Valencia, Spain. 21/02/19 16:31 hrs - They say the future is vegan, but what does that imply? This is a case study dedicated to the beauty in the culinary arts.

Paella is a name known all over the world yet a dished known intimately to few and cherished only by the Valencianos. I’m not going to lie, I thought I loved it since I was a little girl when all I knew was that I liked food. The Paella I new had loads of seafood and generally a combination of octopus, calamari, and a ton of shrimp. My mum’s favorite ingredients.

The highlight of my 20’s was when I Spanish girl invited me over for dinner making the dish from scratch. She added the ingredients mentioned above except for the octopus, and if I remember correctly she added chorizo or maybe chicken. It was many sangrias ago.

I remember also in my 20 having to serve a dull intent of the dish in my Middle-eastern air hosting years. I felt sad for all the time someone would go for that caserole.

Fast forward into my 30’s my life became seemingly less filled with Paellas turning the dish almost a forgotten one in my memory. That was until these past weeks when a trip to Valencia came true.

I started researching and getting to know more about Paella. I learned that it was originally made with rabbit and snails. It came from a region called L’Albufera to the south of Valencia where the short grain rice is harvested.

The seafood is a less traditional version yet the most popularised one.

I’ve arrived in Valencia a bit more than a week ago and I have yet to taste a Paella. I think secretly I want our encounter to be memorable, I mean after so many years have gone by.

In Valencia, every other little shack is advertising they sell it. I saw it at the famous Mercat Central. Where I understood that there are so many variations of what the locals would say to you ‘los arroces’. The rice.

Many of my friends and family are terribly disappointed with their Valencian Paella experience. Someone even said to me that they had ordered one in the city center and what they received was a not properly defrosted rip off.

When scouting for the perfect place I weighed in the possibility of relying on WikiPaellas. A site that came about from a bit of controversy among the local chefs on the ingredients and preparation of the authentic recipe. There you can look by area the places that are recognized and approved by the committee.

Then the solution came to me when discussing Valencias gastronomic value with a late night Uber driver. The chap loved his city and was definitely passionate about its food.

He advised us on Goya. You have to book ahead of time, pre-order your Paella dish and dinner service starts at 8:30 pm. I like their style.

We decided to go all out ordering as traditional as we can handle. So tonight I will try a Valencia Especial, served with chicken, rabbit some mix of white beans and green beans and a special request of sans snails.

On their page they are under Rice – ‘Seco en Paella’ – or dried on Paella (dish where it’s cooked in).

Tomorrow on the second part of this first gastronomical study, I will share with you my experience. Analyzing not just taste, service and overall likelihood but also the feelings and emotions behind feeding on an animal I have never tasted before.