Paella

It’s been a long time since I’ve made a paella, not since before I left Boston. But it’s a great dish for a crowd (my sister regularly makes it for 25+ people). I no longer have my mother’s paella dish that fed I think 20, but when we were in Berkeley at the Spanish Table recently we picked up a more modest one. The key is that you have to be able to apply even heat to the full base of the pan, so the limiting factor is the size of your burner, not how many friends you want to invite along.

We returned to Berkeley today to Numenius’ sister’s and cooked the paella on their barbecue, which could, in retrospect, have accommodated a 50-person dish. It was a success, despite having left the lemon wedges in the fridge and the miscommunication about the alioli (I should probably have made it myself before leaving for Berkeley but oh well).

Paella: it’s all about the stock. I’m looking forward to making it again.