The mediatic Dabiz Muñoz opens the year with a new controversy after sharing their first dish of the season. We would have to study in depth if it offends us more when the crime is perpetrated by a foreigner or a local cook, but it is clear that the paella it continues to be an issue that raises blisters in our country. At least, among a sector of Valencians -and probably not Valencians- who are jumping as soon as someone boasts of paella in networks and does not adhere to the canonical recipe.
So we have a new viral publication of the controversial chef who rekindle the endless discussions about paellas and rice dishes, which in the past have also given us so many laughs. Of course, this time it is not a question of someone alien to Spanish cuisine, much less an amateur, because it must be recognized that the rice of the diverXO cook has a most appetizing aspect. Unless you don’t like black rice, it would be missing more.
Advertised as “the first paella of the year”, Muñoz described his work as a recipe made with “cans of squid in its ink, sautéed fermented cabbage and Espelette pepper with grilled Moorish octopus.” Knowing the style of the chef and his good work combining flavors and ingredients, there is no objection in the proposal as rice something different from the more traditional recipes. The problem, as almost always, is having used the sacred word of Paella.
Despite the fact that many of us insist that the term paella has already become popular and extended for any rice made in the utensil of the same name, many criticize that it is used in recipes that, for them, are “rice with things”. We already know that the authentic Valencian paella is a concrete and specific thing, but the most traditionalists still have a hard time seeing the word in dishes that are too creative.
That Muñoz has also used canned squid The outrage has certainly increased, despite the fact that there are excellent preserves and they save us a lot of work in the kitchen, but it seems that it sounds “crappy”. And more in a chef of his stature, who, remember, already starred in another major controversy at the end of the year by increasing the price from the diverXO menus.
The very figure of Dabiz Muñoz, with his image of a “rogue” chef, obsessive and without mincing words, also associated with his wife Cristina Pedroche placeholder image, also a media character, makes network users more encouraged to criticize for anything. But neither does he lack followers who defend his work; If we agree on something, it is that we love to take sides and argue in networks about gastronomic topics.
Directly to the Paladar | Paella is already an Asset of Intangible Cultural Interest, but the norm does not dare to define a specific recipe En Directo al Paladar | Dabiz Muñoz’s kitchen at less than 20 euros per beard: we tried GoXO, DiverXO’s food delivery