In Spain there are as many rice recipes as there are homes, and just as many a lively debate about them as there are people who eat them. Yet we are a country deeply attached to rice, a Sunday staple and festival dish par excellence, from Valencian paella to many other formats beyond it.
It was precisely the chef Jordi Cruz, known to many from his role as a MasterChef judge and also for his work at the three-Michelin-starred AbAC in Barcelona, who shared on social media a squid-and-rice recipe. More than the dish itself, his post served to illustrate a very simple trick that can reliably yield better results.
And not just in this particular case, but in any other “rice with extras” you might want to make: arroz a banda, the equally popular arroz al senyoret, arroz negro, and more.
All varieties of rice improve with the little powder that Jordi Cruz uses, which forms the backbone of his recipe. It is nothing more than a small blend of spices designed as a flavoring agent, composed of three basics that are incredibly common.
“One or two grams of good saffron, five grams of ground cumin, and five grams of pepper,” the Barcelonan chef explained. And then you grind these together “a little bit” in a mortar. In this way, the aromas multiply.
That said, timing matters when you add it to the dish. In his example, Cruz adds the spice blend after the rice has been lightly sautéed—accompanied by a bit of tomato paste—and then he folds in a gram and a half of the spice mixture, a touch of garlic powder, a pinch of salt, and finally the stock to soak everything through.