This is not “real” paella for several reasons. First, there’s no shellfish because Hank is allergic; second, I don’t have a paella pan; third, we don’t have the special rice for paella. The last two are probably why we will never get a real socarrat when the rice at the bottom of the pan gets a nice crust.

There’s been a lot of discussion about cultural appropriation in the kitchen and how and when it’s acceptable to make or alter dishes of another tradition. I’m not sure I have an easy answer. I think food culture is one way that we can learn about people from backgrounds and nations other than our own, and certainly these days we can’t travel to experience other places in person. At the same time, I think it’s important to give full and accurate attribution, even when, like here, it’s an approximation. There are many reasons why a person might not be able to follow a recipe from another tradition exactly.

On a related note, there are many who will rail against certain dishes that derive from an evolution from our immigrant history, such as spaghetti and meatballs or General Tso’s chicken, as a particularly problematic form of cultural appropriation because people believe they are eating an “authentic” dish from, for example from above, Italian or Chinese cuisine. True those dishes may, respectively, be Italian-American and Chinese-American, but if we are to understand the immigrant story fully, we must also know that as long as people have migrated they have tried to find ways to maintain a taste of home in their new homeland. We who are privileged to be able to order almost any specialty ingredient online forget that this option is only available for a small segment of the world's population, and only has been so recently. I have read plenty of stories in cookbooks by authors who came to this country as young children, telling about the ingredients their parents would use to substitute for what they used to have in their region of origin.

That’s a long-winded way of saying this recipe is an excellent combination of flavors meant to evoke the well-known Spanish paella, even if it’s merely an approximation. If you want to use shellfish, check online for instructions. (I believe you can just toss those items on top of the rice and they will cook as the liquid evaporates, but because Hank is allergic to shellfish I’ve never tried this.) I do think it would be a very flavorful vegan dish – you could use vegan sausage and some substantial vegetables such as cauliflower, and vegetable broth instead of chicken. If anyone tries this, I hope you will let me know how it goes!

For this version, we use about a pound of mixed sausages. We like to use a combination of sweet Italian, merguez, and dried Spanish chorizo. We really like the flavor that this particular chorizo gives to the dish, but don’t hesitate to make it if you need to substitute fresh sausage.

Ersatz Paella

Serves 4+ (1 chicken thigh per person + rice and sausage, and there will likely be leftovers)

4 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon saffron threads
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Pepper
16 ounces of sausages, preferably mixed (we usually use 3-4 ounces of sweet Italian, 6-8 ounces of merguez, and 3-4 ounces of dried Spanish chorizo)
1 large onion, medium dice
1 roasted red pepper, from a jar or sometimes you can find them on an olive bar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced or through a press
1¼ teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
1½ cup rice
½ cup tomato purée

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Turn off the heat, add the saffron, and let sit until needed.

Heat the olive oil in a very large, heavy sauté pan until shimmering and fragrant. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on both sides in the oil. At the same time, brown any whole, fresh sausages you are using to make them easier to slice. The dried Spanish chorizo will cut easily without browning first, so you can slice that now. Once browned, remove the chicken to a bowl, and the sausage to a cutting board. Cut the sausages into ¼ to ½-thick slices and add to the bowl with the chicken.

Add the onion, red pepper, and garlic to the sauté pan and cook until softened. Add the paprika and stir to distribute the oils. Add the rice and stir, then add the tomato purée and stir again.

Pour the stock into the pan, making sure all the saffron threads get into the paella, along with a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then make sure the rice is distributed evenly. Return the sausage pieces and chicken to the pan, distributing the sausage throughout the pan and nestling the chicken thighs skin side up into the rice.

Allow the paella to cook, uncovered, over medium heat, at a medium simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from the heat and place a piece of parchment or wax paper on the surface of the paella for 10 minutes before serving.

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Ersatz Paella