Chinese billionaire flies 3,000 workers to Spain to try paella

Chinese billionaire flies 3,000 workers to Spain to try paella

Chinese conglomerate Tiens Group employers are served Paella in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 6, 2016. (AP Photo / Paul White)

Alan Clendenning, The Associated Press
Published Friday, May 6, 2016 5:25PM EDT

MADRID -- The billionaire founder of Chinese conglomerate Tiens Group treated 3,000 of his top salespeople Friday to a traditional Spanish paella dinner during a free Madrid trip that also included a bullfight and a tour of King Felipe VI's Royal Palace.
The smiling crowds washed down heaping plates of paella with sangria at a massive spread of picnic tables in a riverside park during the event footed by Li Jinyuan and organized by China's U Tour travel company.
U Tour deputy manager Zhang Xilai said the tour for the group of mostly health care products salespeople cost 7 million euros ($8 million).

says fewer salespeople went this year because of higher sales targets and stiffer competition in China.
The employees saw a bullfight in a town near Madrid complete with Spanish horse riders and flamenco dancers and then swigged sangria after an employee awards presentation followed by paella served from huge "paellera" pans used to cook and serve the dish.

After Madrid, they were scheduled to head to Barcelona for the rest of their trip.
Zhang said another trip is expected to take place next year, but the destination hasn't been set yet.
Associated Press news researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.

Hmmmmmmm paella



Seafood paella
Recipes for this dish vary somewhat, even in Valencia. Below is a recipe by Juanry Segui, a prominent Valencian chef.[31]

Make a seafood broth from shrimp heads, onions, garlic and bay leaves.
Heat oil in a paella.
Add mussels. Cook until they open and then remove.
Sauté Norway lobster and whole, deep-water rose shrimp. Then remove both the lobster and shrimp.
Add chopped cuttlefish and sauté.
Add shrimp tails and sauté.
Add chunks of whitefish.
Add garlic and sauté.
Add grated tomato and sauté.
Add rice and braise in sofrito.
Add paprika and sauté.
Add seafood broth and then saffron (and/or food coloring).
Add salt to taste.
Add the deep-water rose shrimp, mussels and Norway lobster that were set aside.
Simmer until rice is cooked.