'Paella' is the Valencian word for what English item?

'Paella' is the Valencian word for a frying pan.

The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow pan in which it is traditionally prepared. In Valencian, paella refers broadly to a frying pan, not exclusively to the famous rice dish. The same word is also used for the cookware itself, while English usually distinguishes between “paella” the dish and “paella pan” the vessel.

The word has an older European history. Valencian paella is related to Catalan paella, which is generally traced through Old French paelle to the Latin patella, meaning a pan or shallow dish. This makes paella part of a wider family of related cookware words, including French poêle and Italian padella.

The rice dish developed in the rural areas around Valencia, especially near the Albufera lagoon. Farmers cooked rice with locally available ingredients over an outdoor fire. A common mix-up is assuming that paella originally means “rice” or “feast”; its cookware meaning came first, and the dish inherited the name.