Paella? What In Heavens Name Is That?

I've just been given an assignment to do about something called paella and for the life of me I can honestly say that I've never even heard of such a word! Ok, ok, I know I'm not the brightest spark around town. So, I asked wifey what it was and she told me it was some kind of rise dish mixed with all kinds of stuff like vegetables, meat and seafood. Man, I love food and I don't even know what paella is, dumb right?

So, I went and did a little more research online about it on Wikipedia. I was determined to know everything there was to know about this paella dish. I discovered that the name paella is the word for frying pan in Valencian and is traditionally eaten on Sundays. There is this story about how the Moorish kings' servants created some rice dishes by mixing all the leftovers from all the royal banquets in large pots to bring home or so the story goes.

Paella is normally cooked in a paella pan which is basically a large, shallow, flat pan. The traditional paella has a crispy, caramelized and toasted bottom that is considered a delicacy. Man, all this talk abut food sure is making me mighty hungry and this paella thingy sure sounds good. I wonder where I can find some place making paella over here so I can go give it an try. Anyone how happens to know a good place to try this dish out, let me know, k? :D