Perhaps the most enjoyable way to indulge in food and wine is to follow the example of the Mediterranean style of
sun-drenched alfresco dining with a huge wooden table covered with a spectacular assortment of colourful platters, bowls
of torn bread, bottomless jugs of wine, sauces and dips.
The modern Paella evolved in the 19th century in Spain's Valencia region and is known as, not surprisingly, Paella Valenciana and is made with white short-grain rice, green vegetables, meat (usually rabbit), snails, beans and local saffron - and usually has a crispy, burnt bottom called 'socarrat' that is considered a delicacy. Most people think of Paella as a national Spanish dish, yet in Spain it's often considered to be a regional Valencian dish. There are now many Spanish versions such as Paella de Marisco (made with seafood) and Mixed Paella (with both meat and seafood) and is the very specific variety from the Basque region. Paella is now very much an International dish and there are endless variations throughout the world (much to the chagrin of my Spanish friends) so I had no qualms at all of creating my own version. My first lesson in Paella making was from an English friend, Bernard Shuck, who lived with his wife Maggie in their villa at Moraira in the Costa Blanca. Bernard and I were great cooking chums and we once jointly created an exorbitant 7-course seafood extravaganza for the four of us at an apartment overlooking the river at Looe in Cornwall. So, straight in at the deep end, and a month or two later and I was cooking up my very first attempt in our garden at home, entirely to Bernard's instructions, to a few rather worryingly Spanish friends who may have known a thing or two about Paella. However, it was a great success and the only bad press I received was not actually about my overall cooking of the dish but concerned regional differences and the ingredients (someone from the Basque country versus someone from Barcelona). Hmm…can't win them all. But I thought it was a great achievement to receive an all-round thumbs up from a very discerning bunch who I expected to be ultra critical and so, with full approval of the Home Country I began to develop the dish – a little more International perhaps, and a little more elaborate. And after maybe 20 or so, increasingly larger, outdoor attempts, here is my now famous Paella Bosque… PAELLA BOSQUE Here we have a basic Valenciana but with many differences. Firstly, we have a mix of meat and seafood (something that many a Spaniard would baulk at), secondly a very serious well-made stock (in Spain they often use merely water, but as anyone who cooks Risotto knows, the stock is the major player), and thirdly, I have added a garnish of Stuffed Mussels. INGREDIENTS (for 10-16 people) For the Stock: 1 large Onion, 1 large Carrot, 1 stick Celery all finely diced
The bones & carcass of a medium sized 3lb Chicken
1 Bouquet Garni
200ml White Wine (preferably full bodied medium dry)
3 or 4 litres water For the Stuffed Mussels: 2 kilos small live Mussels
2 Shallots (diced)
3 cloves Garlic (crushed)
2 tbsp fresh Parsley
400 ml White Wine (preferably full bodied medium dry)
50g unsalted Butter
1 tbsp Parsley (finely chopped)
Freshly ground Black Pepper For the Stuffed Mussels stuffing: 150g unsalted Butter
2 Shallots (finely diced)
3 cloves Garlic (finely diced)
75g Parmesan (finely grated)
Handful of course Breadcrumbs
1 tbsp Parsley (finely chopped)
Freshly ground Black Pepper
Olive Oil For the Paella: 1 or 2 kilos Arborio Rice (depending on pan)
1 Onion – finely diced
1 x 3lb Chicken
1 large Chorizo
2 dozen large Tiger Prawns (ie Black Madagascan)
4 or 5 small Squid
Peeled Prawns (250g pack)
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Red Chilli (finely diced)
1 pint of fresh Clams
1 x 400g tin Pimientos
100g Petits Pois
100g Sweet Corn
Olive Oil – plenty!
5/6 cloves Garlic – finely crushed
Lemon juice
2 tbsp Brandy
400 ml White Wine (preferably full bodied medium dry)
Large pinch of Saffron 1 tbsp Turmeric
Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper For the Garnish: Peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 green)
2 large Lemons
Bunch of Parsley
½ cup of Pitted Black Olives THE PREPARATION 1. Prepare the Mussels. Clean all the mussels thoroughly, discard any that are cracked or not tightly closed when tapped, remove all the 'beards' and any grit. Soak the mussels in fresh, cold water for at least 30 minutes and then remove them by hand into a fresh bowl (not through a sieve) checking that they are all clean and alive - and store chilled until ready for cooking. 2. Prepare the Mussels Stuffing. Put 1 tsp of Olive Oil and 1 tsp Butter into a frying pan and when bubbling, add the Shallots. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes until soft then add the Garlic. Cook for a further 1 minute – remove from the heat. Soften the remainder of the Butter gently in a bowl and add the Shallot & Garlic mix. Then add the Parmesan, Parsley and enough Breadcrumbs to create a stiffish, crumbly mix. Store chilled until needed. 3. Prepare the Mussels stock. Put the Butter into a large saucepan and when it begins to sizzle add the Shallots and cook gently for a minute. Add the Garlic, Parsley, White Wine and Pepper. Leave to cool and leave until needed. 4. Prepare the Chicken. Remove all the meat from the Chicken and cut into large chunks. Put the Chicken into a flat bowl, add 1 or 2 cloves of crushed Garlic, a tsp of Salt, a few grinds of Black Pepper and the Brandy. Massage into the meat and cover with cling film. Store chilled until needed. 5. Prepare the Tiger Prawns. Remove the long 'feelers' and place in a large bowl. Add the Chilli and Balsamic Vinegar and mix well. Cover in cling film and keep chilled until needed. 6. Prepare the Stock. Remove any skin from the Chicken bones. Finely dice the Onion, Carrot & Celery. Have ready the Bouquet Garni, White Wine and the water. 7. Prepare the Vegetables. Have ready the Rice, Onion, Garlic, Petits Pois, Sweet Corn and Pimientos. 8. Prepare the Seafood. Clean the Squid thoroughly, slice into thick rings place in a bowl and add a little Lemon juice. Keep chilled. Rinse the Clams, ensure that the Prawns are thawed and drained and keep all chilled. 9. Prepare the Chorizo. Cut the Chorizo into 5mm slices and store until needed. 10. Prepare all Other Bits. Put the Saffron into a cup and add half full with hot water – keep until needed. Have ready the Olive Oil, White Wine, Turmeric, Salt & Pepper. 11. Prepare the Garnish. Slice all the Peppers into thin slices, put 2 tbsp of Olive Oil in frying pan and cook gently until soften. Drain and keep until needed. 12. Cut the Lemons into 4/5mm slices, remove any pips, add a little Olive Oil to the same pan and cook the Lemons until slightly coloured. Drain and keep until needed. 13. Roughly chop the Parsley, keep in a bowl and have ready the Black Olives. THE FIRST COOKING 1. Cook the Mussels "moules mariniere' style. Bring the Mussel stock to the boil, drop in all the Mussels, cover and leave for 3 or 4 minutes until they've all opened. Strain them off (discard the stock, it will be salty and gritty) and cool very quickly in iced water. Once chilled, twist off half the shells leaving the Mussels attached to the other half. Discard any that are not fully open. Take the Stuffing mixture and scrape a spoonful onto each Mussel so that it covers the flesh completely. Put them onto a cold baking tray, keep chilled until needed. (note that if you are going to use them in the next 30 minutes or so just keep them cool but it you need to keep them longer they should be very well chilled). 2. Cook the Stock. In a large saucepan or stockpot, pour in a tbsp of Olive Oil and add the Onion, Carrot and Celery. Cook fairly fast for about 15 minutes until the vegetable start to caramelize heavily and there is a very strong, sweet smell. Add the Wine (it should 'explode' with noisy steam!) and quickly deglaze the sticky pan base. Then add the Water, Bouquet Garni and all the Chicken, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain all the Stock from the pan and keep cool (or well-chilled if you need to keep it for a while) You never really know how much Stock you're going to need, so I often cook a second batch using the same, already used, ingredients (like a second 'pressing' of Olive Oil!) which gives you a back-up batch of thinner Stock, not as good as the original but far better than water if you need it! THE FINAL COOKING OK, you're ready to go, everything is now prepared, the Paellera is set up, all the ingredients are to hand and all your guests are watching and waiting for the 'theatre' to start. The final cooking of Paella Bosque has three stages; the main cooking of the Paella, the cooking of the Mussels and the final finishing flourish with Garnish, so here we go… 1. Once the pan is hot, add enough Olive Oil to cover the base to a depth of 2 or 3 mm – and when the oil is beginning to fizzle add the Tiger Prawns. Cook well for 5 or 6 minutes, turning them 2 or 3 times until they've changed from their deep Indian Ocean blue to a rich reddy orange. Put into a dish, cover in foil and keep warm 2. If necessary, add a little more oil to the pan - add the Onions and cook for 2 minutes until translucent, then add the Chorizo and cook for a further 2 minutes (these all flavour the oil). 3. Add the Garlic and the Chicken, turning quickly so that it's sealed all around, and be careful as it's been sitting in Brandy all night and may well flambé! Then add the Pimientos, Petits Pois and Sweet Corn. 4. Add the Squid and cook quickly until it's slightly coloured. 5. Push all the ingredients to the outer edge of the pan leaving a big space in the middle and add the Rice in pile. Turn the Rice quickly over & over for a minute or two until it's all coated in oil – then pour on the Saffron liquid, a sprinkling of Turmeric, a teaspoon of Salt and a good grind of Pepper - then bring in all the outer ingredients and mix thoroughly – like making cement! 6. Spread all the mixture evenly across the pan, sprinkle the Clams across the mix and add enough Stock to cover it completely and leave it bubbling away gently. 7. In the meantime – cook the Mussels and there are two ways. If you have access to the kitchen (i.e. a cooker) you can pop the tray of Mussels under a hot grill and cook them until brown and slightly crusty – cover in foil and keep warm in a low oven. Another method I devised when miles from anywhere (i.e. beside a river!) is to heat up one of those little disposable BBQs, put the tray of chilled Mussels on top to heat through the bottom of the tray and blow-torch the top. Same result but more theatrical! 8. Keep a constant eye on the Paella, occasionally topping it up with extra Stock (always keep it slightly covered and moist) and cook for about 30 minutes. Occasionally, using a large spatula, turn the mix all round from the outside to the inside to help cook all the Rice evenly (remember, it's only the Rice that's cooking – everything else is already cooked) 9. Taste the Rice regularly until the grains are swollen and soft, and adjust the seasoning as you go. Forget those two Italian words 'al dente'. Paella rice should be, in my opinion, well cooked! 10. After about 30 minutes of cooking (longer if necessary) and the Rice is soft, puffed and slightly sticky, and the Stock has been almost entirely absorbed, but still moist, and you can begin to decorate – quickly. 11. Take the Peppers and sprinkle half of them over the pan. 13. Take the Tiger Prawns and position them in a ring all around the outside of the mix and perhaps another smaller ring in the middle. 14. Sprinkle the rest of the Peppers over the top and scatter the cooked Lemon slices, Parsley and Olives around the pan. 15. Finally, scatter the Mussels (all face up!) around the top. 16. Take a large circle of foil (pre-made – 2 pieces joined up and cut to a circle a little larger than the pan) lay it over the dish folding the edges up carefully as it will be hot, turn off the heat and leave to steam for 2 or 3 minutes. 17. Remove the foil – and voila! (or whatever the Spanish equivalent is) often to rapturous applause. So there we go – another masterpiece – and another bunch of Happy Eaters. And to make this a real mixed Mediterranean spectacular, serve with a bucket of Sangria, a Greek Salad (of coarsely chopped cucumber, tomatoes, olives, red onions, feta cheese, parsley and a rich dressing) and torn up French Bread. All you need now is a bunch of good friends…and the sun! __________________________________________________________________________________________________ From the 'never to be published' book, COOKING IN A CUPBOARD