Perfect Day for Paella

Paella is one of the most emotive dishes when it comes to Spanish cooking. What’s in, what’s out, should you use onion or even go to the dark side and add chorizo ? Well despite the perils of not creating an authentic dish and being placed on the naughty step for committing the cardinal sin of adding a forbidden spice, we decided to have a go at making our favourite, a Paella Marisco.

So first it was off to see the wonderful Marta of Peixaterina Catalina who are at the Santa Catalina Market in Palma. Marta always greets you like a long lost friend and is fantastic at helping you choose the right fish. Everything is so fresh and glistening, the fish look like they have just jumped out of the sea onto her counter!

Marta takes all the stress out of preparing the fish for you and whilst you wait you can sit and have a caña and a slice of tortilla in the little bar next door to her… my idea of shopping.

Never been one to shy away from a challenge we also decided to use our new wood fire oven…this was new territory for me so I turned to the expert in all things wood fire. So a quick email to Clive (the woodfired oven chef), who is just possibly the Godfather of wood fired cooking, and shares his tips with thousands of other wood fired cooking enthusiasts on You Tube. Take a look, he is very inspiring... Armed with my advice from Clive we cracked on with a fun afternoon by the pool… what could be better on a Sunday than preparing and cooking your own paella with friends, a bottle of local chilled wine and some summer sounds playing in the background ? If we have slightly intrigued you and you fancy having a go click over to the recipe