Bomba Rice
Bomba is an ancient strain of rice that matures very slowly. The rice we buy is grown in fresh mountain water around the town of Calasparra in the province of Murcia, Spain, using aqueducts first built by the Romans. (Calasparra is one of two Denominación de Origen regions in Spain for rice, the other being Valencia.) The result is a rice that produces an exceptionally dehydrated grain when it is harvested, because it has taken such a long time to mature. This enables it to absorb much more broth than ordinary rice. The cooking instructions for this particular brand of Bomba rice indicate that when making paella, you can use 4 parts liquid to 1 part rice.

The best rice for paella is bomba, a Spanish short-grain rice that is able to absorb three times its volume in liquid. When cooked, the grains remain separate and do not stick together. (The rice in paella should be dry and separate when done, not creamy like risotto.) According to the La Mesa Foods website:

"Grown in the rich soils of the national protected L’Albufera Park of Valencia, Spain, Bomba rice is the crème de la crème, the pinnacle of paella making. Hard to find even in Spain due to the difficulty in growing it and a far lower yield at harvest time, it will improve any of your Spanish rice dishes. Although it's been around for centuries, Bomba rice is almost unknown outside of Spain. But Bomba is definitely better - you really can taste the difference. Why? Because Bomba can soak up very large quantities of liquid while remaining very firm-grained during cooking. This means that Bomba rice will be much more flavorful when it is finished cooking than standard Spanish fare would be. It's also a high-integrity grain and even after it has absorbed all that liquid, Bomba is still firmer and more distinct than any other rice variety out there."

Another benefit of Bomba rice is that it is also the easiest rice for a beginner to use. Other varieties of short grain rice can require a bit of extra care to produce the best results. With Bomba rice, it is more difficult to overcook the rice and thus easier to produce good results. Bomba rice is expensive compared to other rice varieties due to the care required in cultivation and the length of time required for it to mature. At the time this was written, Bomba rice cost about $15 per kilo. It is an heirloom rice which is currently being revived. The quote above aside, it is readily available these days from many suppliers in the United States.

Calasparra Rice
Calasparra Rice is grown in the mountains of the Spanish province of Murcia, where it enjoys pure mountain water irrigation, unlike the usual rice fields by the Mediterranean Sea. Rice sold as "Calasparra" rice is not necessarily of a specific strain, but it does indicate the rice was grown in one of the two Denominación de Origen regions in Spain for rice (the other being Valencia). Both the Bomba and Calasparra rice grown in the D.O. Calasparra region are totally free of all pesticides and herbicides. No chemicals of any kind are added during processing. Each bag is individually numbered at the farm.

Like Bomba rice, Calasparra rice is a unique, centuries-old short grain rice with a leisurely maturing process, 30% slower than other kinds of rice. This longer growing cycle produces kernels that are exceptionally dehydrated - ready to absorb even more of the tasty sauces and flavors of paella broth and other Mediterranean recipes. The Calasparra rice that we bought and included in this comparison indicates that for making paella, you can use 3 parts liquid to 1 part rice.

Since Calasparra rice is not a specific strain like Bomba, its price is somewhat lower. Again, as this is written, Calasparra rice costs about $9 a kilo.

La Marjal Rice
Most places that sell multiple grades of paella rice will sell a less expensive rice like this La Marjal rice which we included in this comparison. Marjal is a wetlands area near Pego, Spain located about 50 miles to the south east of Valencia. Being located outside of the two Denominación de Origen regions of Spain, it is less costly and considered to be of lower quality. It is used as an everyday sort of paella rice, not perhaps a rice you would use on special occasions. While not quite as premium as Calasparra and Bomba rices, which should be considered the finest in Spain, this rice is still a very good rice that is also a great value, costing about $5 a kilo.

The packaging for this particular brand of rice doesn't include any sort of cooking instructions or any sort of suggestion for the ratio of liquid to rice, so we will just have to see for ourselves how much liquid (and therefore, flavor) this less expensive option will absorb.

The Comparison Methodology

We of course conducted this comparison using a kamado style charcoal cooker. In this case, we used a Kamado Joe BigJoe cooker. We used three identical 20 cm (7¾ inches) paelleras to cook the three rices simultaneously. Each pan started off with some olive oil and three tablespoons of prepared sofrito sauce. We heated the sofrito to thicken it some, then added ½ cup of rice to each pan. The rice was allowed to cook in the sofrito briefly, then 1 cup of warmed chicken broth infused with saffron was added to each pan. From that point on, we allowed the rice to cook and absorb the liquid. We checked the rice for doneness when the liquid was absorbed. If the rice was done, we allowed it to cook a while longer to develop the soccorat before removing from the fire. If the rice was not done, we added more liquid and repeated.

Here are some photos of the process:

The Results

The first thing we wanted to compare was the volume of liquid absorbed by each rice until the rice was done cooking. We found the following interesting table of absorption capacity and cooking time at the Tapas Bonitas website:

Rice Variety	Liquid to Rice Ratio	Cooking Time
Arroz Bomba de Calasparra	4.5 - 5.0	18 min
Arroz Calasparra	3.0 - 3.5	20 min
Arroz Balillax x Sollana	3.0 - 3.5	20 min
Arroz Sollana	3.0 - 3.5	20 min
Arroz Bomba de Valencia	3.0 - 3.5	16 min
Arroz de Valencia	2.2 - 3.0	16 min
Arroz Bahia	2.2 - 3.0	16 min
Arroz Senia	2.2 - 3.0	16 min
Arroz Fonsa	2.5 - 3.0	18 min
Arroz Gleva	2.5 - 3.0	18 min

Our results fell right into line with their data. The La Marjal rice is probably closest to the Arroz de Valencia rice in the Tapas Bonitas table:

	Rice	Liquid	Ratio
La Marjal	0.5 cups	1.5 cups	3.0
Calasparra	0.5 cups	1.75 cups	3.5
Bomba	0.5 cups	2.25 cups	4.5

Of course, taste and texture are more subjective measurements, so to aid us in this comparison, we enlisted the help of the wife (yes, the wife who.....). We knew which rice was which, but she did not. In the end, however, we both came to the same conclusion, which is probably what you have been waiting for all along.

For texture, we ranked the rices, best to worst, as Bomba, La Marjal, and Calasparra.

For intensity of flavor we also ranked them Bomba, La Marjal, and Calasparra.

In addition to the intensity of the flavor and the texture, you could see that the Bomba rice, soaking up the most liquid, produced the greatest volume of cooked rice. Calasparra was second in volume and the La Marjal was third.

So, what's the bottom line? We would recommend that if you want the very best paella you can make, go with the most expensive Bomba rice. You'll get more flavor, a greater volume of cooked rice, and a great texture. If you want to save some money but still produce a great paella, go with the La Marjal. The flavor will be less intense and you'll get a lower volume of cooked rice, but the texture will still be right up there with the best. Only you can decide if the Bomba rice is worth 3 times the price of the La Marjal, but now you know what to expect.