Comments on: Two “Commercial” Paella Experiments a la Marketman

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 23:56:24 +0000

farida, we briefly introduced paella in one of our branches, and while the guests who ordered it seemed pleased, we didn’t have the volume of orders to justify cooking pans of paella, much of which went to staff meals afterwards when they weren’t sold. It’s hard to cook paella to order (it would take 25+ minutes), so a properly made paella is not likely to join the menu line-up soon…

By: farida

farida — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 18:50:21 +0000

Hi MM. l love both and I’d have them any day for that matter. So if you offer the paella in your restaurants, you can be sure my sister and I will order it. Back in the good old USA again. Didn’t make it to Pigafetta but I will make sure when I get back to go there.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 01:32:05 +0000

Christine, Mike et al, I have to agree that this pairing is unusual, but something I had reasonably often growing up. But I also buy the argument that most folks enjoy their lechon with plain rice and will probably leave it at that. Have to use the paella pans for special occasions or weekend specials… or open a more Spanish type restaurant… :)

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 23:40:08 +0000

I grew up with memories of each family gathering having lechon meticulously prepped and cooked by my grandaunt paired with seafood paella/valenciana. So it would be a pairing I would actually enjoy.
But MM, I think the pairing is not a usual fare for us Filipinos. Lechon is considered ‘fiesta’ food eaten with white rice. Paella is oftentimes considered a special dish only served in spanish or high end specialty restos.

By: Mike De Guzman

Mike De Guzman — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 02:51:41 +0000

i would eat paella and lechon if they were paired… you can make individual servings (served on small pans, which would be super cute) and something like good for 3-4 people… although, since many consider paella to be “special fare”, maybe you can serve it on the restaurant on weekends only… give the people something to look forward to…

By: sister

sister — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 13:20:09 +0000

Lola used to stuff the lechon with rice and razor clams, basically a seafood paella.
I always though that was classic Cebu fiesta fare. Maybe gone with the fifties…

By: Mandy

Mandy — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 14:06:11 +0000

I would love to eat paella with lechon. Although, I would prefer a “plainer” paella rice, meaning it’s just flavored rice, with some bell peppers & beans perhaps but no added meat because I’d prefer the lechon to be my ulam still.

By: chrisb

chrisb — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:47:12 +0000

This is fascinating. Come to think of it, I never really eat lechon with rice. I like it on its own. It’s more pica pica than ulam for me. I would order paella and lechon together BUT I think I won’t eat them together in one mouthful, which is the way most Pinoys eat rice. It’s more of a filler, or something to extend flavour. In this vein, it does make sense that most would prefer plain rice to paella.

By: jr peralejo

jr peralejo — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 07:07:43 +0000

i remembered when i was young, our lolo would get a lechon stuffed with paella inside it. it was a special treat during our family celebrations in the 80s. he stopped getting that lechon stuffed with paella sometime during the 90s.

By: Tessa

Tessa — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:53:52 +0000

Your customers might be hesitant to try your paella because they’re probably thinking it would cost a lot as compared to plain steamed rice. Why not try to introduce it to them by having a promotional combo or family meal that has the paella rice instead of plain white rice. You can run the promo for a month or two and by the time the promo is over they’ve tried the paella rice and will order it from the menu without hesitation. Just a suggestion.