Years ago, when I was a young graduate student overseas, I spent several months in southern Spain, working on my language skills for my degree. I stayed with a Spanish family, and rabbit paella was regularly on the menu.
Now, I had just shortly before that finished reading On Watership Down, and it was one of my favorite books. Because of that, I just could not bring myself to eat rabbit. Yet I did not want to offend my hostess. So I would surreptitiously pick out the meat and put it in a napkin to throw out later when I brought my plate to the kitchen.
This was undoubtedly very silly because obviously the rabbit juices were still in the rice and vegetables I ate, but such was the logic of my thinking. And the rice portion of the paella was delicious – as it always is.
The thing about paella is that it’s a very versatile dish, and you can add just about any meat or vegetable you’d like to it. Sausage and other meat are very common, but so is fish. Clams and shrimp often adorn the top of the rice, and are steamed along with the rest of the ingredients the last 10-15 minutes or so, making it a very attractive dish.
However, while you can always add such things yourself, particularly for special occasions, that’s not really an option for the budget-conscious for a regular meal. Chicken is one choice that’s more economical. But most often I find that I use tuna or another economical fish (tilapia, pollock, etc.) for this dish. It makes it a very easy, everyday meal that takes minimal prep. And occasionally, I will use canned salmon, instead, depending on what's cheapest in the grocery store.
Now, I had just shortly before that finished reading On Watership Down, and it was one of my favorite books. Because of that, I just could not bring myself to eat rabbit. Yet I did not want to offend my hostess. So I would surreptitiously pick out the meat and put it in a napkin to throw out later when I brought my plate to the kitchen.
This was undoubtedly very silly because obviously the rabbit juices were still in the rice and vegetables I ate, but such was the logic of my thinking. And the rice portion of the paella was delicious – as it always is.
The thing about paella is that it’s a very versatile dish, and you can add just about any meat or vegetable you’d like to it. Sausage and other meat are very common, but so is fish. Clams and shrimp often adorn the top of the rice, and are steamed along with the rest of the ingredients the last 10-15 minutes or so, making it a very attractive dish.
However, while you can always add such things yourself, particularly for special occasions, that’s not really an option for the budget-conscious for a regular meal. Chicken is one choice that’s more economical. But most often I find that I use tuna or another economical fish (tilapia, pollock, etc.) for this dish. It makes it a very easy, everyday meal that takes minimal prep. And occasionally, I will use canned salmon, instead, depending on what's cheapest in the grocery store.
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