History and origin
Valencian paella and the rice dishes Almería has welcomed to its tables
Paella belongs to the Valencian tradition and reaches Almería as an adopted dish. In the city’s rice restaurants and the chiringuitos along the coast, it shares menus with seafood and mixed paellas, black rice, lobster rice and arroz a banda. Seafood and a taste for shared meals explain its place on local tables without shifting its origin.
Rice dishes tied to the Almería landscape tell another story. Arroz caldúo keeps its broth and may combine meat, fish, rabbit or snails; arroz aparte cooks in fish broth, with the fish served separately. Against those succulent textures, paella seeks a drier grain. Tasting them reveals the different routes rice takes through south-eastern Spain.
