Fideua is the noodle-paella of the Cabanyal fishing quarter: short thin fideos noodles cooked in seafood stock with prawns, squid and monkfish, served with allioli on the side.

Fideua was reputedly invented in the 1930s by Gabriel Rodriguez Pastor, a young Gandia cook who ran out of rice on board a fishing boat and substituted fideos noodles. The legend says the captain found the noodles preferable to rice and the dish stuck. The Cabanyal port quarter and Gandia south of Valencia both claim the origin. The dish is now cooked across Valencia, with the noodles tipped vertical in the pan as they cook, served with allioli, at La Riua and Casa Carmela.

4 editor picks for Fideua in Valencia, ranked by editorial score. All Valencia signature dishes · Fideua across every city.

Also in: Barcelona.

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