The Spanish rice dish cooked with squid ink and often served with seafood is arroz negro. Its Valencian and Catalan name is arròs negre, meaning “black rice.”
The ink from squid or cuttlefish gives the dish its striking color and adds a briny, concentrated seafood flavor. Traditional ingredients include white rice, cuttlefish or squid, garlic, green pepper, paprika, olive oil, and seafood broth. Crab and shrimp are common additions.
Although it is prepared in a broad paella-style pan, arròs negre is traditionally considered a distinct dish rather than simply a black paella. It is also different from naturally dark varieties of black rice. A related variation, fideuà negra, replaces rice with noodles and is often served with aioli.
The dish is especially associated with Valencia and Catalonia, but related squid-ink rice dishes appear elsewhere, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro.