REAL PAELLA LLC
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

About Real Paella Family owned and operated, Real Paella was founded in Tallahassee, Florida in 2006. We are committed to providing you with the highest standards in quality, service, and presentation. Real Paella's tempting tastes derive from fresh local ingredients and spices, rice, and oil imported from Spain. The master chef only uses all-natural, never processed products, and only of the very best quality. We can cook the paella on-site in front of your guests of parties for up to 1,000 people. It takes us about 2 1/2 hours from the time we start setting up until we are done cooking and ready to serve the paella. . We always bring a tent in case it rains. When the food is ready, people bring us their plates and we serve them right from the pan, buffet style, or we can move the paella pan inside if you prefer. We always make enough paella so everyone can get seconds and eat as much as they want. We recommend you telling your guests to arrive earlier, while we are still cooking - part of the fun of a paella party is to watch the process of making authentic paella. We will also provide traditional “tapas” (hors d' oeuvre or gourmet mini-dishes), sangria, dreamy homemade desserts, and live flamenco music to lively up your party with the sounds of Spain. We do know, however, from a very recent study by researchers at the University of Stellenbosch in Tygerberg, South Africa, that intake of chicken—when coupled with a prudent diet that restricts total fat to 30% of calories and provided 20 grams of daily dietary fiber—can lower blood cholesterol and blood LDL-cholesterol, and, at the same time, improve the quality of triglyceride (TG) circulating around in the blood. More specifically, inclusion of chicken can increase the omega-3 content of the TGs and lower their content of arachidonic acid (AA). Since omega-3s are considered to be anti-inflammatory fatty acids, and since AA is considered to be a pro-inflammatory fatty acid, this change in the composition of the TGs with chicken consumption could be considered as providing anti-inflammatory benefits to the cardiovascular system. Many people wonder about the potential health advantages of switching from beef to chicken, especially in the context of colon cancer risk. A first important piece of information to remember in this context is that studies on beef consumption and colon cancer typically find increased risk from high consumption (5 or more ounces per day). We're not aware of any research showing increased colon cancer risk from consumption of 3-4 ounces of beef several times per week. At this higher intake level, however, the increased risk of colon cancer associated with beef does not appear to be associated with chicken. In a recent study analyzing risk of colorectal cancer in more than 20 studies involving chicken, turkey, and fish, researchers found was no evidence of increased colorectal cancer risk, even when chicken was consumed four to five times per week. In addition, as chicken intake increased on an ounce-by-ounce basis from a very small amount (less than one ounce per week) to 4-plus ounces per week, risk of colorectal cancer was not found to increase. While we recommend all of our dairy products in grass-fed form (including grass-fed beef, cheese, milk, and yogurt), we cannot include chicken in this grass-fed category because chickens are not herbivores but rather omnivores. Unlike cows, who only eat plant foods and who have a special ruminant digestive system for getting optimal nourishment from grasses, chickens enjoy eating a wide variety of non-plant foods including, grubs, worms, and insects. While many chickens do enjoy grass, they still do not depend on it in their natural diet in the same way as cows. In natural pasture settings, chickens can typically find all of their naturally preferred foods, including many kinds of seeds, insects, clovers, grasses, and other vegetation. For this reason, we believe that "pasture-raised" best describes the lifestyle quality that is optimal for chickens. Commercial production of chicken in the U.S. has grown continuously and dramatically over the past 30 years. In 2010, production of broiler chickens surpassed 35 billion pounds and is expected to surpass 40 billion pounds by 2020. Per capita chicken consumption was approximately 50 pounds per year in 1985 but had grown to nearly 85 pounds per year by 2005. Today that per capita consumption is down slightly to about 75 pounds, but it is expected to return to the 80-pound level by 2020. Consumption of chicken presently exceeds consumption of beef by approximately 35%. The United States is the world's largest producer of broiler chicken, and among the U.S. states, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina produce the most chicken for meat purposes. (In terms of egg-laying flocks, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Texas are states with the most chicken production.) When purchasing whole chickens, look for ones that have a solid and plump shape with a rounded breast. Whether purchasing a whole chicken or chicken parts, the chicken should feel pliable when gently pressed, and it should not have an "off" smell. Do not buy chicken if the sell-by date on the label has already expired. With respect to organic standards, no minimal amount of days spent outdoors or time per day spent outdoors is required for production of organic chicken. Nor must any minimal amount of chicken feed be obtained from a pasture setting. In fact, standards for the pasture setting are not adequately addressed in organic chicken standards. Organic standards require strict feeding with certified organic feed, but legal use of the organic label does not require any fixed amount of feed to be obtained from a pasture setting. So organic does assure you of higher quality feed for chickens and other desirable production conditions. However, just like the other labeling terms listed above, organic still does not assure you of chicken that has been pasture-raised. The basic issues involved with pasture-raised are not complicated. It isn't enough to provide chickens with "access" to the "outdoors"—they need regular time (usually daily) actually spent pecking, foraging, roaming around, and interacting socially in a setting with natural vegetation, insects, worms, grubs, shade, and sunlight. We suggest that you talk with your grocer and/or directly with your chicken producer to find out if these circumstances were provided for their chickens.