PAELLA: A CULINARY HISTORY OF SPAINS

PEOPLE & CULTURE

-Paella was named after the utensil it was first cooked in; a
large flat pan introduced to Spain by the Romans called a
patella.
-Rice was introduced to Spain by the Moors after their
conquest of Spain in the 8th century.
-On the Mediterranean cost of Islamic Spain, the Moorish
traditional casseroles of rice and spices came to be cooked in
the Roman pan in open air Moorish style.
- Seafood of the Spanish coast is added, and this early form of
paella is enjoyed at family & religious feasts.
-Once rice becomes a more common, everyday staple of
Spanish cuisine, seafood paella becomes a common dish during
lent.
-With the Spanish migration to the new world in the 15th
century, paella is brought to Latin America.
STUFFING: AN ANCIENT PRACTICE
-Though Thanksgiving & Turkeys are indigenous to the
Americas, the concept of stuffing is not; the practice of
stuffing the cavities of fowl and other animals with bread,
spices, and other chopped foods was practiced by the ancient
Romans & Arabs.
-Stuffing as Americans know it today is descended from
Medieval culinary tradition, particularly English forcemeat;
seasoned mixtures used to fill the hollow body of a fowl before
cooking.
-Oyster stuffing, thought of as uniquely American dish, was
actually originated by the French in the16th century where it
was later adopted by the English & brought to the new world.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION & SUGGESTIONS

Lets face it, this is not a low calorie recipe. It is a holiday dish that isnt meant to be
eaten on a regular basis but if you really want to make it a bit healthier, Ive
suggested some ways under each category.
CALORIES
1 cup contains 378 calories; approximately 50% of these calories come from
carbohydrates,34% from fat & 16% from protein.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbs provide the largest amount of calories; 47.47g per cup. Although 5.4 g are
from beneficial fiber, I was disturbed to learn that the majority of the stuffings carbs
are from sugar; 21.27g per cup. Most of the sugar is probably fructose from the dried
fruits. Though I chose brands without added sugar, because theyre dehydrated I
know that it takes more dried fruit to make up a cup than it would a plump hydrated
fruit. This leads to an overall increase in the amount of sugar. A way to reduce this
might be to reduce the portion sizes of the fruits and possibly chop up the reduced
amount so that smaller pieces are more evenly distributed throughout.
FAT
This dish has a high fat content. 1 cup of stuffing contains 14.10 g. Although 6.65g
are from healthier mono-saturated fat, 2.65 grams are from the dreaded saturated fat
20mg from cholesterol (although no trans-fats were found!). A great way to reduce
the amount of fat from the recipe would be to reduce the amount of sausage or remove
it completely from the recipe. More shrimp could be added to compensate or perhaps
a soy version of sausage could be substituted.
PROTEIN
1 cup contains approximately 15.37g of protein. This is a decent amount, although
some of the sources of the protein (mainly the sausage) are not the healthiest. More
shrimp or even lean chicken could be substituted for the sausage in the recipe to
maintain the amount of protein while also reducing its fat content.
VITAMINS & MINERALS
The stuffing is rich in vitamin A and potassium. Unfortunately, its also rich in
sodium too. One cup contains 1277mg. To reduce the amount of sodium in the
recipe, you can take my earlier recommendation and rinse the excess salt off of the
dried shrimp with water and/or reduce the amount of added salt the recipe calls for.