It all began innocently enough. "Valerie and her sister make the best paella ever," my friend Ihsan Gurdal said. Even though Ihsan happens to be Valerie's husband, no one who had ever tasted her paella had any reason to doubt him.But our mutual friend (and my frequent collaborator) Chris Schlesinger was listening. And Chris has a well-demonstrated knack for turning what might be considered work into fun, very often by making it into a competition."Let's have a contest," he suggested. "We'll invite a bunch of people over, make dueling paellas and let everybody vote."
That was five years ago, and each summer since, Valerie and Chris have gone head-to-head in the annual Westport Paella Tournament. This is primarily an excuse to get a group of friends together and eat. For Chris, though, it also has the hidden intent of encouraging folks to try cooking interesting and challenging food.So a couple of weeks ago, 25 friends were invited to Chris' house for the cook-off, installment No. 5.The contestants are well matched. Chris is an award-winning Boston chef and restaurateur and the author, with me, of nine cookbooks. Valerie is an experienced restaurant cook and owner of South End Formaggio, a specialty food store in Boston.But Valerie has an ace in the hole: heritage. Her maternal grandfather emigrated from Burgos in northern Spain and opened a restaurant in the 1950s in Miami called Poncho's, where he featured Spanish home cooking. Although paella was too complicated for his restaurant menu, he made it for every family celebration while Valerie and her sister, Renee, looked on. Perhaps as a result, Valerie has won all four previous tournaments.Undaunted, Chris as usual predicted victory, confiding to me that he had two new double-secret additions to the dish. Valerie confidently relied on her knowledge and experience, plus the addition to her team of her niece, Cata Barrera.As loose and easy as this contest was, there were some basic ground rules, which largely had to do with the nature of the dish.Like Southern barbecue or Texas chili, paella carries cultural as well as culinary significance. Every Spanish cook worth his or her jamón knows the one and only correct way to make it, which is of course the way it was made in his or her family. In such situations, it's best to go light on the authenticity and concentrate on what made the dish popular in the first place, which is that it makes a great party.But both contestants agreed that, to qualify as paella, their dishes had to use traditional short-grain Spanish rice, which absorbs up to twice as much liquid as other varieties. This gives the cooked rice a particularly creamy interior even when it is still slightly al dente, and enables it to soak up more flavor from whatever it's cooked in.Valerie, as in years past, made her family's version, which features meat and poultry, while Chris preferred a seafood-based version, which also included pork, because he tends to put pork into everything. Her implement of choice was her grandfather's well-worn paella pan, and her fuel of choice charcoal. Chris used the 22-inch camp skillet that is his new toy this summer, and wood for his fire.As with any discussion of paella, the matter of the bottom layer of rice soon came to the fore. Called socarrat, this crisp, browned, almost-burned layer is part of what defines the dish. "In my family, we always called it rak-rak," said Valerie (who pronounces it "rock-rock"), "and being able to create it was the mark of a good paella maker."Whatever you call it, this thin layer of crunchiness is the reason you don't stir the paella after adding the rice. "It's hard to get the rak-rak," Valerie said, "but as long as you keep the liquid at a slow simmer, don't stir and have an alert nose to smell if it's burning, you've got a chance."Chris, as is his nature, tended to be easygoing in regard to the socarrat. "If you're a professional, they will judge you by it," he said, but paella is something like barbecue: You have to work with the same setup and the same fire countless times to get it perfect. "If you can make paella the first time without burning anything," he said, "you're golden. If you get a good socarrat, that's a bonus."Given her occupation, Valerie naturally put a strong emphasis on ingredients, using the traditional rabbit, fresh chorizo made in her store, true Serrano ham and Calasparra rice, a particularly slow-growing strain of short-grained Spanish rice, the favorite of aficionados for its ability to absorb even more flavor than the more common bomba rice.Her technical innovation? Grilling the meats first so they acquired a smoky sear before going into the rice.Chris, as befits his 25 years as a professional grill chef, veered toward technique. The keys, he said, are "first, a flavorful stock of many liquids, because that's largely what the rice is going to end up tasting like." Second is what he likes to call the Goldilocks fire: not too hot, because that will cause the rice to suck up the liquid too quickly; not too cool, because that will cause the rice to become slightly mushy. Just precisely right.His innovations? A Secret Flavor Weapon (herbs and spices steeped in sherry) added to the rice, and a finishing relish of grilled garlic scapes and pine nuts.As the contestants labored over their respective fires, the rest of us kibitzed, ate Spanish cheeses and cured meats and compared the virtues of rosé and white-wine sangrias in a side contest. (Rosé won by a landslide.) When the cooks were done, the great pans were brought to the table and everyone dug in.Each version demonstrated in its way the virtues of the dish: beautifully creamy rice with just a bit of resistance to the bite, rich with the flavors of the broth and liberally studded, respectively, with meats smoky from the fire or perfectly tender shrimp, briny clams and rich pork.As for the prized socarrat: mixed bag. Both dishes had a crispy layer on the bottom, and those of us who are fans dug enthusiastically for it, but neither was perfect. Nobody cared; it was delicious.The winner? Well, that's a little hazy; thanks perhaps to the sangria, the voting procedure was particularly lax. When the count was made, though, the winner by one vote was: Chris. For the first time.The champion's advice to home cooks who want to reap the many rewards of venturing into paella territory is to pay the most attention to the rice, and play loose with everything else. If you use a traditional 18 1/2-inch paella pan like Valerie's (you can find them online), or even a large cast-iron skillet, you can do this on most standard outdoor grills, which measure 22 inches. Of course, you can also cut either recipe in half, use a standard sauté pan, and make a recipe for 6 to 8 instead of 12 to 16.The one rule you must follow: Have fun.As for our contestants, there's always next year. After all, as Valerie said, "One of us has to nail that rak-rak."
Paella of the land
Time: About 1 1/2 hours
Yield: About 12 servings12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs1 medium-size rabbit, quarteredSalt and pepper to taste4 links fresh chorizo or good-quality dried chorizo, like Palacios8 cups chicken broth3/4 bottle (about 2 3/4 cups) dry white wine1 ounce (about 2 teaspoons) saffron threads, preferably Iranian1/4 cup olive oil1 medium onion, chopped4 cloves garlic, chopped1/4 pound jamón serrano, roughly chopped1 1-kilogram bag short-grained Spanish rice, preferably bomba or Calasparra4 medium-size ripe tomatoes, grated, skin discarded1 cup green peas (optional)Piquillo pimento, sliced into strips for garnish (optional)
1. Build a medium-hot fire in your grill (when ready, you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the grill for only 2 or 3 seconds).2. Season the chicken thighs and rabbit liberally with salt and pepper. Put the thighs, then the rabbit, then the chorizo (if using fresh) on the grill and sear well without cooking through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for each. (If using dried chorizo, simply slice into chunks and add in step 5.) As each is seared, remove from the grill and set aside. As soon as the chorizo is cool enough, slice it diagonally into bite-size chunks.3. Meanwhile, combine the chicken broth, wine and saffron in a medium saucepan, bring just to a simmer, then set on the side of the grill to keep warm.4. Place a large paella pan on the grill, add the olive oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3 minutes, adjusting the pan on the heat as needed to prevent burning. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the jamón and cook, stirring, until it is just heated through, about 3 or 4 minutes.5. Add the rice and stir until well coated, then add the tomatoes and smooth out the rice to an even thickness. Slowly and without stirring, add enough of the broth mixture to leave just a thin layer of broth above the rice, then tuck the chicken, rabbit and chorizo pieces into the rice. Simmer slowly, moving the pan around on the fire as needed to keep the simmer going; avoid boiling. Gently add small amounts of liquid as needed so it's not totally dry. When the rice is creamy and just al dente and the chicken, rabbit and chorizo are cooked through (should take 20 to 35 minutes), remove pan from heat and stir in the peas, if using. If using pimento strips, place on top.
Paella of the seaTime: About 2 hours
Yield: 12 to 16 servings6 cups chicken stock4 cups dry white wine3 cups clam juice1 1/2 pounds (about 14 to 18) extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved2 cups small-dice onion, peels reserved1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil2 pounds pork butt, cut into 1-inch cubes (or substitute pork loin)1 pound cured chorizo in medium dice (or substitute linguiça or andouille)1/3 cup minced garlic2 cups crushed tomatoes4 pounds bomba rice (or substitute other short-grained rice)48 littleneck clams3 roasted red peppers, peeled and cut into strips, for garnish
For Secret Flavor Weapon:1 cup dry sherry3 tablespoons cumin seeds3 tablespoons smoked paprika2 tablespoons fresh thyme2 bay leaves1 tablespoon saffron threads
For Garlic Scape Relish:2 cups (about 20) garlic scapes (or substitute scallions)5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oilSalt and pepper1/2 cup toasted pine nuts2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1. Combine the chicken stock, white wine, clam juice, 1 cup water and shrimp shells in a large pot. Add any onion peelings or vegetable scraps left from preparation. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes, then strain, return the liquid to pot and set aside.2. While stock cooks, prepare the Secret Flavor Weapon. Heat the sherry in a small pan until it is just beginning to simmer, then remove from the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and set aside.3. Build a medium-hot fire in grill (when ready, you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the grill for only 2 or 3 seconds).4. Prepare the relish. Rub the scapes with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until just toasty, about 2 minutes a side. Remove from heat and chop roughly. Combine the scapes with remaining olive oil, the pine nuts and the lemon zest, mix well, and set aside.5. Put 1/2 cup olive oil into a paella pan or 20-inch camp skillet. Put over the fire and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the pork butt and sausage and brown lightly on both sides, about 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and half the stock mixture, bring to simmer, then add the rice and the Secret Flavor Weapon. Stir well to combine, then smooth it out to an even layer (you should have just a layer of liquid between 1/4 and 1/2 inch on top) and allow to come back to a slow simmer.6. Push the shrimp and clams down into the simmering mixture so they are covered by the liquid, being careful not to stir the mixture. Move the pan just enough to the side of the fire so the liquid continues to simmer slowly. Add liquid as needed to maintain that very thin visible layer for 20 minutes, but do not move the rice around. After 20 minutes stop adding liquid and continue to cook until all visible liquid is absorbed and rice is tender but not mushy, from 5 to 15 minutes. Remove from fire, lay peppers on top, spoon on the Garlic Scape Relish and serve.Rose sangriaTime: 10 minutes
Yield: About 8 servings1 750-ml bottle chilled dry Spanish rosé1/2 cup orange liqueur1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice2 tablespoons lime juice1 orange, unpeeled, cut into thin rounds4 apricots, pitted and cut into eighths1 pint raspberriesCombine the rosé, liqueur and orange and lime juices in a large pitcher. Stir well, then add about 20 ice cubes. Add fruit, stir around a bit and serve.
© 2013 New York Times News Service
That was five years ago, and each summer since, Valerie and Chris have gone head-to-head in the annual Westport Paella Tournament. This is primarily an excuse to get a group of friends together and eat. For Chris, though, it also has the hidden intent of encouraging folks to try cooking interesting and challenging food.So a couple of weeks ago, 25 friends were invited to Chris' house for the cook-off, installment No. 5.The contestants are well matched. Chris is an award-winning Boston chef and restaurateur and the author, with me, of nine cookbooks. Valerie is an experienced restaurant cook and owner of South End Formaggio, a specialty food store in Boston.But Valerie has an ace in the hole: heritage. Her maternal grandfather emigrated from Burgos in northern Spain and opened a restaurant in the 1950s in Miami called Poncho's, where he featured Spanish home cooking. Although paella was too complicated for his restaurant menu, he made it for every family celebration while Valerie and her sister, Renee, looked on. Perhaps as a result, Valerie has won all four previous tournaments.Undaunted, Chris as usual predicted victory, confiding to me that he had two new double-secret additions to the dish. Valerie confidently relied on her knowledge and experience, plus the addition to her team of her niece, Cata Barrera.As loose and easy as this contest was, there were some basic ground rules, which largely had to do with the nature of the dish.Like Southern barbecue or Texas chili, paella carries cultural as well as culinary significance. Every Spanish cook worth his or her jamón knows the one and only correct way to make it, which is of course the way it was made in his or her family. In such situations, it's best to go light on the authenticity and concentrate on what made the dish popular in the first place, which is that it makes a great party.But both contestants agreed that, to qualify as paella, their dishes had to use traditional short-grain Spanish rice, which absorbs up to twice as much liquid as other varieties. This gives the cooked rice a particularly creamy interior even when it is still slightly al dente, and enables it to soak up more flavor from whatever it's cooked in.Valerie, as in years past, made her family's version, which features meat and poultry, while Chris preferred a seafood-based version, which also included pork, because he tends to put pork into everything. Her implement of choice was her grandfather's well-worn paella pan, and her fuel of choice charcoal. Chris used the 22-inch camp skillet that is his new toy this summer, and wood for his fire.As with any discussion of paella, the matter of the bottom layer of rice soon came to the fore. Called socarrat, this crisp, browned, almost-burned layer is part of what defines the dish. "In my family, we always called it rak-rak," said Valerie (who pronounces it "rock-rock"), "and being able to create it was the mark of a good paella maker."Whatever you call it, this thin layer of crunchiness is the reason you don't stir the paella after adding the rice. "It's hard to get the rak-rak," Valerie said, "but as long as you keep the liquid at a slow simmer, don't stir and have an alert nose to smell if it's burning, you've got a chance."Chris, as is his nature, tended to be easygoing in regard to the socarrat. "If you're a professional, they will judge you by it," he said, but paella is something like barbecue: You have to work with the same setup and the same fire countless times to get it perfect. "If you can make paella the first time without burning anything," he said, "you're golden. If you get a good socarrat, that's a bonus."Given her occupation, Valerie naturally put a strong emphasis on ingredients, using the traditional rabbit, fresh chorizo made in her store, true Serrano ham and Calasparra rice, a particularly slow-growing strain of short-grained Spanish rice, the favorite of aficionados for its ability to absorb even more flavor than the more common bomba rice.Her technical innovation? Grilling the meats first so they acquired a smoky sear before going into the rice.Chris, as befits his 25 years as a professional grill chef, veered toward technique. The keys, he said, are "first, a flavorful stock of many liquids, because that's largely what the rice is going to end up tasting like." Second is what he likes to call the Goldilocks fire: not too hot, because that will cause the rice to suck up the liquid too quickly; not too cool, because that will cause the rice to become slightly mushy. Just precisely right.His innovations? A Secret Flavor Weapon (herbs and spices steeped in sherry) added to the rice, and a finishing relish of grilled garlic scapes and pine nuts.As the contestants labored over their respective fires, the rest of us kibitzed, ate Spanish cheeses and cured meats and compared the virtues of rosé and white-wine sangrias in a side contest. (Rosé won by a landslide.) When the cooks were done, the great pans were brought to the table and everyone dug in.Each version demonstrated in its way the virtues of the dish: beautifully creamy rice with just a bit of resistance to the bite, rich with the flavors of the broth and liberally studded, respectively, with meats smoky from the fire or perfectly tender shrimp, briny clams and rich pork.As for the prized socarrat: mixed bag. Both dishes had a crispy layer on the bottom, and those of us who are fans dug enthusiastically for it, but neither was perfect. Nobody cared; it was delicious.The winner? Well, that's a little hazy; thanks perhaps to the sangria, the voting procedure was particularly lax. When the count was made, though, the winner by one vote was: Chris. For the first time.The champion's advice to home cooks who want to reap the many rewards of venturing into paella territory is to pay the most attention to the rice, and play loose with everything else. If you use a traditional 18 1/2-inch paella pan like Valerie's (you can find them online), or even a large cast-iron skillet, you can do this on most standard outdoor grills, which measure 22 inches. Of course, you can also cut either recipe in half, use a standard sauté pan, and make a recipe for 6 to 8 instead of 12 to 16.The one rule you must follow: Have fun.As for our contestants, there's always next year. After all, as Valerie said, "One of us has to nail that rak-rak."
Paella of the land
Time: About 1 1/2 hours
Yield: About 12 servings12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs1 medium-size rabbit, quarteredSalt and pepper to taste4 links fresh chorizo or good-quality dried chorizo, like Palacios8 cups chicken broth3/4 bottle (about 2 3/4 cups) dry white wine1 ounce (about 2 teaspoons) saffron threads, preferably Iranian1/4 cup olive oil1 medium onion, chopped4 cloves garlic, chopped1/4 pound jamón serrano, roughly chopped1 1-kilogram bag short-grained Spanish rice, preferably bomba or Calasparra4 medium-size ripe tomatoes, grated, skin discarded1 cup green peas (optional)Piquillo pimento, sliced into strips for garnish (optional)
1. Build a medium-hot fire in your grill (when ready, you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the grill for only 2 or 3 seconds).2. Season the chicken thighs and rabbit liberally with salt and pepper. Put the thighs, then the rabbit, then the chorizo (if using fresh) on the grill and sear well without cooking through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for each. (If using dried chorizo, simply slice into chunks and add in step 5.) As each is seared, remove from the grill and set aside. As soon as the chorizo is cool enough, slice it diagonally into bite-size chunks.3. Meanwhile, combine the chicken broth, wine and saffron in a medium saucepan, bring just to a simmer, then set on the side of the grill to keep warm.4. Place a large paella pan on the grill, add the olive oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3 minutes, adjusting the pan on the heat as needed to prevent burning. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the jamón and cook, stirring, until it is just heated through, about 3 or 4 minutes.5. Add the rice and stir until well coated, then add the tomatoes and smooth out the rice to an even thickness. Slowly and without stirring, add enough of the broth mixture to leave just a thin layer of broth above the rice, then tuck the chicken, rabbit and chorizo pieces into the rice. Simmer slowly, moving the pan around on the fire as needed to keep the simmer going; avoid boiling. Gently add small amounts of liquid as needed so it's not totally dry. When the rice is creamy and just al dente and the chicken, rabbit and chorizo are cooked through (should take 20 to 35 minutes), remove pan from heat and stir in the peas, if using. If using pimento strips, place on top.
Paella of the seaTime: About 2 hours
Yield: 12 to 16 servings6 cups chicken stock4 cups dry white wine3 cups clam juice1 1/2 pounds (about 14 to 18) extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved2 cups small-dice onion, peels reserved1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil2 pounds pork butt, cut into 1-inch cubes (or substitute pork loin)1 pound cured chorizo in medium dice (or substitute linguiça or andouille)1/3 cup minced garlic2 cups crushed tomatoes4 pounds bomba rice (or substitute other short-grained rice)48 littleneck clams3 roasted red peppers, peeled and cut into strips, for garnish
For Secret Flavor Weapon:1 cup dry sherry3 tablespoons cumin seeds3 tablespoons smoked paprika2 tablespoons fresh thyme2 bay leaves1 tablespoon saffron threads
For Garlic Scape Relish:2 cups (about 20) garlic scapes (or substitute scallions)5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oilSalt and pepper1/2 cup toasted pine nuts2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1. Combine the chicken stock, white wine, clam juice, 1 cup water and shrimp shells in a large pot. Add any onion peelings or vegetable scraps left from preparation. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes, then strain, return the liquid to pot and set aside.2. While stock cooks, prepare the Secret Flavor Weapon. Heat the sherry in a small pan until it is just beginning to simmer, then remove from the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and set aside.3. Build a medium-hot fire in grill (when ready, you can hold your hand about 6 inches above the grill for only 2 or 3 seconds).4. Prepare the relish. Rub the scapes with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until just toasty, about 2 minutes a side. Remove from heat and chop roughly. Combine the scapes with remaining olive oil, the pine nuts and the lemon zest, mix well, and set aside.5. Put 1/2 cup olive oil into a paella pan or 20-inch camp skillet. Put over the fire and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the pork butt and sausage and brown lightly on both sides, about 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and half the stock mixture, bring to simmer, then add the rice and the Secret Flavor Weapon. Stir well to combine, then smooth it out to an even layer (you should have just a layer of liquid between 1/4 and 1/2 inch on top) and allow to come back to a slow simmer.6. Push the shrimp and clams down into the simmering mixture so they are covered by the liquid, being careful not to stir the mixture. Move the pan just enough to the side of the fire so the liquid continues to simmer slowly. Add liquid as needed to maintain that very thin visible layer for 20 minutes, but do not move the rice around. After 20 minutes stop adding liquid and continue to cook until all visible liquid is absorbed and rice is tender but not mushy, from 5 to 15 minutes. Remove from fire, lay peppers on top, spoon on the Garlic Scape Relish and serve.Rose sangriaTime: 10 minutes
Yield: About 8 servings1 750-ml bottle chilled dry Spanish rosé1/2 cup orange liqueur1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice2 tablespoons lime juice1 orange, unpeeled, cut into thin rounds4 apricots, pitted and cut into eighths1 pint raspberriesCombine the rosé, liqueur and orange and lime juices in a large pitcher. Stir well, then add about 20 ice cubes. Add fruit, stir around a bit and serve.
© 2013 New York Times News Service
Advertisement