The story
Fideuà comes from Gandia, a fishing town on the coast of Valencia. The story goes that sometime between about 1915 and 1930, Gabriel Rodríguez Pastor was cooking for the crew of a boat out of the Grau, Gandia's port district. The captain loved the rice dish arròs a banda so much that the sailors rarely got their full share, so the cook swapped the rice for short noodles, hoping the captain would find it less tempting. Instead everyone liked it. Port restaurants such as Casa La Pastaora took up the dish, and Gandia now hosts an international fideuà contest every year.
Also known as fideua, fideuada.
On the Meridish menu
Fideuà was the rice & noodles course on menu No. 11 on October 11, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Like paella, but with short thin noodles instead of rice. A ship's cook from this town's port is said to have swapped them in so the captain would stop eating everyone's share.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideu%C3%A0
- freepressjournal.in/lifestyle/the-other-paella-fascinating-story-behind-fideu
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
