About every country and culture has something edible that they seemed to have culturally adopted as their own. The Spanish, take their Paella seriously, VERY seriously, as one celebrity English TV chef is finding out. Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain’s national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.

And now hundreds of people, mostly Spanish, are coming together against TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver opposing his new and unorthodox paella recipe posted on Twitter. “Good Spanish food doesn’t get much better than paella,” the tweet read. “My version combines chicken thighs & chorizo.”

Replies were fast and furious in reply to his new take on Spanish paella, “Your dish is everything but paella.” wrote Spanish journalist Vincent Marco, “Come to Valencia to try the real paella and stop making ‘rice with whatever’”.

 “Your paella is an abomination,” wrote one Tweeter. “An insult not only to our gastronomy but to our culture,” said another. There are many, many more but you get the idea. The paella fiasco is the third time this year Jamie has come under fire on social media. In March he posted a triumphant message after a sugar tax he’d suggested made its way into George Osborne’s budget.

Valencian paella

This is a standardized recipe because Valencians consider it traditional and very much part of their culture. Rice in Valencian paella is never braised in oil, as pilaf, though the paella made further southwest of Valencia often is.

• Heat oil in a paella.
• Sauté meat after seasoning with salt.
• Add green vegetables and sauté until soft.
• Add garlic (optional), grated tomatoes, beans and sauté.
• Add paprika and sauté.
• Add water, saffron (and/or food coloring), snails (optional) and rosemary.
• Boil to make broth and allow it to reduce by half.
• Remove the rosemary once flavor has infused or it starts to fall apart.
• Add rice and simmer until rice is cooked.
• Garnish with more fresh rosemary.