La PaellaAbout Us
Founded by Sarah Jay, La Paella has been selling paella pans and other Spanish products online for more than two decades. We are direct importers, and we sell direct to consumers and retailers. When we launched our website in 1998, most people had never heard of a paella pan, and those who did had no source for buying one. And that's why Paellapans.com was born -- to spread the word about authentic paella, and to provide all the resources you need to make one at home. Our first customers came through friends and family who had attended one of our frequent paella parties, and today we're proud to have countless satisfied customers all over the world, all of whom share our enthusiasm for great paella and for so many other terrific products from Spain.
Sarah's Story
My ties to Spain reach back to the 1980's, when I first visited the country as a 15-year-old girl from Connecticut. I took in the tourist sights with my family, but then I stayed on to study Spanish in Salamanca for the summer. I spent my time with university students who were several years my senior, and quite honestly, I was rather homesick for much of my stay (I remember making weepy international calls home to my mother from a loud peseta-chomping pay phone). Nevertheless, something must have clicked because five years later, I was back for more. This time I lived in the Andalusian city of Granada, where I was taken in by a warm and fun-loving family of 18 people (along with their raucous relatives who lived in a small town in Jaen). This affectionate clan embraced me as one of their own, and in return, I fell in love with everything they shared with me: their language, their traditions, their singing and dancing, their joyful living, and perhaps most of all, their incredibly delicious food. Every Sunday, my adopted family and I would gather around a huge paella pan to cook and eat. Oh, how we would eat. And drink. And laugh (often at my expense, but I loved it anyway).
Upon returning to the United States to finish up my studies, I knew that I was forever hooked on this magnificent country. I was drawn back year after year, not only to visit my new family and friends, but also to stock up on the world's best olive oil, chorizo, jamon, manchego, and all my other favorite ingredients, none of which were available back home.
And then one day, while working as a journalist in New York City, I went to a party and met a talented young Spanish sculptor. He needed help with his English, and I was glad for an opportunity to practice my Spanish. Before too long, we were married and in time we were blessed with two wonderful daughters.
The idea for this business developed naturally out of my love for all things Spanish, and especially my passion for paella. The business has grown from its early days, but we're still a small, family-run operation. If you call us with a question, you might very well get me as your customer service representative. Even after all these years, I still love talking about paella.
