When I first tasted Paella I really didn't like it, primarily, because I wasn't fussy on Mussels, however, many years ago we had a wonderful holiday in Nerja on The Costa del Sol, Spain.
It was the first time Ian and I had a foreign holiday together, complete with three daughters in tow, consisting of two stroppy teenagers, aged 14 and 13 and youngest daughter aged eight.
This was when we'd been 'a courting' for two years and three years before we finally married.
It crossed my mind at the time, maybe he was using this holiday a sounding board before he eventually popped the question !
The holiday was a resounding success.
We stayed in a small family hotel, managed by the owners, Margarita and Pablo,
They had two lovely handsome sons aged sixteen
and fifteen, their names were Pepi and Juan.,
The two boys were a great hit with the two stroppy teenagers, they spent a lot of time chatting and laughing around the pool. By magic the stroppiness disappeared and the two elder Princesses returned to their sweet little selves.
Perfect peace ruled the day.
Just down a very steep road from the hotel was a gorgeous beach with soft white sand and huge swaying Palm Trees, the sea was as blue as blue can be,
Most days we tootled down to the beach and later to be joined by the two boys from the hotel, this would only be after they had performed their daily assigned tasks.
There were quite a few Beach cafes all touting their particular daily specialities,
One place that stood out was a café where they served, according to the ad's round and about, the best Paella in Spain, although, I expressed earlier, I was reluctant to try the much loved Spanish delicacy!
.Eventually I caved in as I ingested the delicious
aroma, wafting over from the café where the Paella simmered gently, in what can only be described as the largest Paella Pan in the world.
The owner/chef at the café is quite famous for his culinary skills and has featured on many travel shows in the UK and Europe,(If you google Burriana Beach) there are loads of interesting articles, including the famous beach café called The De Ayo where you can
you can learn of the wonderful experience that we had.
Enough to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first authentic Paella.
The picture below is a Paella I cooked recently for my brother Clive and sister in law Marilyn when they came around for one of our 'soire's', recently.
My thanks to Denise, the epitome of perfection for devising ABCW and to Roger the administrator, who's profound pondering keeps us all away from pretentious prose to the point of perfection !.
...I'm signing out now as I've run out of PPPPP's !
Di's Delicious PAELLA
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ReplyDeleteNow I've got two picture on at the top of post and one at the bottom Yikes!
ReplyDeleteDon't know how to delete the bottom one... Any ideas anyone ?
Hi Trubes , great post. There are a few variations on the Paella , not all contain Mussels or even fish , some are chicken etc , but I am glad you tried it and loved it . I have see those huge pans , aren't they amazing . saw them used in the fabulous markets even in France .. We bought Paella of the stalls and even the cooked chickens , just brilliant. Thank for the great post. xox
ReplyDeleteHi trubes, go into your post and edit, scroll down to your photo , click on the photo and you should see a box come up and it should say remove on it.
ReplyDeleteOr go into your post where you you edit , scroll down and click on the photo and just press your delete button on your keyboard.
Your Paella looks absolutely scrumptious. Piquant and pleasureful, I'm betting :) I wonder if there is a vegan version. Loved the story of your pre-pop-the-question trip. Beautiful blog.
ReplyDeleteMy first Paella was in Corsica, guess it was a French take for there were no mussels. I like the photo at the beginning and the end but you should be able to click on the one you don't want, it will 'blue out' and the options come up at the bottom such as centre, left, right and then of course what you are looking for, delete.
ReplyDeleteBTW Thanks for your comments on my Port Sunlight post. It was our first time on that side of the Wirral (usually going to the other) so we enjoyed our exploration along the coast, I suspect I might be able to get more than one ABC post from this trip!
Trubes, we've been brought back by a simple Marks and Sparks paella! We can't take mussels either, but the M and S one is just prawns, and absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteBought another one yesterday, and it was on ofer too!
Black Jack's Carol:
ReplyDeleteHello Carol, welcome to my blog.
Thanks for your comments. it actually took Ian two more years before he 'popped the question', Purely a matter of logistics as we lived 10 miles apart each in our own homes. We had to consider schooling for the girls because I wanted to move back to my home town Liverpool, where we both had aging parents. I sold my home, we got the girls into some excellent schools, got married and still here to tell the tale!
There must be a vegan recipe if you Google it.
My Paella really is as good as it looks, I am not being smug in saying that, it took me about five attempts to perfect it, so poor husband had to eat twice a week until it was right!
Best wishes,
Di.x
Hi joy, I do eat Mussels now, I buy all my shellfish from Wings of St Mawes, next day delivery, so fresh. I also put fresh clams in it too, they're just in season.
ReplyDeleteI've decided to leave the picture in at the end as I think it looks quite good.
I look forward to reading more about Port Sunlight, evokes such lovely memories,
Just thinking I believe we have chatted before on our blogs ?
Di.x
Hi Scrobs, I'm sure M&S Paella is good but mine is superb, according to friends and family, 'she said, blushing modestly'....
ReplyDeleteAs I've just been saying to a previous blogger, it took about 5 attempts to perfect it!
Hope all is well down at the Turrets'
Love Mme. Trubes xx
Perrrrrfect post for P. I've only tried Paella a few times but I'm sure your's is mouth watering!!! What a perfect adventure for your family. Thought it was cute the owner was Pablo! I bet all the teens had fun together.
ReplyDeleteAnn
I liked it first time out. Don't get it often, though.
ReplyDeleteThat looks and sounds delicious. Carver, ABCW-Team
ReplyDeleteI'm exhausted just reading all those P-words! :-) Sounds like you had a great time…. and a yummy one on top of that!
ReplyDeleteI like paella but not most seafoods. So I would be choosy which one I picked!
ReplyDeleteHi Ann, thanks for your comments.Yes Pablo was a lovely man, very handsome too.
ReplyDeleteThe two boys were so well raised and polite, they did write to the 'girl's but like all little holiday romances they soon 'petered' out, no doubt they'll be entertaining more young ladies on holiday with their parents.
Di.x
Roger. good to hear from you. paellais not difficult to cook , the secret is prepping in advance then just putting together in a certain order.
ReplyDeleteI hope you try it again, most delicious with lovely fresh ingredients.
di.x
Hi Carver, glad you like the look of my Paella, I must confess to being very pleased with the end result after hours of trying to get it right...party piece now !
ReplyDeleteDi.x
hello Lisa, there are a lot of p's in that 'piece', I never know what I'm going to write until I 'proceed'....I did know I was going to write about Paella, but then remembered the 'particular' trip to Spain....
ReplyDeleteDi.x
Hi Cherie, the best thing about Paella is that you can tailor the ingredients to suit your palate.
ReplyDeleteI do a chicken and chorizo paella with chunks of cod and olives, also red peppers and onion, tomatoes etc. If you don't like fish just leave it out.
Good to hear from you,
love Di..xx