According to Oxfam surveys, the world's most favourite foods are pasta, meat, and rice. And rice is certainly served in many countries of the world.

Sited as "most favourite dish" by many today, and not only in their country of origin, both the Mariscada from Portugal and Paella from Spain were transported to many countries by the Conquistadores explorers, and both dishes include excellent versions of rice cooked along with meats, vegetables or seafood - and some include them all.

There are differences between them; Mariscada can be likened to a seafood soup with more "juice" than paella, which should be tasty but dry at the finish, and totally unlike an Italian risotto, which should only "tremble". The ideal rice is different too.

Every chef and housewife in Spain has their own seafood/rice recipe, and every one is sure theirs is the best. Paella Valeciana is the most esteemed by gourmets, in which the amount of cooked rice at the finish should be no more than the thickness of your finger.

At one of my training demonstrations at the IFT (Instituto de Formacao Turistica) of Macau I prepared a couple of variations of paella and mariscada that proved popular. Afterwards I noticed some of my culinary crew mixing the dishes I had put aside for them - making an amalgamation of paella and mariscada. It may not have been 'purist' but it was certainly tasty!

As the Mariscada is like a stew, especially in the Brazilian version for example, the pan used is deeper than a Paellera.

For this simple adaptation of Paella I use a Paellera such as they use in Spain, it's a flat, round, metal pan with splayed sides that has looped handles on both sides for safe and easy transportation from cooker to table. The pans come in a variety of sizes, and even if you habitually cook for one person, it's probably best to get a two-people size, it's the kind of dish you keep coming back to. Failing a paellera, you can cook the paella in a skillet/frying pan, but not in a wok as the rice should be allowed to spread out evenly.

Basically, the heart of the dish is saffron-flavoured rice, with any added combination of chicken, pork, seafood and vegetables. All of it is traditionally eaten right from the pan using a half shell from a mussel to scoop it up. If you do that, be extra careful of the sharp edges of the shell.

If you want to get the best from this dish, then use Spanish rice, this is short and rounded, it absorbs liquid well and stays nicely firm during cooking, which makes it ideal for paella as the rice should be full of flavour and nicely separate when done, not creamy like risotto. In my experience the best Spanish rice is bomba and it is available in Hong Kong. Don't be tempted to use long grain rice, it doesn't work so well.

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in the pan over medium heat, add chopped onion, 3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 small finely sliced red capsicum, and sprinkle on 1-2 tspn paprika (dulce), cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 chicken breast cut into pieces or 4 chicken wings, and cook on all sides for 2 mins, add a few slices of chorizo sausage (the cooking type). Stir in 4 ozs (125 gms) uncooked rice, spread evenly around and add 5 fluid ozs (10 Tbsp) chicken or fish stock, and a good pinch of Spanish saffron threads previously soaked in 2 Tbsp of warm water for 5 minutes, 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes, test the rice for doneness and add a little more stock if necessary.

It will be almost ready and time to add peas, shrimps and mussels, cooking them for around 5 minutes until the shrimps turn pink and the mussels open up - discard any that don't. Remove pan from the heat, cover with a teacloth and let it rest for 2 minutes, the time it takes to make Sangria in a jug; 1 glass of red wine, shot of brandy, shot of Grand Marnier, 3 ozs soda water and a slice of orange plus ice cubes - stir well.

As every Spaniard I have ever met disagrees with any paella recipe that is not their own, I expect there will be some who will disagree with this recipe. Try Plaza Mayor restaurant at 9 Moon St, in Wan Chai for a Madrid version.

Perhaps Spanish feelings about paella were best expressed recently after a hard-fought 2-0 win at home to Granada some weeks ago when FC Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova was asked how he would celebrate the win. Without hesitating, he declared. "I am going to go and have 'paella' for lunch...and watch a movie".

Sounds like a good idea to me!

(HK Edition 11/03/2012 page4)