The professors from my school that I go to lunch/intercambio with os Thursdays invited me to a paella day!! I was so excited because this is everything that I hoped for. Cristi and Paco have a son, Noa, who is turning 4 years old on Thursday. Paco was born and raised in Alhauring el Grande and his brother lives in a very, very small town outside Alhaurin. On Saturday I boarded the bus to learn how to make paella. I took the same bus that I take to school everyday, except today I had to ask the bus driver for the stop I needed. I sat up front next to him and talked to him for a little bit. Now the bus driver and I are friends.
Paco and Cristi picked me up from the bus stop and we headed to Paco's brother's house. They bought a HUGE paellera for this day and brought everything needed to make paella. Paco prides himself in his paella skills, so he was ready to teach me and instruct me on how to make the perfect paella....according to him. As I talked withthe family members, I learned that there are tons of types of paella. Paco's aunt puts chicken in hers. Someone else puts seafood and chicken. Paco himself only uses seafood, and no one here had eaten his paella before. So we were all experiencing this together.
It had been raining the night before so the wood that we were using for the fire was a little damp. He explained to me that the temperature under the paella was a very important aspect of a good paella. I wondered how this was going to work with damp wood. Since we needed a hot fire first and then a smaller fire later, I couldn't see this working well.
As Paco got the fire started, I helped Cristi blow up balloons and decorate for the birthday party to follow. Noa ran around with the other toddlers playing. I met Paco's WHOLE family and most of Cristi's that live near by. There were aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, and the husbands, wives and children of all these people. I think at one point I counted and there was 25 people there.
We snacked on salchiccon, bread, and potato chips while the paella was cooking. Paco warned me that this was not the way to eat paella. " You need to be dying of hunger when you eat paella so you can eat lots of eat and it tastes better." I could not wait 4 more hourse to eat lunch. It was already 2 and I had skipped breakfast in preparation for this.
I stood nearby the cook and watched diligently, asking questions and jotting down notes so that some day I can replicate this. After hours of waiting, being the gopher running between the house and the fire, the paella was finally ready. The wood started burning correctly just as the rice was added, which is when the heat should be reduced, so the paella was a little burnt. It was good, but I think it would have been better if it wasn't burnt. I think everyone there thought the same thing, but they didn't tell Paco. No one wanted to make him feel bad.
When I had stuffed myself full with paella (and all the other food) we sat for a while and talked. Then the ladies of the family started doing something. They were frying what looked like bread dough. They made homemade chocolate and churros. (They called this something else, but the name escapes me right now.) These were way better than any others I've had at a restaurant. Me, full again.
As more family started arriving, the cake arrived. Cake? After all this food? Noa's cake was not an American birthday cake, as we are in Spain, but it did have Bob esponja (Spongebob) on it. Noa had no idea what was going on. Cristi showed him his toys to interest him a little. He paid a little attention but mostly just wanted to play with the sticks on the ground. I concluded the evening, stuffed, with a nice ride back to Malaga from Cristi. It was a cool day. A LOT of Spanish, maybe a couple new friends (Crisit's sister lives in Malaga), and a new recipe to try someday. It's coming. I need to translate it and make it ledgible.
