#arrossos

Rice dishes are among the most iconic dishes of Catalan cuisine. There are many different recipes in each area, using local and seasonal products. Here's an autumn rice recipe.

Catalan food appreciation post.

I have added English subtitles to this recipe video posted by the Jordi Pey (@/cuinateca on Instagram).

Arròs de muntanya (meaning "mountain rice" in Catalan) is one of the many rice recipes typical of Catalan cuisine. We say "mountain rice" to mean it uses ingredients from the land (mushrooms and rabbit are to be expected, it can also have other kinds of meat and vegetables) in opposition to "sea rice" recipes which have seafood and fish.

Shrimp and cuttlefish soupy rice 🥘 (arròs caldós de gamba i sípia in Catalan)

Arròs de llamàntol i cloïsses (Catalan recipe of rice with European lobster and clams).

Rice dishes are probably the most internationally famous element of the food from the Catalan Countries, especially the paella valenciana, paella marinera, and arròs negre. In this case, the “stereotype” is true because -even though we have many other types of food- a lot of our typical dishes are based on rice.

The rice, as well as similar dishes like some pastas (for example the fideuà or fideuada in the top-left corner of the image above) are always cooked in this pan, which in Catalan is called paella. This is where the name of the dish paella comes from, though of course it’s not the only dish cooked in this cookware.

(Photo by Restaurant La Barraca in L’Ampolla.)

Paella 🥘, our country’s internationally most famous dish!... or is it?

I’ve you’ve been anywhere in the Catalan Countries or have followed this blog for a while, you’ll have noticed that lots of our traditional dishes are based on rice (“arròs” in Catalan). All of these “arrossos” (rice dishes) combine different ingredients and, as is normal with traditional popular cuisine, have different names and slightly different recipes depending on the area or even the family. We have the saying “there are as many paella recipes as there are households”, meaning that each family makes it in their own way.

But why am I doubting on whether this is a paella or not? The name “paella” (which simply means “pan” in Catalan because it is cooked on a pan, yes we are that original) comes from the central area of the Valencian Country. The other parts of the Catalan Countries have very similar dishes, for example in Catalonia the same exact dish is called “arròs de marisc” (“seafood rice”) or other names, depending on the area.

But for Valencians, the dish in the photo above is NOT a paella. The Valencian paella consists of rice with some rabbit and/or chicken meat, green beans, tomato, and more vegetables (whatever is around in that season and area) and can also include snails and duck. Basically what in many parts of Catalonia is called “arròs de muntanya” (mountain rice). As you see, no seafood.

(Image description: an original paella)

So how has the world come to know paella as rice with seafood?

Paella was a dish traditionally made by the rural population, especially the lower classes, which is why it basically consists of rice with whatever else was around. Like many common popular dishes, it didn’t have a consistent name. In the late 19th century, foreigners from Madrid “discovered” paella and then spread it also to some French cooks, and they started to describe it (for the first time in 1885). From the beginning, these descriptions were already pretty different from the original paella, because it was adapted for the upper classes of Spain, especially considering that at the time the cuisine of the lower classes, and even less those from Valencia or other occupied territories, was seen negatively.

From there, the fame of the dish spread, every time further away from the original one as restaurants started cooking it and adding more expensive ingredients. After the tourism boom of the 1960s, more and more tourists have come to our coast and this version paella became even more famous, and the name “paella” also became known in Catalonia, where people associated it with the already existing arròs de mar, to the point that many people (and, of course, all touristic restaurants) in Catalonia started calling their arròs de mar “paella”. Since Catalonia has recently become a strong touristic destination, th

And on top of this, for some reason many foreigners seem to have taken the word “paella” to mean “rice with whatever I want to put in it and I’ll call it paella because it sounds better”. This often results in very bad combinations and mixing in things that “sounds Spanish” even if they don’t fit at all (like chorizo). These atrocities, mostly seen in England or other Northern European countries, often become trending topic on Valencian internet.

One of the most repeated sentences in these situations is “arròs amb coses no és paella!” (“rice with things is not paella!”). Now you understand why 😉

Arròs de muntanya (“mountain rice”), depending on the area also called arròs de pagès (“farmer’s rice”), arròs del tros (“rice from the fields”) or arròs a la cassola (“casseroled rice”). It’s a very common dish from Catalonia made basically of rice with rabbit meat and vegetables and often wild mushrooms.

Ingredients:

400 g - Rice                                    

½ - Rabbit (in eight parts)

200 g - Pork ribs cut in small pieces  

2 - Chopped onions

2 cloves - Chopped garlic

2 - Ripe tomatoes, grated     

100 g - Green peas     

1 ¼ liters - Water  

Salt                                   

Olive oil                                    

Preparation:                            

Pour some oil in the pan where you will sauté the rabbit and the pork rib until golden. Set aside.

With the same oil, prepare the stir fry with the onion, garlic and tomato.

When the stir fry is dark, add the meat and stir. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in boiling water.

Shortly afterward, add the peas and a majada (crushed garnish), diluted with some of the cooking stock.

Boil for approximately 15 minutes.

If you notice that it needs more water to finish cooking, add more but always use boiling water.  

Variations:

Add mushrooms (Cantharellus cibbarius, Tricholoma terreum, etc.).

Add green or red pepper to the stir fry.

Add some drops of cognac to the stir fry.

Add other vegetables: green beans, artichokes, red peppers, etc.

Add some chicken or substitute the rabbit for chicken.

In addition to or instead of pork ribs, use the ribcage or sausages.

Photo sources: ambcompte.net and cuina amb la mestressa