The May 2007 issue of Travel+Leisure magazine has an article entitled "Tastes of Europe" in which the author, Anya von Bremzen, details "the most authentic dishes across the continent." Incidentally, Von Bremzen recently published the critically acclaimed cookbook " The New Spanish Table " and apparently is a contributing editor at T+L. The section about Alicante is entitled "Alicante: A Paella Pilgrimage" and mentions Casa Salvador in Estany de Cullera as well as Casa Paco in Pinoso. You can read the article here .

Also, the article has a sidebar about cocido as Spain's "national dish" with the recommendation of trying some at Lhardy in Madrid. Click on "More European Classics" in the Travel+Leisure article to read that section. (I tried linking it but couldn't get it to work)