Saturday, January 25, 2025

Four Gourmands Enjoying Cocina Tradicional

Paella, one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine, originated in Valencia, Spain.  

While we were visiting Valencia, Ed found a paella place in El Palmar, about a half-hour south of the city, and it was listed in the Michelin Guide as a restaurant that has been given their Bib Gourmand award.

It's called Arrocería Maribel.  Unremarkable from the outside, but with a beautiful modern interior, this restaurant served us one of the best meals we had in all of Valencia.

Not only was the food amazing, but the dining experience itself was unlike anything I've ever been part of.  It was fancy, but not.  High-end, but comfortable.  It felt costly, but it was insanely affordable - only $22600 US dollars which included a wine pairing with each course for the men.  We girls didn't do the wine pairing.  Without it, the cost was about $38.00 per person. The value for this meal and service was UNBELIEVABLE.  
The first dish was called Esgarraet. An esgarraet is a typical Valencian dish consisting of a salad made with roasted red pepper, salted cod, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. In this one, it had the cod but also had a tiny piece of tuna on top. The crackers in the background were more like a well-done pie dough cracker than what we typically think of as a cracker. It was good. 
The second course was a Buñuelo de calabaza y parmesano (Pumpkin Parmesan Fritter, on the left) and an Empanadilla de pisto estilo Valenciana (Which is a Valencian style ratatouille empanadilla, on the right).
The third course was Crujiente de pato de caza guisado (Crispy stewed duck - it was very tender duck meat encased in this crispy wonton/phyllo dough exterior).  It was very good. 
This is the main dish. It was listed on the menu as Arroz a banda. Which translates literally to “Plenty of Rice”.  It was a seafood paella. The pieces of fish are cod and shrimp.
Our friend Ernesto Casablanca digging in.

We learned from a local in Valencia that when you are served paella in a group like this, you divide the paella pan by how many people are eating from it, you “carve out” your own little section, and that’s what you eat from. So that’s what we did!
Here’s the pan after we were done.
For Postre (dessert), we had Tarta de Naranja helada con mousse de chocolate blanco y aceite de oliva, con emulsión de tomillo y flor de "taronger" (which is a Frozen Orange Tart with white chocolate mousse and olive oil, with thyme emulsion and "taronger" flower). Taronger is an orange blossom. Ed shares a goofy grin, excited to get to the ice cream.
The thyme emulsión happened in the lid of the item that the dessert was in. In the lid was a piece of dry ice and a few sprigs of thyme. The server then poured super hot water over it and the thing began to smoke! It was a spectacular display! When we tasted it, it was a very sweet “tea” that tasted like thyme.


Our dessert dishes, one show with its lid.
We absolutely loved this entire experience and would definitely visit this restaurant again.  If you're ever in Valencia, skip the local restaurants in town and take the drive to this one.  It's absolutely worth it.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2024: Who Wants To Rack The Balls In This Room?
2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Soup's On!
2018: Power Over The Green River

2017: The Only Color For Miles
2016: Natural Desert
2015: Ed Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
2014: NOT An Oasis
2013: Drop The Flag And Take Me Home
2012: Cottonwood Trading Company
2011: Service With A Smile
2010: Getting The Red Out, One Barn At A Time
2009: Obamaduck!
2008: How A Four-Year-Old Can Make You Feel Like Crap For Trying To Get Out Of Doing Yard Work
2007: Florida Fro
2006: Hail To The McGriddle Gods
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

No comments: