When do Valencians eat paella?

A midday dish, and a dish for the sun

Paella was born in the huerta, the irrigated farmland around Valencia, where rice has been grown for more than a thousand years. Farm workers cooked it at midday in the fields with what they had: rice, oil, vegetables and some small animal, over a wood fire.

It is still a Sunday lunch, eaten with the family, and best made in the open air over orange-tree wood. Traditionally it was eaten straight from the pan with a wooden spoon, each person keeping to their own section of the circle. Having paella for dinner is, for Valencians, as strange as having it for breakfast; the restaurants that serve it at nine at night are serving foreigners.

And if someone argues with you about paella, do not concede too soon. In Valencia the argument is part of the dish.

• Paella was born in the huerta of Valencia, in the east of Spain, where rice has been grown for more than a thousand years.
• It is eaten on Sundays at midday with the family, and is best made over orange-tree wood in the open air.
• For Valencians it is a midday dish: having paella for dinner is as strange as having it for breakfast.

La paella se come los domingos al mediodía, en familia, y se hace mejor sobre leña de naranjo, al aire libre.

Paella is eaten on Sundays at midday, with the family, and it is best made over orange-tree wood, in the open air.

Cenar paella es, para los valencianos, tan raro como desayunarla: es un plato de mediodía, y de sol.

Having paella for dinner is, for Valencians, as strange as having it for breakfast: it is a midday dish, and a dish for the sun.

Si alguien discute contigo sobre la paella, no le des la razón demasiado pronto: en Valencia, la discusión también forma parte del plato.

If someone argues with you about paella, don't concede too soon: in Valencia, the argument is part of the dish too.