On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 20:24:39 -0800 (PST), Timo
> wrote:

>On Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 4:01:27 AM UTC+10, Janet B wrote:
>> I was curious, so . . .
>>
>> According the Wikipedia, Spanish Rice is unknown in Spain. In the US,
>> the dish is referred to interchangeably as Mexican Rice or Spanish
>> Rice.
>>
>> According to Martha Stewart, it is a 'pilaf-style' dish. Meaning that
>> the rice is browned/coated in a hot fat before the liquid is added.
>>
>> I found no indications that Mexican Rice ever contains meat.
>
>Diana Kennedy lists meat (chopped chicken giblets) as an optional ingredient. She implies that the difference between Mexican rice and Spanish rice (presumably, as cooked in Spain) is tomatoes vs saffron. (Saffron instead of tomatoes is done in North Africa, with the dish being otherwise similar in ingredients and method.)
>
>There are a whole bunch of very similar Caribbean and West African recipes. The African versions can be very similar to the Mexican, but many have seafood or meat (usually chicken).
>
>Some Cuban recipes use both tomatoes and saffron.
>
>I saw a Spanish recipe (Catalan?), "paella with vegetables", with very similar ingredients to Mexican rice (and with tomatoes, no saffron). The difference was in the method: instead of frying the rice, the liquid is added, and then the rice.

I've seen her recipe. I've always found it interesting that she soaks
the rice in hot water before toasting the rice in hot oil. You're
right, I've just checked again. She does mention giblets as optional.
I have a Mexican cookbook by several British authors. Their approach
to replicating Mexican dishes is distinctly different than those in
the U.S.
The directions that I have seen for making a paella still instruct to
coat the rice with the hot oil before adding the liquid. Vegetables
may be cooked in the oil before the rice ( onions, peppers etc.) in
order to be sure that they are fully cooked in the final dish. Mexican
rice is quite different than Paella. To me, the difference is like a
baked potato. Mexican rice is very plain, Paella is fully loaded.
Janet US