I discovered this dish while I was in Italy in Tuscany. I was totally surprised since I expected a classic minestrone soup. Now since minestrone means vegetable soup, I wasn't far off :-) Only this was more of a stew, cooked for many hours, and a specific nutmeg taste. It also contained a lot more local vegetables. The scent brought me back to my childhood, see my other related recipe Grandma's carrots.
For me paella meant going back to my childhood, with my parents in Mallorca. We spent some weeks visiting friends there, who used to live in Belgium. Madeleine, the host always prepped the paella for the whole family, and I could watch, from getting the freshest crustaceans and fish from the local harbour, to listening to the paella forming the 'soccarat', the burnt crust that develops when it's done. In this recipe I'll show you how it's done, and how to get the rice cooked evenly without burning.
