National Spanish Paella Day

National Spanish Paella Day, observed March 27th, celebrates the iconic rice dish originating from the Valencia region of eastern Spain. Traditional Valencian paella is made in a wide, shallow pan, from which the dish takes its name, using short-grain rice cooked in broth alongside ingredients that historically reflected the rural Valencian countryside, including rabbit, chicken, snails, and a local green bean variety called "ferraura," rather than the seafood most non-Spanish diners now closely associate with the dish. Paella's origins trace to at least the 18th and 19th centuries among farm laborers in the fields around Valencia's lake, Albufera, who cooked the dish over an open wood fire using locally available ingredients and rice grown in the region's extensive paddies. Seafood paella, and the mixed "paella mixta" combining meat and seafood, developed later, particularly as the dish spread to Spain's coastal regions and gained international popularity, becoming the version most commonly served and recognized outside Spain today, even though many Valencians consider the traditional inland version the more historically authentic style. A key technical goal in paella cooking is achieving "socarrat," a flavorful, slightly crisped layer of rice that forms at the bottom of the pan from direct contact with the heat, considered a hallmark of a well-made paella. On National Spanish Paella Day, people celebrate by cooking or ordering paella.