Going with the Grain

[an error occurred while processing this directive] While almost every Spanish cook will claim that their recipe for paella is the best, most agree that the classic savory rice dish has but one true capital: Valencia. The medieval poor of this southern Spanish city were apparently the first to hit upon the idea of adding scavenged morsels of meat and vegetables to rice as a way of enlivening an otherwise meager diet — and the paella was born. Servants would take banquet scraps home, and farm laborers would search the fields for bits of vegetables and small game, with all...