Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain
by Penelope Casas
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Book Reviews of Paella!: Spectacular Rice Dishes From Spain
Book Review: Just strange; can not really recommend
Summary: 2 Stars
Two stars for the author's passion, and because the ingredient lists, at least, really look worth trying. But as for "rescuing" paella from "worldwide ignominy" (as Penelope Casas immodestly gives her objective...and where exactly is paella regarded with "ignominy", anyway?), this book must be regarded as a failure.
Paella, like risotto, is about technique as much as ingredients, and the techniques presented in this book are baffling. How can an author sing the praises of tradition as loudly as Casas does in her introduction, and then devote the entire book to her frankly non-traditional technique that bakes paella in the oven for 20 minutes? With 50+ recipes, you'd think she'd find time to at least give one recipe for paella cooked over wood fire or on a charcoal grill, or using one of the special-built paella burners you can buy, or even just cooking the entire dish on the stovetop. Alas, this is not to be--Casas has her oven technique, and essentially repeats it 50 times with different lists of ingredients. This is scarcely believable, but there is is--she has photographs of paella cooked over fires in Spain, and even tells you "if paella is not made over a wood-burning fire, you are not likely to achieve a socarrat" (the crusty, almost-but-not-quite burnt layer of rice that makes paella lovers swoon), but can spare scarcely one paragraph to give you a few scanty notes on cooking over a fire. The crowning glory of paella--written off utterly in a cookbook devoted to the dish. Ridiculous.
Another sad deficiency is the photography, which is scanty and black-and-white. For a showy dish like paella, for which a beautiful presentation is such a big part of the fun, a few full-color photographs would have gone a long way--but the lovely cover shot is the only such one you will be getting here.
I enjoyed reading the introduction, and I admire Casas for her devotion and the passion with which she writes about paella--but the body of the book falls far, far short of the promise of those first pages.
Footnote: Alton Brown, of Food Network's "Good Eats" program did an episode on paella in 2010 which represents a huge leap over anything in this book. He builds a charcoal fire in an ordinary Weber kettle grill, and cooks a really admirable paella on it. There: was that so hard? The video is easy to find on YouTube. The humor is a little corny for my taste, but the technique is impeccable. You'll do a lot better there than with this book.
Book Review: The only book you'll ever need for making fabulous paellas
Summary: 5 Stars
If you want to make authentic paella, look no further than Penelope Casas' book entitled Paella! This is Spain's most famous dish, and it originated in Valencia, where I lived for several years. Casas' book is a delight for anyone interested in making this easier-than-you-might-expect dish. Like her Foods and Wines of Spain, she goes beyond simply writing a book of recipes--she explains a lot of the history and culture behind paella, which any food lover or lover of Spain will find most interesting. What is truly exciting about this book is that Casas includes a wide variety of paellas, from seafood and vegetarian paellas to rabbit, chicken and even meatball paellas. I have made countless paellas of all types described in this book and without exception they have all been delicious. Casas gives numerous and clearly written details on how to make an authentic paella. She even gives directions for making paella over an open fire, which as any person from Valencia will tell you, is by far the best way, and I agree. Casas also gives lots of valuable advice such as only short-grain rice can go into a paella, as any other type will change (ruin) the texture of the dish. Paella is a beautiful and surprisingly easy dish that never fails to please at a dinner or a party. Casas includes some of the classic paellas from Valencia, Cataluña and Murcia, while also including some lesser known versions of the dish, like one with pomegranites that is fabulous. If you have a paella pan, or plan to acquire one, you won't want to be without this essential book, which is truly a classic on this most famous of Spanish dishes.Book Review: This book does not deliver
Summary: 1 Stars
If the Spanish chefs Ms. Casas credits for many of these recipes are as good as she extols, then their secrets are safe. You will have to go to Spain to taste their paellas, because they obviously did not divulge their mysteries to Ms. Casas.I followed these recipes to the letter. I even went to my local Hispanic market to buy the right rice. Six recipes I tried-and six times they were perfect failures.
Her oven cooking method toughens meat (I tried beef and chicken), and vaporizes seafood (mussels and clams dry up and disappear). Rice is both hard on top because it is baked to a crisp in the oven, and mushy below because the liquid is not simmered away fast enough. Vegetables become soft and taste boiled.
I could go on and on about the shortcomings of this book, but that would be overkill.
Nevertheless, I gave a 1-star rating to this book because the list of ingredients is helpful. If you already know how to cook paella, Ms. Casas' ingredients will give you a great dish even though her cooking method will not.
Suffice it to say, if you search for the earthy, primal, unforgettable taste of Spanish paella, don't look for the recipes here. I have discovered other cookbooks whose recipes replicate the kind of paella I had in Spain. Try them instead. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Book Review: Penelope Casas is good, but she is not at her best here
Summary: 2 Stars
I have two of her books, this one and the Tapas book. The Tapas book is really great. The paella book is really a bit too much. I mean, how many kinds of paella can you really eat? This is probably my own fault for buying the book- I should have figured that an entire book of paella would be overkill. But a friend of mine, whose culinary tastes I respect, suggested it, so I bought it site unseen. If you are an afficionado of paella, by all means you should get this book, but for me it's not worth it. I really like paella, but I dont' make it once a week or anything like that. I make pizza once a week, and frankly even then the "Chez Pannise" pizza cookbook I have is far too much for me. Who needs a recipe for venison, duck sausage and baby octopus paella, for crying out loud? Some do, most don't. Now, Casas' "Tapas" book is a MUST have- she's a tapas godess. Well worth the investment. But unless you are a total rice freak and can't get enough of risotto, suchi, jambalaya and paella, each of which in umpteen gazillion different forms, you'll be spendng a couple dozen greenbacks on a book that will realistically yield about four or five recipies you are likely to make with any degree of frequency.Book Review: Ole`
Summary: 5 Stars
What a sumptous, mouth-watering book!! I have been on an endless search for the perfect Paella for years. Several places have come close but none were as good as some made from the recipes in this book. Half the fun of eating Paella is in the making of it....what ingredients to use, how to cook them, mixing all the various components, selecting the proper wine (a white sangria is perfection itself). The accompanying information is almost as good as the recipes themselves. And the best feature of these recipes is that none is out of the range of the better-than-average cook. No tedious or long steps, no stuffing of chicken legs or boning of tiny quail - just grilling, cutting, and cooking. I prefer a Grilled Paella - or at least grilling the individual components. One must remember at all times though - Paella is, above all else, a RICE dish. That is the essence of a good Paella, the semi-crunchy red, saffron enfused grain.
To those who had trouble with the temperature or cooking time I would suggest adjusting their time/temp for their own applicances. I have both a convection oven and microwave and know that most times are reduced by a third.