About La Paella
If there is a dish that perfectly defines the gastronomy of Spain, it is undoubtedly paella.
But leaving aside tastes, the truth is that paella has not always been as we know it today, nor has it always carried the same ingredients. In fact, the Paella history is a humble origin and that after many circumstances has ended up becoming what it is today: the most emblematic dish of Spanish gastronomy. Here we tell you the Paella history.
Paella History
Its beginnings date back to the 15th and 16th centuries and place it in the rural areas of Valencia, specifically in the emblematic Albufera. La Albufera is a lake with an area of 24 km2 and 223km2 of rice fields. Paella was born as a claim of the peasants and shepherds, as it is an easy meal to prepare with the ingredients available in the field.
Some Paella history beginnings that were totally different in the sea areas, where this dish derived to include shellfish or fish, giving rise to what today we know as seafood paella.
There are many and different theories about the origins of the word ‘paella’, one of them is its origin from Latin and specifically from the word ‘patella’ which in Latin means frying pan. Another Paella history is that it comes from the Arabic word ‘baquiyah’ since rice is a cereal that was brought to Spain by the páramos (inhabitants of North Africa) in the 8th century.