Seafood paella cooking class, tapas and visit to Ruzafa market.

This paella making class was so much fun! We had the best time learning how to make sangria and paella. The chef was very energetic and got everyone involved. We all had a great time drinking sangria, taking shots, and finally eating the paella we cooked! I would highly recommend for a great experience!

València is world-famous for its paella, so we knew we needed to devote some time to learning about and eating it on our visit! This cooking class through “My First Paella” was the perfect way to do both. A tour, a cooking class, and a social activity all in one, you won’t regret this experience! My partner and I were thrilled to spend some time in the wonderful “Mercat de Russafa,” filled with friendly vendors and delicious, local food, as our guide and chef extraordinaire for the day, Ana, showed us the ingredients we would be using for our dish! Chef Ana was extremely kind and very funny as she shared her knowledge of cooking paella, both the technical elements and the power of paella to bring people and families together. Chef Jose was humorous and warm, and kept us laughing and drinking while taking care of everyone. There were many parts of this experience that stood out to me. One was Chef Ana’s explanation of how everyone involved with My First Paella wants to include visitors to Valencia (like myself and most of my group today) in the local culture and community in a real and genuine way, while also respecting and coexisting with the people who live in this beautiful city and are trying to go about their daily lives. So, for example, showing us visitors what it is like to shop in the local Mercat and where our ingredients are coming from, but being very careful to split big groups up and guide us carefully so we don’t block walkways or interfere with the stalls or the customers!! I absolutely loved how intentional they were about this, and it reflects my own beliefs about travel and tourism. The other big thing that stood out to me was how darn good the food was! It’s hard enough to make good paella yourself, I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to teach eight people at two different paella stations how to make two different types of paella at once - but Chef Ana did it and our paella was DELICIOUS!! It was so interesting to learn more about the importance of paella in Spanish (and especially, Valencian) culture, and it was so much fun to cook paella ourselves. My partner and I had some tasty seafood paella the night before our class from a really great local restaurant, but the paella we cooked together in class tasted even better. I could go on and on about this experience - delicious sangria, the opportunity to meet other travelers, feeling like part of the local community - but really, you should go experience it yourself! If you’re coming to Valencia, put “My First Paella” on your calendar.

The paella class exceeded my expectations! I was on the seafood paella group with Valentin. He is the best! He kept everyone engaged and having a good time. He made it look so easy. I can't wait to go home and make paella myself! I highly recommend this class, even for youngsters. The young ones in our group were having fun.