La Paella de Arroz Negro

Okay foodie friends, here we go with something exciting and fun and riquísima! But first, primero, en español. Comimos en el domingo paella y arroz negro. Las ingredientes (afuera del arroz, lo que recibe su tinto de la sepia) incluyen el aceite de olivo, alcachofas, habas, ajos enteros, sepia, y tomate rayado. Todos comen directamente de la paella. Mientras esperábamos la paella, comimos de mejillones, tomates, aceitunas, y (claro) jamón serrano.

What we ate before, while the paella was finishing: olives, tomatoes, mejillones (the word in English, I don’t know, it is the meat from mussels), and, you guessed it, jamón serrano. People can eat pork, sure, and I’m not used to it, of course. And I am not being sarcastic or ridiculing, trust me, but I do find is surprising that the “dieta mediterránea” is considered so healthy, according to mi mamá. Perhaps it is because although pork and meat is here, there, and everywhere, as seen in the picture the plate is full of little slices that five people (not including me) were picking from rather than a hunk of meat in every person’s plate with a side of vegetables.

Anyway—paella. ¿Qué? What? Delicious, that is what. And why is the arroz, the rice, black? And what is sepia? I’m working on the sepia part. But the ink from the sepia is what gives the dark tint to the rice. Alicia, mi mamá aquí, told me how to make several hours ago—and I did not memorize it on the spot, but I have the general idea.

In the pan one heats up, of course, olive oil, nice and hot. Then the sepia (a relative to squid, I suppose—yup, “cuttlefish”) that one has cleaned is added and cooked almost entirely before adding artichoke (leaves and hearts). Then bit-by-bit one throws into the mix beans, whole garlic cloves, rice (not cooked), and grated tomato, then water, twice as much water as rice, and it is covered for twenty minutes. And magic. It is delicious. Truly delicious.