There is an old story of how the Moorish kings' servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that that word paella originates from the Arab word “baqiyah” meaning left-overs.The term Paella actually refers to the pan that it is cooked in. All the way back to the ancient Sanskrit language the term Pa means …to drink, and the Roman culture from the latin made words like Patera, Patina , Patella which could mean a container to drink, or perform other culinary functions.