It was great to meet Alan the other day when Vamos Paella catered at The House Bar in Oxford. Alan, the manager, is from Elche in the Valencia region. He told us all about the most popular paella from his home town, arroz con costra – literally rice with a crust.

paella

This is a rice dish unlike anything we’ve heard of before. Firstly, the ingredients: it has a delicious range of cured sausages including white sausage, red sausage and botifarra from Catalunya, which are not usually used in paella.

Corporate paella party

Secondly, when the rice is half cooked, you add beaten egg and then cook it in the oven to create a crust. A paella being cooked in the oven is something quite out of the ordinary. What it has given us is a reason to visit Elche to try it out. Buen provecho!