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Paella is currently an internationally-known dish from Spain. It originated in the fields of a region called Valencia in eastern Spain. Today paella is made in every region of Spain, using just about any kind of ingredient that goes well with rice. There are as many versions of paella as there are cooks. It may contain chicken, pork, shellfish, fish, eel, squid, beans or peppers.
There is an old story saying that the Moorish kings’ servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that the word paella originates from the Arab word baqiyah meaning left-overs. However, linguists believe that the word paella comes from the name of the pan it is made in—the Latin term patella, a flat plate on which offerings were made to the Gods.
The stories of servants creating dishes from the King’s left-overs are romantic, but it is known for certain that it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that modern paella was created in an area around Albufera (a bay south of Valencia). At lunch time, workers in the fields would make the rice dish in a flat pan over a fire. They mixed in whatever they could find—such as snails and vegetables. For special occasions, rabbit and later chicken were added.
Olive oil is basic to paella. So is saffron, a very expensive spice. This precious spice, the dried stigmas of a summer-blooming crocus that is one of Spain’s most important crops (it takes the stigmas of 75,000 crocuses to make one pound of the spice), gives paella and other dishes their characteristic bright yellow color, and more importantly a distinctive flavor. If real saffron is not available, use yellow food coloring plus paprika to give it a sunny yellow color. The type of rice is also critical. The traditional Valencia rice, the one used for paella, is a round, medium-short grain rice. It has a marvelous capacity for absorbing the flavours with which it cooks—chicken, pork, olive oil, seafood, vegetables.
There is nothing more agreeable than a paella picnic, when everyone crams themselves into cars, the boots laden with food and drink, to bump their way down to a favourite beach or up into the mountains. There, wood is gathered for the fire and olives and sausage are nibbled, while discussion rages over the rice, glistening yellow and bubbling in the warm air. It is the most enjoyable of occasions.
參考譯文：
海鮮飯如今已成為一道馳名國際的西班牙美食。它起源于西班牙東部巴倫西亞地區的田間。今天西班牙各個地區都有海鮮飯，任何可以跟米飯搭配的食材都可以用來做這道飯。海鮮飯的做法多樣，可以說有多少廚師就有多少種做法。飯里可以有雞肉、豬肉、貝及甲殼類肉、魚肉、鰻魚、魷魚、豆類或胡椒粉。
有個古老的傳說，摩爾國王的仆人們將宮廷宴會上的剩飯菜混在一起放在大鍋里帶回家，由此就做成了海鮮飯。還有人認為，海鮮飯的西班牙語paella源自阿拉伯語的baqiyah，意思就是“殘羹剩菜”。然而，語言學家們則認為paella這個詞來源于做海鮮飯用的平底鍋名稱——即拉丁語patella，敬獻諸神的供品一般都盛放在這種平底容器上。
仆人們用國王的殘羹剩菜做成一道飯的故事頗具浪漫色彩，不過，確鑿的一點是，直到19世紀中期，現代的海鮮飯才在阿爾布法羅（巴倫西亞南部的一個海灣）附近的地區出現。午飯時，田地里的工人們把平底鍋放在火上做海鮮飯。他們把所有能找到的食材——如蝸牛和蔬菜——都放進去。在特殊的場合，飯里會加入兔肉，后來還加入了雞肉。
橄欖油是海鮮飯的基本佐料。另外還有藏紅花，是一種非常昂貴的香料。這種珍貴的香料其實是干藏紅花的柱頭，在夏季開放的藏紅花是西班牙最重要的作物之一（一磅的這種香料大概需要75,000朵藏紅花的柱頭）；這種香料令海鮮飯和其他菜肴都呈現出特有的亮黃色，更重要的是還添加了一種獨特的風味。如果沒有真的藏紅花，用黃色料加上辣椒粉也可令其呈現出金黃色。另外對大米的選用也很挑剔。做海鮮飯要用傳統的巴倫西亞大米，米粒呈圓形、大小中等。這種大米能夠很好地吸收和它一起烹調的食材的味道，如雞肉、豬肉、橄欖油、海鮮和蔬菜。
當所有人都擠進車子里，后備箱塞滿食物和飲料，一路顛簸著來到最愛的一處海灘或是山上時，沒有什么比一頓海鮮飯野餐更怡人的了。在那里，人們堆起木頭生起火，一邊吃著橄欖果和香腸，一邊高談闊論，身邊是在溫暖的空氣中咕嘟作響的海鮮飯，泛著亮閃閃的黃色。這可真是最令人愉快的享受時刻啊！
