Valencians used calderos near Albufera for special-occasion rice in the 18th century.
The detail comes from historical descriptions of early Valencian rice cooking around Lake Albufera, the lagoon and wetland south of Valencia. On special occasions, cooks prepared rice outdoors in calderos—large cooking vessels—near orchards and the rice-growing landscape. This was part of the social setting from which paella’s traditions developed.
Early versions did not necessarily resemble the restaurant paella many visitors know today. Available local ingredients could include rice, beans, eels, aquatic birds, snails, and water vole. Over time, changing living standards, rural gatherings, and evolving tastes helped shift the usual proteins toward rabbit, chicken, duck, and sometimes snails.
The 18th-century reference should not be read as the exact invention date of modern paella. Rice cultivation in eastern Iberia is much older, and historians describe paella’s development as gradual. The modern dish is generally associated with the rural Albufera area and is often traced in recognizable form to the 19th century.
Another common misconception is that seafood is required. Valencian paella traditionally centers on land-based ingredients such as chicken, rabbit, beans, and saffron; seafood paella is a distinct coastal variation.