I have a thing about Paella lately. I've cooked it twice in the past 3 weeks and it's getting better and better... pulling together a multitude of recipes, trying to understand the essence of this wonderful dish... and it is therefore predictable that I would end up in a camping shop last Friday seeking out the best possible Paella pan in Alice Springs. I was tossing up between something officially called a 'Paella Pan' made of some non-stick substance, and a gun-metal pan, not intended for paella, but would certainly do.
I'd been well and truly fluffling around in the shop, at this point with no longer any intention to purchase, and felt compelled to engage the shop owner in my quest. Despite his appearance as a teflon lover, he agreed with me, that non-stick was 'evil', mainly because it had killed his pet bird. Now I was curious, and so he told me the story...
He and his wife were cooking something in the oven, I assume, in a teflon pan.. and the teflon had caught alight. No-one had smelled anything or even been aware of the burnt pan, when the pet corella started to go limp... The Camping Shop man picked up his pet Corella and nursed it lovingly. He lay with it on his bed and placed it on his belly, where it died in his arms.
It was only later he discovered the burnt teflon pan, and after doing some research was convinced that it was the cause for the Corella's death.
Poor Corella!
A blog about my life with food, and my ongoing quest to determine whether or not food is really love. Recipes, stories, insights... cooking from Alice Springs and beyond..
