Paella in Valencia
- oliviampollack
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
While I was studying abroad, a group of six of us took a trip to Valencia to visit the birthplace of paella. We had talked about doing it since the beginning of the semester, and once we finally made it there, it felt like the right place to slow down and eat really well. Our AirBnB host gave us several recommendations for restaurants to try the famous dish and we went to most of them over the course of the weekend trip.
We tried a few different types of paella: seafood, lobster, and chicken. Every place we went to used local ingredients, especially the seafood, which was super fresh. You could tell it had been caught nearby. The rice was rich and flavorful, cooked in wide, shallow pans with crisp edges and just enough socarrat at the bottom.
At one spot, the paella pan was nearly the size of our table. When they brought it out, it took up most of the space and felt like the entire meal revolved around it. We passed plates around and tried a bit of everything. It was the kind of meal that made you sit back and pay attention.
Trying paella in Valencia made me notice details I hadn’t paid much attention to before—like how long it takes to prepare, how specific the ingredients are, and how people are patient about waiting for it. It’s not rushed or overly complicated, but there’s clearly a process. Eating it where it started just added some context. It wasn’t about checking something off a list—it was just a really good meal in a place that’s known for doing it well.
Try making it yourself!
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