften. Stir in red pepper flakes. Add tomatoes, bell pepper, rice, paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, zest, sweet peas, and saffron broth mixture. Stir in the chicken stock. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to a simmer for 12-15 minutes.

Add the lobster meat, shrimp, scallops, and keep stirring while adding the meat at a time. Then add the mussels on top. Cover and simmer for about 5-6 minutes or until mussels opens up. Remove from heat.

Transfer to a serving plate or just serve straight from the pan. Happy eating and enjoy your meal.

Images: Photographed from my iPhone6+