Arròs amb faves

Arròs amb faves en paëlla

This post is related to the one I finished a few days ago about Deli-berico (link) and, like that piece, this one had hung around half-finished and on the back-burner for some time. The nature of the relationship between this and the one on Deli-berico is simply that many of the things involved in the making of the dish shown below were, in fact, purchased at that Spanish delicatessen.



Back this past summer I bought at Deli-berico a genuine paëlla, that is, one of the flat metal pans traditionally used in Valencia to produce the famous rice dish which is now known by the same name. To make the dish ‘paëlla’ it is not necessary to have that particular style of pan, but there are some features of this cooking vessel which make it easier to produce the dish in the way that Valencians have come to expect it. Specifically, the thinness of the paëlla allows for relatively easy scorching of the rice on the bottom, that is, for the creation of the famous socarrat. But if scorching is easy, so too burning, and I have found that proper use of the paëlla demands some experience, and so each time I’ve used this pan, the results have been better than on previous occasions.

One of the various rice dishes I’ve made with my paëlla was one featuring Mallorcan sobresada and fresh fava beans. I started the dish by gently frying some of the sobresada and, after a couple minutes, adding to it a sofregit of onion, celery and garlic:


After cooking the sofregit, I added first a little chopped tomato and, after another few minutes of cooking, the favas:


When this part of the dish was sufficiently cooked, I added the liquid, which was comprised of a glass of hot water in which I had steeped some saffron, and then an appropriate larger dose of water for the cooking of the Valencian short-grain rice. Once the liquid in the pan comes to the boil, the rice is added (with a motion making the sign of the cross). The rice is allowed to cook in the boiling liquid at high heat for about five or six minutes; then, the heat is turned to low and the rice finishes cooking at a simmer for a further 14 to 15 minutes:


One must needs take care to develop an even socarrat all around the pan and to prevent the centre from burning excessively. Here, the displaced rice at the centre of the pan reveals the developing socarrat:


As can be seen here, there was a layer of socarrat across almost the entire pan and it all tasted sufficiently good that none was left:


I’ve made virtually the same dish a couple of other times, but then with different beans. On one occasion, I made it with pinto beans and that was very delicious. On another occasion, I made the dish with the Puerto Rican favourite, gandules, and that was quite good as well.


More on dishes en paëlla anon.

Bon profit!
Antonius

A,

We have paella made in a paella once a year (it is always my birthday request). The Wife usually adds peas, but never any other type of legume, and I like the idea of fresh fava (peas, in fact, sometimes tend to mush in a way that I don't think favas would).

The sofrit reminded me of your answer to the question last weekend about why Mexican cuisine seems not to have developed the vegetable stew in the style of ratatouille, etc. Your response, I believe, was that Mexican cooking techniques did not seem to accomodate this dish (hope I'm characterizing your response accurately). This seems reasonable, I guess, but given the amount of available vegetables, fast days, poverty, lack of meat, etc., in Mexico, is it not a little surprising that such a dish did not develop, even without a sofrit, etc.? At least, I'M surprised. Or are we, perhaps, overlooking a Mexican dish that is very similar to the vegetable stews of Europe.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:The sofrit reminded me of your answer to the question last weekend about why Mexican cuisine seems not to have developed the vegetable stew in the style of ratatouille, etc. Your response, I believe, was that Mexican cooking techniques did not seem to accomodate this dish (hope I'm characterizing your response accurately). This seems reasonable, I guess, but given the amount of available vegetables, fast days, poverty, lack of meat, etc., in Mexico, is it not a little surprising that such a dish did not develop, even without a sofrit, etc.? At least, I'M surprised. Or are we, perhaps, overlooking a Mexican dish that is very similar to the vegetable stews of Europe.

Hammond

David:

I don't remember exactly how the question was phrased but the gist of it was, methinks, whether there were any sauces of tomato involving a sofrito in pre-Columbian Mexican cookery. My response was that the use of fats as cooking medium was at best exceptional if not wholly absent from pre-Columbian cooking in Mexico: they did not fry. Now, since all the Western Mediterranean Vegetable stews start with a soffritto/sofrito/sofregit (and share that selfsame base with the older offal stews), they and more generally the Ibero-Italian treatment of tomatoes that developed after the tomato's introduction to Europe cannot in any direct way be traced back to native Mexican cooking.

But as I said at the talk, the combination of onions and tomatoes and ají was observed as a raw salsa in the New World and perhaps that suggested to Europeans the appropriateness of this combination in their own cooked versions.

Vegetable stews of the sort I wrote and spoke on are made in Latin America but they are clearly imports from Spain that came back over the course of the prolonged colonial relationship. This fact perhaps lends some further support to my view that the developments I spoke of occurred earlier than generally thought, though I haven't had a chance to look into that matter yet in any detail. I have in mind here the fact that a dish in the repertoire of Columbia is alboronía, a version of the specifically Andalucían stew.

Antonius

Don, now you have stepped clearly into my territory. Paella is my bag. No single dish is harder to get right.

Yours looks none too shabby, boss. But I have to warn anyone out there that the standard-issue, red handled paella needs lots, and lots, and, lots of seasoning. My advice is to rub it down with some good oil and leave it in the oven forever, refreshing the fond from time to time. Better yet, leave it on your grill/BBQ when you think about it. This will burn off the nasty-tasting wax, or whatever it is they put on those damn pans in Spain. I have a couple that are well-broken in.

You, gentle paelladores, are asking for real heartbreak if you plan to crack open some bomba, azafran, chorizo, and mariscos and commit them to a new paella. Better off tracking down a copper pan or using a heavy enameled pan, from Staub or Le Cruset. And to clarify, we cross the rice in the pan as well as ourselves.

PS, Don Adoni, I regret that my slavish work schedule prevented me from hearing your lecture.

PPS, I have some additional recetas that you might take a run at with your pan, including the surprisingly very complex arroz con pollo and morros y cristianos. Fideua? Given the recent trends in your cooking, I encourage you to visit El Mercado. If you have not seen the Italo-Sudamericano Xmas stuff, now is the time.

Interactive paella porn:

http://www.paellador.es/

JeffB wrote:Don, now you have stepped clearly into my territory. Paella is my bag. No single dish is harder to get right.

Don Giufré', scusate, I do not doubt for a moment that you're more experienced in this field than I. And I readily admit I'm still learning through trial and error (and lots of reading).

And just to be clear for all, let me explicitly note that the dish pictured above is not intended to be 'paëlla', the internationally renowned dish, rather just arròs amb faves, rice with favas, made in a paëlla.

I've been making now and again rice dishes of this general ilk for a long time but it occurred to me that the next step in getting serious about this was to get the proper pan. And apparently these nasty cheap things that rust so easily are, at least according to some of the things I've read, preferred by some serious paëlleros. These pans most definitely do need seasoning, and I confess to having had a little trouble at one stage with rusting and that weird irony flavour (and smell). But with regard to the cultivation of socarrat, I really think the paëlla is the best way to go. And as time goes by, and I get better at using the thing (and it gets more seasoned), the results keep improving. So then, yes, you're right, they're not so swell right off the rack. But I really love the look the way it looks and am definitely falling in love with the way it works, especially as I get better at using it.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to trying with my paëlla is making a version of the classic paëlla Valenciana with the caldero set up on the grill outside. I also want to try arròs a banda in this pan.

PPS, I have some additional recetas that you might take a run at with your pan, including the surprisingly very complex arroz con pollo and morros y cristianos. Fideua? Given the recent trends in your cooking, I encourage you to visit El Mercado. If you have not seen the Italo-Sudamericano Xmas stuff, now is the time.

Is El Mercado the place next to (and associated with?) Tango Sur? I need to go there... Do they have bomba and the other Spanish rices? I like Deli-berico very much but it has its limitations... And, yes, recipes are always welcome...

l'Antoni

Yes, Mercado is the place next to TS. Even if one hates TS, and some do but not me, there is little not to like about Mercado. You will see that it is a special kind of Italian-American, particulalrly now when it is filled with special Xmas items that demonstrate how Latin America's ties to Europe come to the fore around the holidays. I'm thinking particulaly of the astounding array of panettoni from Italy and nearly each South American country.

PS, no, I have not had much luck finding good Spanish rice. La Unica sells California "Valencia" rice, which is a very nice, dirt cheap substitute.

Antonius thanks for bringing this topic up. A paella (pan) is missing from our kitchen armamentarium and I hope to rectify that. JeffB, thanks for the heads up on the seasoning - I'll give it the treatment our kadai/wok and skillet received.

I'm also interested in using the pan over a woodfire/grill setup - so I look forward to your report, Antonius. At the Iberico deli&store I noticed earthenware (glazed). Are paella or other dishes (stews maybe) made in these, and can they be used in a grill/woodfire setup?

JeffB, please do post on the other recipes. You mentioned morros y cristianos (not sure if you meant that was complex) - I've made relatively simple versions, (without a paella), and in this cold weather it sounds great!

sazerac wrote:Antonius thanks for bringing this topic up. A paella (pan) is missing from our kitchen armamentarium and I hope to rectify that. JeffB, thanks for the heads up on the seasoning - I'll give it the treatment our kadai/wok and skillet received.

As I said, I love this pan but it has been something that has required more care and learning than is the case with most other kitchen tools.

I'm also interested in using the pan over a woodfire/grill setup - so I look forward to your report, Antonius. At the Iberico deli&store I noticed earthenware (glazed). Are paella or other dishes (stews maybe) made in these, and can they be used in a grill/woodfire setup?

I bought one of the big cassoles they sell there but we're using it as a very handsome serving dish.

Within the confines of the township where most of my relatives in Italy live, there is a hamlet that is famous for its earthernware cooking vessels. I have a large set of these, including a beautiful little bean pot. And back in the day, I used to use regularly medium sized tielle or cassoles for most of my tomato sauces and similar preparations. They are excellent but they break easily, eventually just give out (crack) and you must be very careful not to overheat them. All in all, I love to have them, love having spent a fairly long time using them (sort of machismo of the archaic), but don't use them for cooking any more.

As soon as this cold snap breaks, I think I'll take the paëlla out for a trial on the grill.

JeffB, please do post on the other recipes. You mentioned morros y cristianos (not sure if you meant that was complex) - I've made relatively simple versions, (without a paella), and in this cold weather it sounds great!

Sí sí!

Antonius

Antonius wrote:Within the confines of the township where most of my relatives in Italy live, there is a hamlet that is famous for its earthernware cooking vessels.
<snip> They are excellent but they break easily, eventually just give out (crack) and you must be very careful not to overheat them.

Are these glazed?
I bought an clay pot on Argyle (IIRC unglazed)- which requires soaking in water for a while and then using on the stove top. Presumably, the water fills the pores and so the heat is transferred to the water and the pot heats evenly otherwise it cracks. Ours cracked anyway - but this was I think because of our burners which produces very hot 'points' of flame. While I haven't bought a replacement clay pot, I use a diffuser or a simple wire gauze to reduce the hot spots (even with heavy bottomed pans). I am hesitant, because of the hot burners to try and use a (unglazed but already seasoned) clay pot we received in India that is meant exclusively for fish curries (and typically used over a woodfire).

sazerac:

Yes , they're glazed on the inside... same deal with my old Italian ones: they require soaking before use... They are really nice cooking vessels but the breakage issue is a very significant downside...

By the way, over here...
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=54360#54360
... in the picture of the potatoes, one can see the earthernware cassola we got at Deli-Berico.

Antonius

It's my understanding that clay pots are not to be used directly over the burner but rather in the oven. I seem to remember this from when I sold them. This would prevent the cracking and breaking.
Paulette

paulette wrote:It's my understanding that clay pots are not to be used directly over the burner but rather in the oven. I seem to remember this from when I sold them. This would prevent the cracking and breaking.
Paulette

That may well be the case with some but the ones from Italy that I have and formerly used on a regular basis are fit for use on a stove. But as I said (and sazerac too), direct flame and/or excessive heat will result in cracking.

A

The morros reipe has never been written down. It will be a holiday project to see if the mujeres can agree within narrow enough parameters to allow a meaningful communication of information. The chicken and yellow rice recipe I use is from an old Havana cookbook, and will test my translation skills.

Regarding the vessels used for this sort of thing, I meant to mention that the stone dolsots available at any Korean store work possibly better than any other vessel because of the even heating. Very forgiving compared to a thin aluminum or rolled steel paella. The dolsot can sit directly on top of the flame, a sort of a "Dutch oven," but not Dutch. The problem is the shape of the dolsot, which is too deep and narrow to create a paella, which depends on maximizing the surface area.

A dolsot full of "glutinous" rice with kimchi and some preserved tofu is one of my winter favorites. The crackling rice on the bottom is always solid.

Let me add that I tend to finish off my paellas in a hot oven (or by closing the lid if I am grilling it). This might not be strictly orthodox, but I find it works to even out the rice -- which one is handcuffed into accepting "as is" because stirring a paella after the initial mixing of rice with sofrito is out of the question.