I Heart Paella
i really do. but how much paella can one girl eat ?
apparently - a lot. as a ‘judge’ at the 8th annual “paella lovers united” cook-off - i tasted 16 paella’s. from the ‘traditional’ to the ‘keeping it weird’ - there was a lot of great paella to be had.
the stoking of the fire pits started early - carrying hot embers to eight stations. eight teams worked the pits for the first round - starting around noon - then another 8 to follow.
the air was filled with smoke & incredible food smells …………
and music from the heart of spain ….thanks for the great line-up of musicians michael crockett ! ( of KUT fame - latin & world music programs ‘horizontes’ & ‘global grooves’ ).
also to be enjoyed - while waiting for the competing paella’s - was paella from non-competing & practicing cooks ( mushroom paella topped with shaved black truffles !…… ) - tapas ( chorizo & mushroom in sherry cream/ dates & bacon……) - tamales wrapped in banana leaves & cold ‘live oak’ beer ! ( though byob was par for the course).
ok. ‘judging’ is serious business. these ( non professional ) cooks put their heart & soul into creating a perfect paella. it takes forethought - cooking technique - control of the fire and good timing. first paella due at 2:40 ( we were served it at 3:30 ! ). the 7 of us tasted paella every 20 minutes for five hours ! we judged on presentation = some teams danced & sang their way to our table - some dressed for the occasion - some came bearing gifts of beer & wine and serrano & chorizo. we rated the quality of the finished paella = was the rice cooked properly ( did they use the traditional bomba rice ) was there an even socarrat -(the tasty crunchy caramelized rice on the bottom of the pan - the sign of perfectly cooked paella ) - were the ingredients themselves cooked properly ? we judged on the overall depth of flavor of the dish. and we judged on timing. this clearly was not an easy task.
the winner of the ‘traditional’ category was a guy from washington state who came at his mom’s request to enter ( she was his team mate too). great socarrat - perfectly cooked shellfish ( shell on shrimp !) & deep layered flavors. the winner of the ‘keeping it weird’ was technically well done with skewered corn on the cob - poblano peppers - smoked spiced chicken legs - all topped with crema ! runner up was equally delicious and well done with sausage stuffed peppers and bacon wrapped quail breast with goat cheese & jalapeno. oh yeah !
it was a tough day as judge ! paella lovers unite !
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