València has always been proudly and fiercely determined to protect its status as the home of the traditional paella. Nevertheless, at least once a year, in September, the region and its three provinces (including Alicante) promote a less stringent international interpretation of the famous rice dish, in commemoration of World Paella Day.
Paella will also be one of the many culinary delicacies on the menu when the Alicante Gastronomic Fair is held from tomorrow (29 September) to 2 October.
Titled “Alma Mediterránea” (“Mediterranean Soul”) this year’s Feria Gastronómica Alicante will bring together 250 exhibitors and restaurants with more than 60 Michelin stars and 100 Repsol “Soles” in 20 different locations throughout the Costa Blanca.
The main programs will include show cooking displays, wine and food tastings, seminars and workshops, as well as the National Potato Omelette Competition (“tortillas de patatas”) and other special competitions celebrating the best “tapas con salazón” (salt-preserved tapas), rice dishes, wines, Elche dates, “monas y toñas” (cakes and pastries), Vega Baja artichokes, meat-based broths and Xixona turrón (nougat).
But returning to paella… According to the organisers, the main aim of World Paella Day on 20 September is “to recognise the most universal example of Spanish gastronomy. A day in which Valencians share our great dish with the rest of the world to celebrate, beyond recipes and ingredients, the internationality of the paella. A meal of humble Valencian origin that has transcended all borders. With eight million yearly searches on the internet, it is the fourth most important dish on the planet.”
A hard act to follow, but 12 chefs from around the world – Poland, Ecuador, Italy, Colombia, India, Germany, Japan, Mexico, United States, France, Morocco and Romania – accepted the challenge and competed in the fourth annual edition of the World Paella Day Cup.
The objective is to recognise and honour the origins of València’s paella while also encouraging the participating chiefs to incorporate their own techniques and ingredients. This led to one particularly intriguing dish including black truffles from Transylvania, pastrami, coconut milk, black garlic compote and Andean potatoes.
In the end, however, it was Japan’s Kohei Hatashita who lifted the trophy, with his winning rice dish comprising orange-flavoured duck, garlic and leek as the main ingredients, after he had reached the final with a paella that included eels and mushrooms.
València’s Classic Paella Recipe
Of course, the last word on paella – which has been officially declared a “Bien de Interés Cultural” (cultural heritage asset) – has to come from València itself.
According to tourism authorities at Visit València, an authentic paella is made using rice grown in the l’Albufera de València area and other local ingredients, and cooked in a two-handled pan over a flame.
The most traditional paella is cooked with chicken, rabbit and garden vegetables such as “ferradura” green beans and “garrofó” lima beans, although some areas of the region use snails, artichokes, red pepper, duck and even meatballs.
For the purists, anything else is simply “rice with things”.
