Paella party!

Dear Henri: A friend recently gave me a small plastic box of saffron threads that he brought back from Spain. Can you tell me what it is and what I should do with it?

Sincerely, Mark H.

Dear Mark, Saffron is a product of the crocus plant, whose stigmas, the threads, are hand-harvested and then dried over the embers of a dying fire. About 100,000 of the threads—each flower has just three—make a pound of saffron, which retails here in the States for $70-$80 an ounce.

While experts disagree on where the best saffron comes from—my favorite supplier swears by Iranian saffron—all agree that the brighter and redder the better and that the best Spanish saffron comes from the La Mancha region. They also agree that powdered saffron, while convenient, is vastly inferior.

Saffron is used in many Mediterranean-style dishes—and even used to make tea—but it’s most often associated with paella, the traditional Spanish dish made with rice, seafood, chicken, pork and vegetables. In fact, most chefs will tell you that the only ingredient absolutely essential to paella—except for the rice—is saffron, which gives the rice its golden hue and distinctive flavor.

Best known in the Mediterranean coastal cities of Valencia and Barcelona, paella is served throughout the Iberian Peninsula, often after an antipasto plate and before the main course. However, it’s filling enough—and contains enough different ingredients—that it can easily be a meal in itself, although a light salad complements it nicely.

A well-cooked paella is a work of art. The chef often brings it to the table and holds it up for all to see, usually earning a round of applause. While it’s traditionally cooked outside over an open fire, you can also cook it on a kettle barbecue or gas grill or inside on the stove. Ideally, you’d have access to a specially designed paella pan—large (13 to 18 inches in diameter), with sloped sides and two loop handles, although any large skillet will work. Best to cook paella while sipping a glass of Torres Sangre de Toro or Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs and listening to Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain.

This recipe is a variation of the traditional Barcelona paella. Other common ingredients include string beans, white beans, snails, rabbit, pork ribs, scallops, lobster and veal.

S&S Organic Produce and Natural Foods sells strands of saffron by the jar—$12.99 for .01 oz. (The Spice Hunter) and $18.99 for .036 oz. (Frontier Herbs)—or you can order it online from Vanilla, Saffron Imports of San Francisco (saffron.com) for $80/oz.

Good luck, Mark. Sincerely, Henri

Paella Barcelonesa

1/3 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 each, green and red bell peppers, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 tomatoes, cubed

1/2 chicken, cut into chunks

12 pork sausages

12 mussels

12 clams

1/2 lb. each, squid, cut into rings; large shrimp;

cod or similar whitefish

3 cups small- or medium-grain rice

pinch of saffron (six or eight threads)

6 canned artichoke hearts, halved

1/2 cup of peas

1 lemon, cut in wedges

Heat olive oil in large skillet and sauté garlic. Add chicken and sausages and cook until brown. Remove. Add peppers and onions and sauté until soft. Add tomatoes and cook until reduced. Mix well and add the browned chicken and sausages and stir in the rice, continuing to cook for about five minutes.

Clean clams and mussels and boil in separate pan until shells open. Dissolve saffron in a half-cup of warm water. Add (to the paella) the squid, whitefish, peas, seven cups boiling water and the water with saffron in it. Stir well. Take the clams and mussels from water and remove a half shell from each one. Push each mussel, clam and artichoke partway into mixture (don’t stir), lay the shrimp on top of mixture (don’t stir), and cook for another 20 minutes or until rice is done. Garnish with lemon wedges.