Scoff and Nosh
★ Rated 4.4 (28 reviews) in total | 25.8 miles from Ely
We have been outside caterers for over 50 years and, with our extensive experience and range of catering equipment, we can offer a full range of menus, though our real speciality these days is paella
In my mis-spent youth, I went to Spain, camped on the beach outside this tiny fishing village with no hotels, about 30/40 houses and one restaurant where I had paella, asked how to make it and they showed me. I've been making it ever since. That fishing village is now part of Benidorm
Paella is the main dish that Spain is known for but it was really originally only available in the Eastern region of Valencia when it was a real peasant dish using rice that grows there in abundance and and meat that could be found; rabbit, snails, rats, eels and occasionally a chicken. These days only chicken is used and a bit of rabbit in Valencia, thank goodness. Closer to the coast it was all the cheap seafood that was used like prawns, clams, octopus, squid & mussels; not fish as that could be sold ( except monkfish which nobody wanted because it was such an ugly fish ) so paella ( which is the name of the flat pan not the dish ) was a really cheap working mans dish using whatever was available
The most popular in Britain is probably chicken & chorizo but that really only took off when Jamie Oliver in 2016 publicized a chicken & chorizo paella; purists were in uproar but it was available in some parts of Spain. There is really nothing written down about what has to go in a paella but it is generally acknowledged that there are a number of types
Valencian - generally chicken & pork but correctly rabbit
Carne - meat of some sort; chicken, pork, sausage, rabbit etc
Marinara - five types of seafood - prawns, clams, mussels, squid, monkfish, langoustine, octopus etc
Mixta- a mix of any meat and seafood
Arroz negra - meat or fish but flavoured with squid or octopus ink
Blanco - ham & salami without any spices so it is white and usually left quite wet
Vegetarian
Pork in beer
Marisco - usually only prawns, squid and mussels
Senorito - no bones or shells; usually served to children
Fideua - made with pasta rather than rice
However, remember that probably every bar in Spain that serves paella has a different recipe so there is no right or wrong way of serving it
We only use the very best ingredients; La Bomba rice from the Albafera region ( it absorbs 3 times its weight in water and fattens out rather than growing longer like long grain so it takes in huge amounts of flavour ), saffron from Castilla La Mancha, paprika from Murcia and a whole host of spices and flavours from many parts of Spain and North Africa
In Spain, the best part of any paella is considered the Socarrat; the paella is made and gently shaken then left to rest so that the very bottom layer gets lightly burnt and crispy
Paella can only be cooked and served with passion using only truly authentic Spanish ingredients; our pans go from 4 servings up to 220 in our largest pan ( which needs 2 people to lift it ) but it looks very spectacular
