Worth the effort buying Bomba or Calasparra rice for Paella while in Spain?
 

Will be travelling to Barcelona in May.

Do I expect the paella there to be very differnt from what I have here in North America (US and Canada)? Here the restaurants I went to always use long grain rice, so the paella is dry (almost liek fried rice). All the recipes I've seen however ask for short grain arborio, adnd as a result the paella I cook at home resemble Risotto (risotti), wet, starchy.

I am thinking of getting the Bomba or Calasparra rice while in Spain. Is it worth the effort?

Not worth the effort.

These can be ordered online from tienda.com or the Spanish Table (you can google their website). Or you can visit one of the The Spanish Table stores to see for yoiurself - I go to the one in Berkeley whenever I'm in my home in the Bay Area.

I innocently bought some rice the last time I was in Spain. I learned upon arrival in NYC that rice can't be brought into the US. I've brought legumes back for years and just assumed that rice would be the same, but it's not. Looks like the online sources are the way to go.

So if:
- you normally keep a pantry full of long grain (Basmati) and short grain (arborio and carnaroli), as well as pudding rice
- in practice, arborio's a great deal cheaper and easier to get hold of usually than Spanish rice
- there's no legal barrier to importing Spanish rice
- but using US websites to buy Spanish rice is pointless

Is it the consensus that calasparra and/or bomba will make a better paella than arborio? So it's worth picking up a couple of kilos while browsing supermarkets in Spain?

You're better off buying beans that go for more than $16/pound in the States. I always get these really strange looks from Customs when I list 2 to 3 kilos of Tolossa, Gernika and other Spain specific beans. Bomba I can buy at the Spanish Table in Seattle.

Try Despana for the best chorizos I have eaten in the United States.

http://despananyc.com/

I am not a paella maker, so I do not know the quality of the rice they sell.

I made paella with Arborio for years, primarily because it was easy to find locally (Boston area), and comparatively inexpensive. I recently decided to see what I might be missing, so mail-ordered some Calasparra from La Tienda. There was a very slight difference between the two but I don't think the Calasparra was necessarily any better, so after I use up the kilo of Calasparra I'll just go back to Arborio.

The best (Basque) chorizo in the States comes from Boise, no contest...

Tomorrow I am making chorizo bocadillos with chocolate. I am stealing it from a tapas restaurant called Tia Pol.


Do you have a specific source for chorizo in Boise? I know there is a large Basque contingent in Idaho because many went there years ago as shepherds. And I do think the best food in Spain is in Donostia but try the chorizos at Despana.

For me, it's kind of a no-brainer to go into a Spanish market to get the right kind of rice to make paella with. But if I don't have it, I don't sweat it, and get the next-available thing possible. I don't see this as a real mind-bender, just a traveling scenario where if I happen upon it and it's affordable, I get it.

I rec. Bomba rice (or La Cazuela). Calasparra is a different variety that takes much more water. It is tricky to cook, unless you are used to it. If not, chances are you'll spoil the cooking.

Do any of the Americans or Spaniards make paella, the old-fashioned way, outdoors on a huge paella pan?

Yes to the old-fashioned way, something we look forward to when in the right location, Valencia for one.

You can but the chorizo from Boise at the Spanish Table, either at one of their brick and mortar stores, Seattle, Santa Fe, Berkley and Mill Valley, or online at www.spanishtable.com/.

There is also the Gem Meat Packing company in Boise that makes Basque chorizo (www.gempackonline.com/).

I just discovered this thread about rice. Where did the info come from that it is illegal to bring rice from Spain into the US? Just curious.....
Perhaps a misinformed inspector at JFK?



https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...r-personal-use


<In July, customs officials began enforcing a federal quarantine on international rice imports from countries with known Khapra beetle infestations.

Those countries include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.>