Click here to read the Spanish version.
José Andrés is one of the best ambassadors of Spanish gastronomy. And especially now with his HBO series where he makes a gastronomic tour of Spain with his daughters. In one of his latest stops, the chef has been in Valencia and, of course, he has shown the star dish of the terreta: the Valencian paella. As it is usual to see a thousand reinterpretations of this traditional dish, José Andrés wanted to make it clear what ingredients must be present in order to identify an authentic paella Valenciana.
It really is a very simple recipe. Although many Spanish restaurants around the world (and also in Spain) call paella Valenciana rice dishes with seafood, peas, chorizo and other “crazy stuff”, as José Andrés explains, this is not true Valencian paella.
To find out, the chef asked a master paella maker what should be included. His answer was simple: authentic paella Valenciana is “the one made with the caldero, with chicken and rabbit, with the garrofón and the bachoqueta (flat green bean).
For the finishing touch, you can add a few sprigs of rosemary and lemon. It’s as simple as that. Paella also comes in other varieties depending on the ingredients included. But an authentic Valencian paella is just as José Andrés explains, and in the United States you can enjoy it at his Jaleo restaurant, which has several locations around the country.
If you want to know more about the history of paella, here you will find everything you need to know about the star dish of Valencian cuisine.
