Paella
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:34 pmAt one of the lunches in a cruise ship, the lady next to me told me she had been in Spain a few times on holidays and she was very fond of Spanish food. Once of the dishes on offer in the menu was paella. With her permission, I took a picture of her dish. I explained to her that there are many variations of paella not only in Spain (more than 1200 variations at the last count), but also they cook paella in Latin America and the Philippines. Let's not count the paellas of any chef or cook that has tried to put “a personal touch” to this iconic dish, I told her. I added that “a true authentic Spanish flavour can only be obtained by using Spanish ingredients, any other substitutes would give you a pale approximation”. When she finished eating, I asked her how was it. She said “the looks were all there, but not the flavours, it’s insipid”.
