Hey, are you trying to be sarcastic, Toddy?

The large shrimp are langostinos and I've always found them in Spain, it's America where I can't find them!...maybe you should break away from the McPaella at Mickey D's and eat at a real restuarant. :p (You can punch me for that one at the Basque picnic next weekend...you are coming, aren't you???)

Your buds are definitely americanos as the paella purist wouldn't think of putting "land meat" into the mix, and certainly never with mariscos and "land meat"! That having been said, I'll eat paella with a shoe and some boiled football leather in it...I love it!!!

langostinos? Is that the little shrimp with the eyes still on it that they put in paella?

Sorry, for me, too many eyes and not enough meat(and too many bones with rabbit)

toddy, who love almost all of Spanish cuisine(especiall morcilla de Burgos) except little big-eyed shrimp)

Toddy,
Langostinos come in varying sizes, but they look more like a little lobster than a shrimp,they are often mistaken for shrimps or crawfish because of their size, but they are more like small rock lobsters. If you are lucky your paella would have langostinos the size of a small lobster. Their taste is a cross between a shrimp and a lobster, and thay are indeed delicios.

The best paellas are the ones you cook in the beach. There is something about the ocean breeze mixed with the smells emanating from the cooking paellas, platanitos fritos and the Sangria! Ave Maria, to die for.

Anyone who wants paella in the LA area tomorrow night is by all means invited to the Basque Club in Chino . The Gauden Bat dance group is having an annual fundraiser dinner with, you guessed it, paella. The person who normally cooks the paella there is asturiana and does a wonderful job.

If you can't make it tomorrow, don't miss lamb on Sunday...I've already heard back from a few of you...and can't wait to make your acquaintance!