I know it’s National Gumdrop Day (and may your day by as gummy as any that has come before it) but I am too distracted to think about gumdrops at the moment. At the moment, all I can think about is paella. Why? Because apparently it is what a lot of people online are thinking about, Googling, and searching for.
I’m aware of the exciting nature of paella. I’ve gone on about it at some length myself in my Ode to Paella but seriously? The Fabulous Foodie webstats seem to indicate a paella trend. A lot of people are searching for paella. Specifically, they seem to be searching for Alton Brown paella. I don’t know why. Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to hear what he has to say about it. I just never have. I’ve never come across an Alton Brown recipe for paella. Plenty of his fellow Food Network stars have them.
At some point last year, Tyler Florence went in search of the ultimate paella. I wish someone would pay me to go in search of the ultimate roast chicken. But I digress. We are talking about paella. Anyway – off Tyler went. He encountered Paella Cubana and Paella Valenciana. But in the end, his journey led him to create The Ultimate Paella Recipe. Ultimate, Tyler? Really? But what about your previous Paella with Seafood, Chicken, and Chorizo? Is this better than that?
Ultimate? Sounds unlikely since everyone at Food Network seems to have addressed paella (except for Alton Brown which we have already discussed).
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- Bobby Flay has his paella throwdown (sounds like a very messy affair) wherein his recipe of choice was Shellfish and Chicken Paella with Saffron Rice Chorizo and Green Peas.
- Rachael Ray (who I candidly admit I don’t care for) has her Perfect Paella (which suffers from the same hubris as Flay’s Ultimate Paella).
- Emeril Lagasse (who alone amongst them I would trust to really understand paella and it’s semi-related food of the gods jambalaya) has his paella recipe as well as his grilled paella mixta.
- Ina Garten has a Hampton’s spin on things with her easy lobster paella
TV is not the only place to find the paella of your dreams. Grab a cup of coffee and peruse a cooking magazine or two. OK, maybe grab a cup of coffee and peruse and cooking magazine website or two. Try One-Hour Shrimp Paella from Bon Appétit or Quick Paella from Gourmet magazine.
You can also check out hundreds – yes, I said hundreds – of paella recipes at recipe round up sites.
- Cooking.com has a round up of paella from various publications such as Outdoor Entertaining and EatingWell Magazine.
- RecipeZaar has over 150 paella recipes.
- RecipeSource has 62 paella to consider – I even saw a microwave based one. Not sure how I feel about that but never say never.
- All Recipes has everything from saffron-scented lobster paella to an increasingly familiar option – vegetarian paella.
So you can see – a plethora of paella awaits you should you venture forth and try this flexible, delicious, highly personal and customizable dish. Just don’t go ask me what Alton Brown thinks because try as I might, I can’t find a place where the two intersect.