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Recipe · 3 min read

Arroz de Renda

Arròs de Renda

Caldoso · brothy Cooked in Caldero Alacant

⚠️ Source-confidence note: the recipe is published by Xàbia's official tourism site (GastroXàbia), which doesn't explain the name. Renda in Valencian can mean "rent" or "yield", but that etymology is unconfirmed. No town variations were found.

01Geographic & Texture Profile

  • Primary Geographic Zone: La Marina Alta (Xàbia/Jávea).
  • Liquid & Texture Profile: Caldoso (soupy). The tourism site calls it a "stewed rice".
  • Traditional Cooking Vessel & Fuel: A caldero (cauldron) over a wood or gas fire.

02Historical & Cultural Context

A humble inland-Marina rice of snails, lima beans and red pepper, with almost no oil (½ tablespoon for four people). It uses the garrofó, which Xàbia calls fesols de la peladilla, and live snails gathered from the terraced dry-stone fields (marjades) of the Montgó. It is the Marina Alta counterpart of the snail rices of the Alicante interior (see conejo y caracoles), but without rabbit and cooked soupy.

Culinary science: with so little fat, flavour comes from the snails' own broth and from sautéed pepper and beans. Leaving the snails "in the sun so they come out of their shells" is a traditional purging and cleaning step. The snails are then cooked in the broth before the rice goes in.

03Local Town-by-Town Variations

  • The Xàbia Style (official): Snails + garrofó + red pepper, caldero, ≈ 20 min of rice cooking.
  • Other Marina towns: ⚠️ Not documented. Compare the summer arròs de batre of Jesús Pobre (snails + green chickpeas + rabbit).

04The Master Recipe (4-Person Batch Blueprint)

*Variant represented: Xàbia (GastroXàbia).*

The Flavor Base (El Fondo)

Ingredient Quantity
Live land snails, cleaned 2 dozen
Garrofó / fesols de la peladilla 250 g
Red pepper, in strips 25 g
Oil ½ tbsp
Water ≈ 1.5 L
Salt, saffron, pepper to taste

Assembly Ratios

Element Quantity
Rice 400 g
Broth ≈ 1.5 L (≈ 3.75 : 1, soupy because the beans absorb some)

Step-by-Step Cooking Blueprint

  1. Snails (morning): Wash them repeatedly in water and salt, then leave them in the sun until they emerge.
  2. Sofrito: In the caldero, sauté the pepper strips in the oil and remove part of them (to garnish).
  3. Beans: Sauté the garrofó, then add ≈ 1.5 L of water and bring to a gentle boil.
  4. Snails: Add them and cook through.
  5. Rice: Add the rice, salt, saffron and pepper. Cook ≈ 20 min.
  6. Finish: Garnish with the reserved pepper strips and serve soupy.

Rabbit & snail rices: Rabbit, mountain snails (serranas/vaquetas) and herbs, mostly seco over a hot wood fire.