A Local's Guide To Valencia's Rice Dishes

To say that rice is a big deal in Valencia is an understatement. And not just any old rice will do. The special short-grain variety grown in Valencia’s wetlands is served in stews, casseroles, and the region’s most famous dish, paella. Valencia is, of course, the place in the world to try authentic paella. But there are all kinds of lesser-known rice dishes on menus around the city that are a mystery to most visitors. Here’s our guide to some of them.

Paella

The most famous Spanish dish of all was invented in Valencia, more specifically in Albufera, just south of the city. Far from the pile of fluffy, bright yellow rice most of us have tried, it should be a shallow golden brown layer, with the socarrat or slightly toasted rice waiting to be scraped from the bottom of the pan (the pan is also called a paella in Valencian.) No self-respecting Valencian restaurant serves the dish with a mix of chicken and seafood – it’s either chicken and rabbit (paella Valenciana), or seafood (paella marisco), and both varieties use different seasonings and cooking methods. Ask any Valencian how the perfect paella is made, and you’ll soon realise how seriously the dish is taken here.

Arròs negre

Arròs a banda

This humble rice dish, typical of Valencian coastal towns, packs in loads of flavour. It originated with the fishers of Alicante. They would sell their best fish and keep the leftovers, which they used to make fish stock, in which they then cooked the rice. It’s usually served with alioli, a strong garlic mayonnaise.

Arròs al forn

This popular, hearty rice dish is a home cooking staple. It’s baked in the oven and usually contains, among other things, sausage, chickpea and potato left over from making the typical local stew. It’s also called arroz al horno in Spanish.

Arròs amb costra

A lot like arròs al forn but covered with an egg to create the costra or ‘crust’ in the name. It’s very typical in parts of the southern Valencia region, especially Elche.

Fideuà

OK, this isn’t technically a rice dish, but we should include it anyway because it’s so closely related. This is a lot like the seafood (or marisco) paella – made with a combination of local seafood such as rockfish, monkfish, cuttlefish, squid, shrimp, and crayfish, plus lots of lemon – but this dish is made with fine, usually hollow noodles instead of rice. The name actually comes from the local Valencian and Catalan word fideuada, meaning ‘large amount of noodles’. It’s typical of the Valencian coastal areas, and is said to come originally from the nearby town of Gandia.

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