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34 Phonebox Magazine | September 2025It%u2019s one of the most popular dishes in the world, and this month paella is honoured with its own international day.In terms of the number of searches on the Internet, paella is one of the most sought-after recipes across the globe. It's up there in good company %u2013 hamburgers, curry, sushi, noodles, pizza %u2013 and paella has a wonderful following throughout many cultures, not just its native Spanish one.And this month, on 20th September, the Spanish celebrate paella day, a festivity that is followed in many other parts of the world.On the face of it, paella is a fairly simple dish, both to prepare and to eat. This Spanish marvel began life in Valencia, eastern Spain. This coastal region of the Mediterranean was open to new ideas arriving from abroad, and rice was one of them, more than 1000 years ago.Paella began as a simple farmers' meal, cooked in the fi elds by workers for their lunch. In went the rice, of course, and then it was a case of fi nding other tasty ingredients. Anything that could be found and added to the dish was potentially welcomed by the hungry workforce. Fresh vegetables: tomatoes, onions and beans went into the paella cooking pot along with meat if they could fi nd it: rabbit, chicken, duck. And there the dish would cook down slowly, and when it was ready, workers would help themselves from the pot with their own spoon.The dish grew in popularity, and ingredients became more abundant and more widely available, so new variations on this popular dish were invented and developed.The coastal towns introduced seafood such as mussels and prawns. This kind of paella is very popular today, but a %u2018true%u2019 paella is still said in Valencia to contain nothing from the sea. It has only chicken, rabbit, snails and beans.It%u2019s a friendly and sociable dish, enjoyed across Spain and Europe and further afi eld. It%u2019s easy to get together and eat it, and it%u2019s the centre piece of many celebrations and festivals, often involving contests to create %u2018giant%u2019 paellas. The key elements of a paella dish are the ingredients. Without these you are simply cooking a rice and meat dish. You need special paella rice such as Bomba or Calasparra, saff ron for fl avour and colour, and a broth or liquid that%u2019s full of meaty fl avour.Meat ingredients include poultry, rabbit, mussels, shrimp, and squid. Chorizo does not belong in a paella and neither does fish. The vegetables are also important and can include beans, tomatoes, peppers and artichokes. And the cooking pan in all important. A specialised shallow pan with plenty of surface area is key to making a great paella.Chicken and prawn paell a4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil8 corn-fed chicken thighscut into small pieces16 prawns, cleaned with shelled1 garlic clove, fi nely chopped400g Bomba riceTomato sofrito or paste1 tsp smoked sweet paprika Pre-heat oven to 150%u00b0C/300%u00b0FPlace a 42cm diameter paella pan on a medium heat and add 1 tbsp of the oil. Fry the chicken thighs for 3 minutes until golden brown, remove from the pan and set aside. Add another tbsp of the oil and fry the prawns until brown on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside. Allow the paella pan to cool down for a couple of minutes.In a small frying pan, gently toast the saff ron threads for 30 seconds. Place the threads into a pestle and mortar and pound them into a powder. Pour in 2 tablespoons of hot water and mix well.To prepare the red peppers, pre-heat the oven grill. Place all halves on a roasting tin, skin side up and brush with olive oil. Grill until the skins are completely black. Remove from the heat and cover with a tea towel. Once they have cooled down, peel the skins off and cut into long strips and set aside.Add the remaining oil to the paella pan and gently fry the garlic and runner beans for 10 seconds, add the paella rice and stir for 2 minutes on a gentle heat until the rice is slightly translucent. Add the smoked paprika and stir the rice for 30 seconds, followed by the tomato sofrito. Once the tomato has cooked into the rice, pour in the hot paella stock, followed by the saff ron, chicken pieces. Season with salt and spread the rice out evenly.Bring the pan to the boil. Set a timer to 17 minutes. Cook the paella on a high heat for the fi rst 5 minutes until the rice rises to the surface. Check the stock for seasoning. Add the prawns, peas and pepper strips and place the pan in the oven. After 12 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Allow the paella to rest for 5 minutes before serving.1 pinch of saff ron strands800ml of hot Prawn Stock100g frozen peas100g runner beans, cut into small pieces2 red peppers, cut in half lengthways, deseededSalt to tasteLemon wedgesPaell a%u2019s perfect pleasure!