Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain [Hardcover]

Penelope Casas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1999

From the best-selling author of Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain and The Foods and Wines of Spain.

Unless they have traveled to spain, most Americans have never tasted a really good paella. What passes for paella at restaurants and even in cookbooks here is a pale imitation of the real thing, the vibrant Spanish rice dish that marries the robust flavors of olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and pepper with short-grain rice, broth, and meat, fish, or vegetables. Penelope Casas is here to restore the glorious paella to its rightful place as a grain-based meal that will gratify the senses as well as be the centerpiece for easy, elegant entertaining.

Casas presents sixty different fascinating paellas, some traditional, some her own creation, showing how easily some of the preparation can be done ahead of time with supermarket ingredients. She includes a superior collection of tapas, the Spanish meal starters, two dozen simple desserts, and a handful of broths and sauces. Her passion for paella, her clear directions, and her creative pairings of fresh ingredients make this unusual cookbook a winner.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Determined to rescue paella from what the author calls its "worldwide ignominy," Casas (Tapas) offers 58 enticingly authentic recipes, most drawn from Spain's eastern coast. Cooks weary of risotto, or those simply tired of all the stirring it entails, will be attracted to the intriguing combinations of flavors that can be achieved with this other Mediterranean approach to short-grained rice. The grain imported from Spain is best, says Casas, but Arborio is more than acceptableAand while a paella pan is similarly preferred, a shallow casserole dish also works well. Preparation is within easy reach for anyone: saut? ingredients briefly, add rice, add hot liquid, boil for several minutes, then pop in the oven to bake. Dishes include Scallop and Wild Mushroom Paella; Golden Rice with Shrimp and Fresh Tuna; Crusted Paella with Pork, Chicken and Sausage; and Vegetable Paella with Spicy Garlic Sauce. Casas also includes paellas with squid, rabbit and duck. There is even a Seafood Pasta Paella from Valencia that calls for no rice at all. The balance of the meal is covered with 25 recipes for tapas and first courses and another 25 for such desserts as Chocolate Flan with Almond-Flavored Chocolate Sauce and White Sangria Sorbet with Melon and Kiwi. With Casas's demystifying help, good paella will be a revelation to many.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Casas says paella is her passion, and she's determined to show Americans what a "glorious" dish an authentic paella can be. Rather than the usual jumble of shellfish, chicken, and sausage, she prefers versions that feature one particular ingredient. She emphasizes the fact that the rice isn't an afterthought; rather, "the texture and flavor of the rice is everything." She includes recipes for more than 50 different types, from the classic Black Squid Paella ("one of the paella greats") to Vegetable Paella with Spicy Garlic Sauce; there are also recipes for tapas, desserts, and some delicious sauces and dips. Casas is well known for her authoritative books on Spanish food and wine (e.g., Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain, LJ 3/15/96), and most collections will want her latest.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (May 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805056238
• ISBN-13: 978-0805056235
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Spanish
  • #23 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Rice & Grains

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A+ for ingredients, D- for method, September 22, 2002

By 

Karl Voiles (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain (Hardcover)

After trying a couple of paellas from this book, I have to agree with the person who criticized the recommended cooking method. Baking the seafood for 20 minutes ruins it, rendering the shrimp tough and other seafood dry and tasteless. I had much better success with stovetop cooking, adding the seafood during the last five minutes or so. Perhaps baking the paella would work better if the seafood was added later rather than earlier. Ingredient lists and proportions are right on the mark, with the resulting flavors garnering highest marks.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Casas' oven technique yields poor paella!, February 17, 2005

By 

Hugh McMillan (Salisbury, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain (Hardcover)

Although there are many varieties of paella with regional ingredients there is one indispensable ingredient; short grain Spanish rice. The best part of paella is without any question the "socarrat" which is the toasty caramelized layer of rice which sticks to the bottom of the paella pan when the dish is properly prepared on top of the stove or better yet, the grill. One can not make proper paella in an oven, convection or otherwise. The rice will be a soupy mess or dried out but never yield the desireable crunchy "socarrat".

"Paella Paella" is a far superior book although a great recipe for learning the technique of paella preparation can be found at the Fine Cooking magazine website. After you make that once then you may use whatever ingredients you wish to combine to make fantastic paella. Be creative.

Is it worth the trouble to find the proper pan, Spanish rice, saffron and olive oil? Absolutely! "Socarrat" Rules!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book does not deliver, May 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain (Hardcover)

If the Spanish chefs Ms. Casas credits for many of these recipes are as good as she extols, then their secrets are safe. You will have to go to Spain to taste their paellas, because they obviously did not divulge their mysteries to Ms. Casas.

I followed these recipes to the letter. I even went to my local Hispanic market to buy the right rice. Six recipes I tried-and six times they were perfect failures.

Her oven cooking method toughens meat (I tried beef and chicken), and vaporizes seafood (mussels and clams dry up and disappear). Rice is both hard on top because it is baked to a crisp in the oven, and mushy below because the liquid is not simmered away fast enough. Vegetables become soft and taste boiled.

I could go on and on about the shortcomings of this book, but that would be overkill.

Nevertheless, I gave a 1-star rating to this book because the list of ingredients is helpful. If you already know how to cook paella, Ms. Casas' ingredients will give you a great dish even though her cooking method will not.

Suffice it to say, if you search for the earthy, primal, unforgettable taste of Spanish paella, don't look for the recipes here. I have discovered other cookbooks whose recipes replicate the kind of paella I had in Spain. Try them instead. You'll be pleasantly surprised.