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Paella Rice is a medium-grain, rounded, short rice with a high starch content, so that it sticks together somewhat.

It absorbs liquid well and stays medium firm during cooking. After cooking, rice in paella shouldn't be creamy as in risotto, but rather separate and dry.

Most Spanish rice is actually medium-length grain Japanese species such as Senia and Bahia. Only 6% of Spanish rice production is long grain rice. Paella rice is polished to make it white; the Spanish haven't really ever taken to brown rice.

There are many brands of ordinary paella rice available: brand names include Dasca, Matiz and Goya.

While virtually all the paella rice grown in Spain is cultivated at Valencia, the best (and most expensive) is considered to be the two grown in the Spanish province of Murcia: Bomba and Calasparra Rice.

Substitutes
Risotto rice, but not long grain rice

History
The Arabs brought rice plants to Spain.

The rice grown at Valencia is largely centred on the Albufera side of the city. It used to be a bay, and used to be much bigger. Now the bay is just a tenth of the size of what it was under Roman rule. Today it is separated from the sea by a sandbar, with several small canals letting sea water in. The bay is not very deep; it varies from 20 to 80 inches deep (.5 to 2 metres), with an average depth of 30 inches (80 cm).

Rice production is centred there because prior to 1238, when Valencia was much smaller, the rice fields were all around the city. Mosquitoes that bred in the rice paddies carried malaria into the city. King Jaime I ordered rice production to be moved to the bay, further away from the city (though now of course the city has grown and is only 6 miles (10 km) from the Albufera region, which was declared a national park in 1986 to protect it.

The entire area is crisscrossed with man-made canals to irrigate the paddies.

Language Notes
Albufera comes from the Arabic, "Al buhaira", meaning "Little Sea".

Other entries for: Paella Rice

Bomba Rice, Paella Rice

Other entries for: Rice

Brown Rice, Converted Rice, Cream of Rice, Instant Rice, Long-Grain Rice, Medium-Grain Rice, Rice Milk, Rice, Risotto Rice, Short-Grain Rice, White Rice, Wild Rice

Other entries for:

Grains
Amaranth, Barley, Buckwheat, Cereals, Corn, Flax, Kamut, Millet, Oats, Quinoa, Red River Cereal, Rye, Semolina, Sorghum, Spelt, Teff, Triticale, Wheat