Delicious Spoon

Yes, I know, it has been a while since I posted, apologies for this. It so happens that mama came to visit us, and in between visiting and shopping, we also did some sewing and cooking.

Lately, whenever we spend time together I’m trying to absorb as much as I can from her domestic-tasks-wisdom. It is just great to learn those age-old tricks that she has accumulated through observation of the elder women in the family, friends and years of trial-and-error experiences. Every time I learn these tricks from her I feel so privileged…

Now, my friends, I feel that I have to share this goodness with humanity by explaining here her recipe for the Spanish tortilla de patatas, another book-case example of how a couple of good, yet simple ingredients can produce the most flavourful, amazing result.

This specific tortilla, the first pictured above, was without contest, the BEST tortilla I ever ate. Ever, ever, ever!!!

Hubby even said that it was so tasty that ‘no meat’ was needed with it, which coming from him it is a HUGE compliment, even more so because he had never said this about a dish before.

The second picture is from another tortilla I made later on, to which I added some strips of Spanish chorizo. Notice how the tortilla is gooey and soft  inside, this is the proof that you did not overcook it and that the tortilla will not be too ‘dry’, mmmmm…

Ingredients:

- potatoes, we used a bit over 1kg /2 pound, Nicola variety (hard)

- eggs, we used 6

- olive oil, we used about 6dl – 2 1/2 cups of the cheapest extra virgin variety (no need for fancy stuff)

- 1 small onion

- salt

The amounts can vary depending on how large is your frying pan, the one I used measures about 30 cm/11.8 inches, and the content (onion, potatoes and hot oil) represented about 2/3 of the volume of the pan.

Cooking instructions:

While this dish is not difficult at all to prepare, it is not easy to get the PERFECT tortilla: it can turn too hard, too salty, too dry… Therefore I’m sharing my mum’s tricks, which guarantee that absolute perfection. I’m also giving indications that will allow you to check whether you are on the right track or not. So here we go…

Peel the potatoes, wash them, chop them in very small dices, sprinkle some salt on top.

Chop the onion as well, in very tiny pieces.

Fill about half frying pan with the oil, put it on the stove. Remember that the volume of the oil will increase as it heats up, so do not fill the pan beyond two thirds of its volume.

When the oil is hot add the potatoes and the onion, which should be almost fully submerged in the oil (add more hot oil to the pan if this is not the case or else reduce the amount of potato and onion).

Trick #1: Do use the onion, because its flavour is slowly released in the oil, which in turn is partly absorbed by the potatoes, giving them a ’sweet’ flavour.

Trick #2: Do not fry the potatoes (until they get a hard crust). Instead cook them slowly in the oil at low heat, and turning them every now and then until they break easily when poked with a spoon. They should actually start becoming mushy. Then drain the onion-potato mix, but keep the oil in a container as it can be re-used for other tortillas or dishes.

Break the eggs in a bowl, add a bit of salt and whisk slightly.

Trick #3: Do not whisk the eggs for too long because this would make the tortilla ‘hard’.

Add the drained potatoes and onion to the eggs and mix well. At this point, if the potatoes and onion are not fully ’submerged’, add more whisked egg and mix again.

Now, because we noticed that the potatoes had ’shrinked’, we decided to pick a smaller non-stick frying pan, in order to obtain a tortilla of 2cm/0.8 inches of height.

So we put this smaller pan on the stove at medium heat, we added 2 tbsp olive oil, and when it was hot, we poured the egg-onion-potato mixture in it.

Trick #4: At this moment it is crucial not to overcook the tortilla or else it will be hard and dry. The result you are looking for: slightly golden outside and gooey inside.

In a couple of minutes the bottom of the tortilla hardens and becomes loose, you should now turn the tortilla upside down -carefully- with the aid of a plate. Cook the other side a couple of minutes more and then serve.

In Spain we eat the tortilla cold, hot, in a ‘tapa’, in a ‘montadito’ or in a ‘bocadillo‘ (in between a baguette cut in half in the length). We can eat it half-morning, for lunch, before and during dinner. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a salad, with other tapas or with cold cuts. My favorite: together with some slices of ripe tomatoes drizzled with virgin olive oil, salt and oregano.

Now, if this is not absolute HEAVEN…