Did you know the origin of the term "paella", derived from the Latin "patella", which means "pan"? In the Valencian, Balearic and Catalan dialects, this famous dish takes its name from there.
Have you wondered if it is correct to say "paella" or "paellera"? According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the correct term is "paella", referring to both the rice dish characteristic of the Valencian region and the pan in which it is prepared.
Rice, a cereal cultivated approximately 7,000 years ago in China and India, reached the Mediterranean from Persia thanks to the Greeks. The Romans spread its cultivation throughout their empire, although its use as food was not so common in ancient times.
In the 8th century, the Arabs introduced the cultivation of rice to Spain, learned during their stay in Persia. Although some indications point to the Phoenicians as the first cultivators in the Iberian Peninsula, it was the Arabs who extended its cultivation.
When James I liberated Valencia in 1238, rice was already being grown around the city, around a lagoon.
In 1334, the "Consell" of Valencia prohibited runoff for rice due to the health problems it caused.
Did you know that it takes about 5,000 grains of rice to make one serving of paella? This cereal, Oryza Sativa, originally from Asia, is the basis of the diet of half of the world's population today.
The use of saffron in rice is first recorded in the 16th century, mentioned by Rupert de Nola in a recipe book.
During the 19th century in Valencia, there was an expansion in the land dedicated to rice cultivation, which affected the surface of the Albufera lake.
It was in the 19th century that paella, as we know it today, took shape in the Valencia region. With industrialization, steel dishes become more accessible, and Valencians add ingredients such as vegetables, snails, chicken, rabbit or duck, taking advantage of the region's wealth.
