What is Valencia known for?
I think most Americans would say oranges. Sure, there's that, but if you read my entry from yesterday, you might have also said Santiago Calatrava. But I bet most of you didn't know that Valencia is where the classic Spanish dish paella was born.
Andrés is very proud of this fact, so he took me out on a trip to the beach to enjoy some local cuisine. A caveat, he added, was that we would not be having the best paella in town, for we had to sacrifice the best quality for a beautiful ocean view.
I could live with that.
For the paella to be perfect, the ingredients had to be perfect, just like making any other classic dish in the world. Even the water used to cook the rice is important. If my memory serves me right (this is my Iron Chef moment again), I believe Andrés mentioned something about the higher concentration of calcium in Valencia's water that makes its paella perfect.
I could believe that.
For a delicious lunch of authentic, but not the best, paella and another classic Valencia specialty of small, fried fish, the only thing we could think of was to have dessert. And, of course, we were on course to try another Valencian specialty - the orchata. Never heard of it? How about horchata? Or orxata? It's a milk-like drink made with small, hard nuts, which I later found out were called tigernuts. And by later I meant 5 minutes when I googled orchata. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon; we were sitting in a restaurant-like café filled with people tasting this special treat. Andrés got a couple of glasses for me (they go down fast) in the slushy form, and I was hooked. Subtly sweet, with a gentle, nutty aroma. Nothing overpowering. Everything you want in a dessert. Anything to have another glass.
I could go on like that.
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