Rating: 
Summary: A+ for ingredients, D- for method
Review: After trying a couple of paellas from this book, I have to agree with the person who criticized the recommended cooking method. Baking the seafood for 20 minutes ruins it, rendering the shrimp tough and other seafood dry and tasteless. I had much better success with stovetop cooking, adding the seafood during the last five minutes or so. Perhaps baking the paella would work better if the seafood was added later rather than earlier. Ingredient lists and proportions are right on the mark, with the resulting flavors garnering highest marks.
Rating:
Summary: A+ for ingredients, D- for method
Review: After trying a couple of paellas from this book, I have to agree with the person who criticized the recommended cooking method. Baking the seafood for 20 minutes ruins it, rendering the shrimp tough and other seafood dry and tasteless. I had much better success with stovetop cooking, adding the seafood during the last five minutes or so. Perhaps baking the paella would work better if the seafood was added later rather than earlier. Ingredient lists and proportions are right on the mark, with the resulting flavors garnering highest marks.
Rating: 
Summary: Ms. Casas' oven technique yields poor paella!
Review: Although there are many varieties of paella with regional ingredients there is one indispensable ingredient; short grain Spanish rice. The best part of paella is without any question the "socarrat" which is the toasty caramelized layer of rice which sticks to the bottom of the paella pan when the dish is properly prepared on top of the stove or better yet, the grill. One can not make proper paella in an oven, convection or otherwise. The rice will be a soupy mess or dried out but never yield the desireable crunchy "socarrat".
"Paella Paella" is a far superior book although a great recipe for learning the technique of paella preparation can be found at the Fine Cooking magazine website. After you make that once then you may use whatever ingredients you wish to combine to make fantastic paella. Be creative.
Is it worth the trouble to find the proper pan, Spanish rice, saffron and olive oil? Absolutely! "Socarrat" Rules!
Rating:
Summary: This is not an authentic colection of recipes
Review: As a professional my self I do not advice to buy this book, the reason is simple: People who are involved in mixed paellas (meats & seafood) do not understand the true soul of this dish. Ask anyone in Valencia what he thinks about mixing shrimp with meats, Its a herecy! I recomend you buy the book "100 Paellas & 1 Fidehuá, this is the closest you will be to the real thing but is in Spanish only. THE MIXED PAELLA WAS CREATED DURING THE TURIST BOOM OF THE MID XX CENTURY IN SPAIN AND IS A PRODUCT FOR IGNORANT TURISTS, no Paella made by a Valencian or any old school coock will have both seafood and meats. GUILLERMO OLAIZ III
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, good cookbook
Review: I bought this after eating at the home of friends who used this cookbook to prepare dinner. Although paella can be labor and time intensive, I found the directions clear and easy to follow. Suggestions for desserts & drinks etc. beneficial and easy. NOTHING in the book has turned out badly. The varieties of paella described have made it possible for me to serve the dish to vegetarians, Kosher-observant Jews (!), and your basic American carnivore. A treat.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, good cookbook
Review: I bought this after eating at the home of friends who used this cookbook to prepare dinner. Although paella can be labor and time intensive, I found the directions clear and easy to follow. Suggestions for desserts & drinks etc. beneficial and easy. NOTHING in the book has turned out badly. The varieties of paella described have made it possible for me to serve the dish to vegetarians, Kosher-observant Jews (!), and your basic American carnivore. A treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Penelope Casas is good, but she is not at her best here
Review: I have two of her books, this one and the Tapas book. The Tapas book is really great. The paella book is really a bit too much. I mean, how many kinds of paella can you really eat? This is probably my own fault for buying the book- I should have figured that an entire book of paella would be overkill. But a friend of mine, whose culinary tastes I respect, suggested it, so I bought it site unseen. If you are an afficionado of paella, by all means you should get this book, but for me it's not worth it. I really like paella, but I dont' make it once a week or anything like that. I make pizza once a week, and frankly even then the "Chez Pannise" pizza cookbook I have is far too much for me. Who needs a recipe for venison, duck sausage and baby octopus paella, for crying out loud? Some do, most don't. Now, Casas' "Tapas" book is a MUST have- she's a tapas godess. Well worth the investment. But unless you are a total rice freak and can't get enough of risotto, suchi, jambalaya and paella, each of which in umpteen gazillion different forms, you'll be spendng a couple dozen greenbacks on a book that will realistically yield about four or five recipies you are likely to make with any degree of frequency.
Rating:
Summary: Penelope Casas is good, but she is not at her best here
Review: I have two of her books, this one and the Tapas book. The Tapas book is really great. The paella book is really a bit too much. I mean, how many kinds of paella can you really eat? This is probably my own fault for buying the book- I should have figured that an entire book of paella would be overkill. But a friend of mine, whose culinary tastes I respect, suggested it, so I bought it site unseen. If you are an afficionado of paella, by all means you should get this book, but for me it's not worth it. I really like paella, but I dont' make it once a week or anything like that. I make pizza once a week, and frankly even then the "Chez Pannise" pizza cookbook I have is far too much for me. Who needs a recipe for venison, duck sausage and baby octopus paella, for crying out loud? Some do, most don't. Now, Casas' "Tapas" book is a MUST have- she's a tapas godess. Well worth the investment. But unless you are a total rice freak and can't get enough of risotto, suchi, jambalaya and paella, each of which in umpteen gazillion different forms, you'll be spendng a couple dozen greenbacks on a book that will realistically yield about four or five recipies you are likely to make with any degree of frequency.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting!
Review: I just came back from a wonderful trip to Barcelona, Spain and one of the most memorable dinners that we had was lobster paella. I couldn't wait to see if there were recipes for paella out there to experiment with. And this book by Penelope Casas is wonderful. She gives recipes for a variety of different paella dishes from fish to chicken to meat to seafoods... you can take you pick. This was extremely important to me as my boyfriend is allergic to clams, but just loves rice which is the base of this amazing dish. I have been able to scout out the ingredients such as the arborio rice and saffron at the grocery store since I wasn't sure I could find them. I still do not have a paella pan yet, but I can't wait to get one and try out these recipes. They sound delicious and Penelope Casas' descriptions are very easy to understand and visualize while you read. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Thank you for this great book.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for Paella lovers.
Review: I just love to pick up this book to browse through. Full of great recipes, interesting info, helpfull tips and suppliers to obtain some harder to find ingredients to authenticate your Paella. If your looking for a good deal on a gas ring to cook your Paella on, try looking in Amazons lawn and patio- outdoor cooking- the unlikey place of, turkey cooking equipment.
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