enricm

My two cents: As someone else said, a "diffuser" might help but it's worth paying close attention too to the ratio. Note that bomba rice will increase its volume up to 4 times so it needs more liquid, some of the best well known producers in Catalonia (ie. Delta de l'Ebre and Pals: http://www.gastroteca.cat/en/search-engine/?id=41&cerca=bomba&x=0&y=0 ) recommend around 3.5:1 and its cooking time is slightly longer, around 20 minutes. But my personal experience also tells me that the bigger the paella the more minutes one has to add! Also very important is that, as EnriqueB mentioned, the rice layer should be thin, not necessarily too thin but definitively not too thick (as when cooking a different rice dish) Another obvious but rather unobserved tip is to make sure the paella is levelled, or as best levelled as one can. Over time it's normal to have the bottom of the paella becoming a bit dented due to repeated exposure to high temperatures, unintentional small blows, etc. Keeping it levelled one ensures the liquid covers the whole surface evently as it evaporates. Pay also attention to the fire, for the first 10 minutes it has to be rather high but for the last 10 it should be moderate to low. Also, NEVER stir the rice, especially after the first boiling. That's Paella 101! More tips, and this one it might be simply a folk 'legend', but I remember from when I was a child my mother and grandmother always using newspaper sheets to cover the paella instead of a cloth. I don't know whether it's something to do with the fact after the war in Spain linen clothing was expensive and one didn't have so many laying around in the kitchen or whether there's any scientific reasoning behind this. In any case, I still keep covering my paellas with newspaper and they come out damn tasty. Maybe it's the specific news media company, LOL! Finally to mention that traditionally many -like myself- we like the paella being 'socarrimada' or 'arroç socarrat' (roughly translated from Catalan as 'singeing'), but don't get alarmed it doesn't mean we like to burn it! , it means that little toasting that happens to those grains of rice at the bottom of the paella when you let it a bit longer in the fire after the liquid has been evaporated. It conveys a very tasty zing to the whole dish. I found these two images in Google that may hint a bit what I mean: http://bit.ly/1j19scw even better: http://bit.ly/1vr9Ev8 It's unfortunate this page is not in English because it really portrays very well how most of us locals make a paella -those that don't have the knowledge and the sophisticated utensils of the great chefs that is!- but perhaps you could use Google Translate to assist: http://cuinadiari.blogspot.com.es/2011/11/com-fer-un-bon-arros-en-paella-arros.html Good luck!

I see this threat is a bit old already, but for those landing here I thought adding this collateral info about markets in Barcelona: http://www.infocatalonia.eu/w/2014/02/11/the-food-markets-in-barcelona/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_markets_in_Barcelonahttp://www.culinarybackstreets.com/barcelona/2013/lesser-known-barcelona-food-markets/ Regarding La Boqueria, as a local I can indeed confirm that, while retaining some of the allure of the market as it was say 20 years ago, these days is become rather a tourist attraction and most locals don't even go there any more. Prices have skyrocketed, many traditional stalls have been converted into cheap to-go food for passing tourists and it's always too crowded. Yet many restaurateurs in the city use it as a main provider of high quality products because one must say that La Boqueria still has quite a few great quality food stalls.