If there is something I can’t stand, it is false excuses in the world of gastronomy. Schemes disguised as “company policy” or with direct deception of dirty clients. What I am going to tell you is as absurd as it is true.
A real paella
Wednesday, January 15, posh rice shop in the city of València. Time: 2:30 p.m. There is a table reserved for a group of four people. It is a formal business lunch, where one of the diners, whom they want to entertain, is Catalan. He feels pleased because his table companions have told him that this is one of the restaurants specializing in rice in the city. I have to point out that this place is not in the ranking of my 20 favorites because, among other things, it does not use DO Valencia rice and it is excessively expensive.
In reality, more than a entertainment, it became an ambush. But I say that after knowing the story that I was fortunate to hear first-hand, since Catalan was known to me.
Do you know what really happened? The poor man, in his perplexity, could not understand how in the birthplace of rice and paella he had had such a bad time. And he thought that by telling me, I would clarify if what happened was normal, or had some justification. Well, no, dear Jaume, we Valencians are very demanding with rice, its texture and its flavor. If you didn’t like that, we wouldn’t like it either.
The menu: After the usual snacks, consisting of a little boiled seafood, oxtail croquettes and some fresh farmed tuna topped with different types of sprouts, edible flowers and lime mayonnaise; I had planned a thin-layer senyoret rice with peeled Dénia red prawn. Thin layer are those rice dishes that show more than two-thirds of the steely bottom of the paella, with a rice sticker in the center. It is recommended to eat with a spoon and from the same cauldron, because if the waiter serves it, his face would fall in shame at the minimalism of the portion, which to make matters worse should be served in a deep Bernabeu-type plate.
But let’s get down to business. When the Catalan tried to remove some of that rice by scratching with the spoon like a plow, and then using leverage, he managed to put some acrylic material in his mouth and when chewing it, he destroyed a molar. However, that was not the most unpleasant part of the dining experience. Its flavor was excessively strong and salty. The three Valencians continued eating as if nothing had happened, although they described the paella as “sentidita.” The term “sentidita” is enough for a doctoral thesis, I promise that another day I will dedicate a complete article to it.
After finishing the paella, which no matter how bad it was, when it came out at 3 tablespoons per head it disappeared in a flash. Immediately afterwards, the person in charge approached the table to ask with a huge smile on his face: Did you like the rice?
The Catalan could not contain himself and said that for his taste he found it salty and with a certain smell of ammonia. Do you know the manager’s response? That this was due to the freshness and quality of the rock fish, the intense sea flavor that their rice has, is the trademark of the house. (It will be fish from a marine stand near the Patacona collector, I say).
The Catalan could not contain himself and said that for his taste he found it salty and with a certain smell of ammonia. Do you know the manager’s response?”
As an excuse/explanation for spoiled rice, worthy of framing. It is not an isolated case, there are many of these singer mornings in the restaurant industry. It is increasingly difficult to eat good rice under the yoke of the poultice trend.
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
