Celebrate World Paella Day as part of Wimborne Food Festival
Bell’s Famous Fisheries, situated in the car park off Wimborne High Street
World Paella Day is celebrated annually on September 20, honouring the iconic Spanish dish and its cultural significance.
Wimborne Food Festival celebrates this delicious dish which hails from Valencia with top tips from our legendary local fishmonger John Bell of Bell Fisheries.
Tip 1: Get the rice right!
Use Arborio or Bomba. A Spanish lady taught me this next bit.
Perfect paella should have socarrat – the crunchy charred layer of rice at the bottom of the pan. The word socarrat means “singed” in Valencian Catalan. Don’t rinse rice like you normally would to remove the starch. Be brave and don’t over stir when cooking either!
Tip 2: Brilliant broth
Use a good chicken or fish broth stock or a bit of both combined. A hearty broth is the secret to a great paella. And you don’t need a paella pan – a large frying pan will do the trick.
Tip 3: Fish finery
Paella is quick to cook. The time is in the preparation. Get your fishmonger to skin and bone and chunk the fish for you. I recommend monkfish for paella and smoked haddock for great flavour. Poach some mussels in their shells and add cooked crevettes and prawns.
Tip 4: Sorfito special
The word comes from the Catalan term sofregit, meaning ‘slowly fried or sautéed’. Onion, garlic and tomato (often with red pepper) are all slowly fried in olive oil until you have an intensely flavoured base. Not too many onions though as this can create too much moisture!
Tip 5: Mega mix
You can combine fish and chicken and chorizo for a bit more spice. I’ve even had rabbit and duck with snails and beans in paella. But for me the best paella is pure seafood.
Tip 6: serve
Serve with a chilled glass or bottle (!) of Viognier
About World Paella Day
World Paella Day is a celebration of the traditional Valencian dish, paella, which has its roots in the Valencia region of Spain. This day coincides with the rice harvest, making it a fitting time to honour this beloved dish. The event was established to promote the cultural heritage of paella and to encourage people worldwide to enjoy and share this culinary treasure.
The original Valencian paella, which emerged in the mid-19th century, was a humble farmer’s dish that combined rice with whatever was available – quite often rabbit, snails, and local vegetables. However, as the dish gained popularity and spread to coastal regions, it underwent a significant transformation into paella de marisco as clever cooks swapped rabbits and snails for shrimp and mussels.
Bell’s Fisheries is situated in the car park off Wimborne High Street. Sally’s pop-up fish café is open every Saturday from midday. No bookings, but be prepared to queue!
John Bell, known as John the Fish
