Valencian paella class over an orange-wood fire

ratings

Cami del Raco, 7
Manises
46940
contact information
Villa Paula
+34635676888
villapaula@villapaula.es
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Book experience

Price: 110€ Duration 4

The rice is cooked over orange wood cut in the grove itself. You start with your hands in the sofrito and finish eating what you made, at the outdoor table.

A Valencian paella class on the estate where you then eat it. This is not a demonstration to watch: the fire is lit, things are chopped, the sofrito is made and then you wait, and everyone does their part. The house cook walks you through the three moments where a rice is decided — the sofrito, the point at which the stock goes in, and the rest — and explains why each one matters.

The wood is orange, cut in the grove itself. Villa Paula is surrounded by a seven-hectare estate with Clemenules mandarins in production, and the winter pruning is what feeds the fire for the rest of the year. Orange wood burns with a short, steady flame, which is exactly what a paella asks for: even heat across the whole base and no smoke to cling to the rice.

You cook outdoors, in the garden, inside a 16th-century manor estate restored by the owning family over four years. Around it there are 4,500 square metres of garden with a century-old fig tree, and alongside runs the Acequia de Quart, one of the nine canals whose water is apportioned by the Water Tribunal of the Plain of Valencia, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Part of what goes into the paella comes from the kitchen garden, depending on the time of year: tomatoes from mid-June, peppers and aubergines through August. The rest is bought in the comarca.

The experience is offered on the estate itself and is meant for the group staying there, which is always a single one: the house is rented whole, from seven to fourteen people. It is arranged before you arrive.

An experience offered on the estate to those staying in the house, arranged before arrival. The house is rented whole and always to a single group, from seven to fourteen people. Villa Paula is a five-star country house classified by the Generalitat Valenciana, tourism register CV-ARU000608-V. Guests are looked after in Spanish, English, French and German.

# Availability

All year

# Services included

Class with the house cook. Lighting and managing the orange-wood fire. The full rice, start to finish. The meal afterwards, with wine.

More information

Schedule

Arranged in advance and held any day of the year. It starts mid-morning, when the fire is lit, and ends at the table at lunchtime.

How to get

Five minutes by car from Valencia airport and fifteen from the historic centre. There is parking inside the estate. Exact directions are sent when the booking is confirmed.