The glass ceramic paella does come out (but not in any way)

No matter what season of the year it is: on Sundays it plays paella. It is the day of rice, in any of its versions, the perfect time to celebrate the tasty tradition that comes from the Spanish Levante, from when farmers and shepherds prepared it over a slow fire of wood with the first thing they caught (snails, hare, partridge) . But let's stop with stories and move on to the present, let's leave the aromatic heat of the wood for the power of the gas. Or the omnipresence of the glass ceramic. And let's ask ourselves: is it an aberration to resort to modern necessities like these to make a paella? Because we recognize that, in most of the houses in Spain, there is no other way. Especially when you don't want to have a bottle of butane taking up precious kitchen space just for this Sunday pleasure. So, is it necessary to do penance for giving free rein to the rice impulses in formats so far removed from firewood?

It is not a subject to be taken lightly. Keep in mind that one thing is to cook rice, of any kind, in vitro, and quite another is the Valencian paella. If you dare to do it, be careful, you will face Francisco Sanmiguel, the fourth generation to take the helm of Palace Fesol, a restaurant with a birth certificate dated 1909 that rises in Valencia capital. And with relief: at 61 years old, Sanmiguel is comforted to see that his children continue to give rice and other recipes from Valencian cuisine.

When we put the rice it needs a very strong fire for a very short time to break the starch of the rice and then the heat is lowered, in the glass-ceramic it is impossible to reach that level of control

"The design of the back of the Valencian paella (wrongly called paella pan) is concave and the glass-ceramic is flat, so the fire in the glass-ceramic is incompatible with the authentic format of the Valencian paella", he explains. In a matter of geometry there is no possible discussion. One point for Sanmiguel. "On the other hand, when we put the rice it needs a very strong fire for a very short time to break the starch of the rice and then the fire is lowered, if we do it with wood, it is the moment when the central fire moves away to the 'voreta '(shore), in the glass ceramic it is impossible to reach that level of control ”.

The same for the cook? This is more debatable, after all, he uses gas in his rice dishes ... Necessity forces: “We have tried on several occasions to reorganize the kitchen to see the possibility of making the rice fired, but, taking into account the local becomes a bit complicated, although I never give up… It is also true that the level of rice we have achieved might be surpassed by the wood in the aroma, but I think that in little else, it comforts us to know that at least we take care of the environment " . If they have been able to take the step ... more reasons not to lose faith.

The fight for fire control

You can make rice without firewood. It's a good start. But it is also true that experience is a plus that not everyone can boast about. The Mestre Paeller Rafa Margós, on the other hand, yes; He has made more than 300,000 wood-fired paellas in his more than 25 years of experience, and has advised (and advises) chefs such as José Andrés and Quique Dacosta, among many others. With the excuse that he has just launched El Paeller, the first natural wood-fired paella preparation (made from chicken and rabbit and Senyoret rice) that can be cooked at home in 18 minutes, we have taken him by the side to pull his tongue.

He was born in Chiva (as it should be), vintage of '77, when punk was sweeping half the world. His father taught him to cook wood-fired paellas and his first taste memory is that of a rabbit and chicken in the Las Bairetas farmhouse, which gives his family's restaurants its name. “She always let us taste it when she had added the rice and removed the rosemary. When that soup began to get stuck, the four brothers would stand in line and he would give it to us to try. I have that memory very much in mind. A tremendous texture ”. At 14 she cooked her first rice: it was a disaster. But hey, they ate her, that when she squeezes the worm ...

You have to get the temperature that is required at all times right and in this the room for maneuver of the vitro is narrower

Let it be clear that Margós is a purist: “Yes, I am orthodox, both for the ingredients and for the preparation, I am a true defender of specialization. It is magical to be able to control the wood fire and direct it to prepare such a special dish. It's like a game, I know it's going to burn, but I like to anticipate and anticipate the result of that flame, its caloric power, what is going to permeate the plate ”.

So, what's the point of launching a preparation for vitro? “We give the option to 85% of the houses that do not have wood to make an induction, gas or glass-ceramic paella with a wood flavor. You are not going to make rice in vitro, you are going to make a wood-fired paella in vitro ”. Yes, but that's how the paella canons are broken… “It's like driving automatic or manual; the firewood is manual, enjoying driving, feeling the gear changes and controlling the times and revolutions yourself. The vitro is more faithful, predictable ... easier to master, controlled, uniform, the result is perfect ”.

So there is the crux of the matter, in the control of the fire, even if it is electrical. Yes, that is the reason that most of the experts in this report use to opt for gas (or firewood). And there it must be clear that an induction, or vitro, and even gas, carry with them a calorific power that is very easy to control (from 0 to 9, or 10). In the firewood, either you are a brutal expert or everything is out of control. It must also be borne in mind that in all cases it is important not to remove the conduit continuously: you have to let those little things that sleep in the heat be done with relaxation, without interrupting your nap. That impatience is always a bad companion, neither the lovers of the vitro nor the unconditional of the vine doubt doubt it.

"Vitro yes, if there is no other choice"

You can always take advantage of the rules of a lifetime, as Margós did with the expert hand of his father. But let's forget the past and open our minds to the future like Josep Bernabéu Mestre, a man with little akin to that of orthodoxy in the kitchen. "In gastronomy you don't have to be orthodox or dogmatic," he thinks, and in the case of rice cooking we still have a lot of room for improvement. We can affirm that the rice dishes behave like a prodigious field open to creativity, in view of the fantasy in the elaboration, the lightness, the flavor and the variety of the vegetable, marine and meat ingredients that come into play ”.

The director of the Master of Rice and Applied Mediterranean Haute Cuisine says this, which began its journey in the 2018-2019 academic year at the University of Alicante. The objective of this postgraduate course? In his words, "meet the demand for continuous training and postgraduate training in a subject, that of rice, which represents the main hallmark of Valencian cuisine and gastronomy." Through their classrooms they impart culinary wisdom 'love handles' from the province such as Quique Dacosta (yes, again), Alberto Ferruz, Kiko Moya, Nazario Cano, Susi Díaz, María José San Román, Ferdinando Bernardi and Cristina Figueira. Take it now. Take a poster of experts in the world of grain.

I don't think one is able to tell which fire has been used. Technology has advanced a lot and the vitros of today are not those of 15 years ago

Bernabéu was born in 1957 in Pego, an agricultural town in the interior of Alicante known for its rice cultivation of the Bomba and Bombón varieties. “The memories of my childhood are closely associated with that rural reality, with the images, but also with the smells and, of course, the flavors associated with that Mediterranean way of life in which the aroma of rice was so present. The consumption of rice (of the rices) was daily, and in many families at noon and at dinner ”. His grandmother Elvira used to prepare a paella in the backyard of her house with branches of orange trees, broad beans and artichokes that has remained in her taste buds.

Now, in the absence of firewood in most homes, he opts for gas. Neither firewood nor vitro, okay, but it is that the glass-ceramic is, today, almost omnipresent ... What problem do you have with it? "To achieve the same quality of rice with the glass-ceramic as with the gas, it is necessary to hit the temperature that is required at all times, and in this the room for maneuver of the vitro is narrower." But do not lose hope, there is room to spoil the Sunday guests: for a risque foodie , the kind that abounds so much, it is difficult to appreciate the difference if the final result has been successful, he reveals. And remember, once again, that the fineness of the rice layer is essential. In short: "Vitro yes, if there is no other choice" and you control it to the fullest. Whoops.

An indisputable advantage: there is nothing cleaner

In other words, the aroma of firewood is incomparable, but if you don't have firewood, better use gas, and if the gas doesn't reach your kitchen, take a master's degree in using the vitro so as not to screw it up? Well yes, but no. It depends who you ask. For Quique Dacosta it is indifferent to use vitro, and one can forget about the flat paella (pan). For all. Nothing happens to use other devices smaller and according to the size of the fires of the glass ceramic. The important thing is that the heat is uniform throughout the bottom of the casserole (or whatever is being carried out). "And the induction is better, and it is adjustable," he says when talking about the rice he uses, DO Valencia. The underlying reason is that if the fire in the vitro does not cover the entire pan, it requires that the home cook has to be aware to move it and that the heat permeates every corner, otherwise the rice does not break its structure and it remains hard. This also usually happens with gas, and forces you not to be distracted from the temperature and movement of the junk. Yes, the cook must not leave the kitchen for a moment.

The difficulty that I detect is to control the strength of the fire, you don't see anything and it is more difficult, although I am aware of great masters of the vitro at home

With this guideline in mind, we go to Murcia, another great cult center of sublime rice, to look at the booklet of another master of the level. There is Adelaido Bueno, who was born in a town in Valencia and has just been put in charge of a Murcian icon, El Patio de Pepe, which celebrates its 95th anniversary this year. There is nothing. And it's going strong: “I hate paellas with food coloring and vegetables of dubious quality and out of season. I bite my nails watching cooks move the paella with the spoon incessantly once I have the rice. The topic of cheap rice dishes, full of impurities and those that shine and do not go away is to get a book ”. For him, worse than the vitro is to add coloring ...

His finger-licking rice is the Valencian paella, made of chicken and rabbit, “although a good arroz a banda as I did and ate in my time in Denia, be careful. The best seafood rice that I ate was in La Marina Alta ”. Bueno uses gas in his kitchen, and then he finishes the job in the Kamadoo, an oven that works with oak charcoal and vine shoots, and that gives it touches very similar to firewood.

“The vitro kitchen is very clean, it is the only advantage that I give it. Rice in vitro? I don't see it, even knowing that people do it at home. The difficulty that I detect is controlling the strength of the fire, you don't see anything and it is more difficult, although I am familiar with great masters of the vitro at home, who cook very respectable things ”, says Bueno. “I don't think one is able to tell which fire has been used. Technology has advanced a lot and the windows of today are not those of 15 years ago. The pots, pots, pans and so on have advanced in time and you can cook very decently at home, ”he adds. So don't cry And do not give up. You just have to think about it. Literally.