Difference between paella and arroz

[stephen129]

I'm going to Valencia next month and was reading some menus. 

 

I came across a restaurant that has 'Paella de Carabineros' and something else called 'Arroz de Carabineros'. They're exactly the same price. What exactly is the difference?

 

Am I right in thinking that the arroz is a soupy risotto style? 

 

[Lisa Shock]

IIRC, in Valencia, paella is made with chicken and rabbit with some purists insisting on snails and at least one place making it with just snails. Carabineros are the deep sea cardinal prawn and in Valencia, one wouldn't call a seafood dish paella. The two dishes are similar, just different proteins.

[gfweb]

Although arroz simply means rice as in arroz con pollo which is not like risotto or paella, at least in the Spanish version of it.

[heidih]

Is it perhaps the cooking method with paella having the wide open pan, crispy bottom that evokes a Persian Tahdig and the Arroz more pilaf style?

[Lisa Shock]

This Arroz is made like paella, I just don't think that in Valencia it gets dignified with that title. HERES a page about it. It says that this dish used to be looked down upon because the red prawns were considered second-class seafood. But, the dish is popular because the prawns are tasty and in recent years their price has tripled. Note that the dish is just made with prawns, not mixed meats and fish, and definitely not the traditional paella protiens. So, it's much more accurate to call it Arroz de Carabineros.

[stephen129]

But that doesn't explain why the menu has both a paella and an arroz de Carabineros.

[Lisa Shock]

28 minutes ago, stephen129 said:

But that doesn't explain why the menu has both a paella and an arroz de Carabineros.

 

The paella contains chicken rabbit and snails, or maybe it's old school and just contains snails. As indicated by the traditional name.

The Arroz just contains prawns. -As its traditional name indicates.

Menus contain different things to appeal to people with different tastes. Some guests want a seafood dish, some want the snails. I wouldn't be surprised to see other 'Arroz de' dishes on the menu to satisfy various people's tastes -much in the same way as steakhouses offer more than one type of steak, some lobster tails, a shrimp dish or two, and a couple of pasta dishes.

[rotuts]

the Spanish are touchy about Paella.

 

regions have their own versions , based on what they had at the time to put in it

 

Id say it would be accurate enough to think of paella as a rice dish cooked in a large shallow pan , preferably outdoors on an open fire

 

a rice dish , ' arroz con ..... ' is a rice dish cooked in a pot.

 

maybe

 

traditionally  Meat based paella  did not have seafood or fish.

Edited September 14, 2018 by rotuts (log)