The Spanish Tortilla: Don't call it breakfast-for-dinner

The Spanish Tortilla: Don't call it breakfast-for-dinner



When most Americans hear “tortilla,” they think of the flat Mexican bread.

When most Spanish folks – Europeans not Mexicans – hear “tortilla,” they think of a kind of omelet that contains just three ingredients: eggs, potato and onion. The word “tortilla” means, literally, little cake, and the Spanish tortilla, when made correctly, is like a little cake,

I’m not a fan of breakfast-for-dinner. The practice of having bacon and eggs or, good god, pancakes and suchlike in the evening is disorienting and unpleasant. Breakfast-all-day might work for McDonald’s – actually the sales of breakfast items for lunch and dinner seems to be working out quite well for the company – but breakfast-all-day, or at any time of day after about 10 am, doesn’t work for me. The cool thing about the Spanish tortilla is that, like a quiche, it’s got basically breakfast ingredients reconfigured for any time of day. It doesn’t feel weird to eat a Spanish tortilla after the sun goes down, even with a glass of wine, which is somehow unthinkable with bacon and eggs (not that it hasn’t, of course, been done).

It’s an easy recipe, with just the three ingredients. You thinly slice potatoes and pan fry in a good amount of oil; when the potatoes are maybe 6 or so minutes from being fork-tender, add roughly cut onions and warm to transparency. When both potatoes and onions are tender, remove from heat and add to a mixture of eggs. All ratios are up to you and variable: I used two smallish potatoes, one medium onion and four eggs for one batch; a dozen small potatoes, one medium onion and five eggs for another; it’s all good, and this is a very flexible and forgiving recipe.

About heat. Of the many YouTube videos I watched of people making tortillas, one thing many had in common is that they used very high heat throughout the process. I think this is a bad idea. There is, to me, few worse kitchen smells than that of burned eggs; the potatoes need medium-high heat, but after that, medium-low heat is best.

Put oil in the (ideally non-stick) pan, turn heat to medium-low, and pour in the egg/potato/onion mixture – and don’t touch it for about 3-4 minutes, except for using a rubber spatula to loosen the edges. You want the bottom to brown without sticking before you flip it, which is the tricky part: the flip. To flip, use the rubber spatula to loosen the tortilla, then put a plate or rimless pan lid on the top and flip the tortilla onto it so that the already-cooked side is on top; then slide the uncooked side into the pan. As that other side cooks, use the rubber spatula to again shape around the sides of the tortilla so that it looks pretty.

And appearance counts. The Spanish tortilla has a certain beige/yellow/white cast that is defeated if you leave the brown or red skins on the potatoes, which would be my tendency. Europeans, if I may generalize, seem to disdain potato skins: years ago, in a Left Bank raclette restaurant, I watched as French people, young and old, carefully peeled each boiled potato before smearing it with raclette cheese. My impression is that Europeans believe leaving the skin on potatoes to be gauche (even on La Rive Gauche), and as this was my first tortilla Española, also called tortilla de patatas (potatoes are that important), I peeled the spuds a la mode Européen. For I am a fancy lad. And I used tiny spring potatoes, which are tender and tasty and cook relatively quickly.

The potatoes provide some loft, so that the tortilla looks more like a cake than do most any omelets. To reinforce the cake-like qualities of the Spanish tortilla, it’s usually served by slicing out a triangular portion; I guess you could sit down to a whole tortilla and eat it like an omelet, but that seems wrong. Also wrong, to me at least, is adding anything besides salt and perhaps pepper to it – I had some Gochujong Korean chili sauce, which I frequently use on eggs, and it wasn’t terrible, but it seemed wrong. There’s something immensely satisfying about the time-honored, classic simplicity of this three-ingredient meal. Adding anything more seems out-of-sync, kind of like having breakfast for dinner .

Hi David. I had a lot of Spanish friends in grad school, and they made this a lot when they were feeling homesick. Spanish parties always had 3 or 4 tortillas, manchego cheese, and pamb a tomaquet (bread rubbed with tomato).

The plate flip is the tricky part - I can do it but it's a little unnerving. When I make this I tend to cheat: either sticking it in the oven, or dripping a little water around the edges to create steam and then covering it to firm the top.

The simple egg and potato version has its appeal but usually when I make this for myself I add sliced thai chiles and plenty of browned scallions. My Spanish friends would probably turn up their noses but I can't help it, the Asian blood takes over and making eggs without scallions seems wrong. Thanks for the writeup.

eating while walking wrote:Hi David. I had a lot of Spanish friends in grad school, and they made this a lot when they were feeling homesick. Spanish parties always had 3 or 4 tortillas, manchego cheese, and pamb a tomaquet (bread rubbed with tomato).

The plate flip is the tricky part - I can do it but it's a little unnerving. When I make this I tend to cheat: either sticking it in the oven, or dripping a little water around the edges to create steam and then covering it to firm the top.

The simple egg and potato version has its appeal but usually when I make this for myself I add sliced thai chiles and plenty of browned scallions. My Spanish friends would probably turn up their noses but I can't help it, the Asian blood takes over and making eggs without scallions seems wrong. Thanks for the writeup.

EWW, at the parties you attended with Spanish friends, I'm guessing the tortillas were served at room temp, right (in other words, made in advance and simply put on the serving table)? Interesting that you feel those friends would "turn up their noses" at chilies and scallions -- I tend to think you're correct, but it always surprises how traditional some Europeans feel they must be. That said, so far, I'm sticking close to the traditional recipe.

Totally agree that the flip is the most challenging, and I'm still working at that. Notice that the right edge of the tortilla in the picture is slightly ragged; that's the result of a less-than-totally-confident flip: part of the edge got snagged on the handle-side of the pan. With time, I will be able to do the flip with one, uninterrupted motion, for a more perfect circle.

Mio caro cugino David, did the Sicilian-cooking relatives in your family never make you a potato fritatta? Indistinguishable from your tortilla recipe. Not to take anything away from its indisputable yummyness.

My fritatta flipping technique is to slide it out cooked-side down on to a plate, take a deep breath, and flip it into the pan uncooked side down.

Usually works.

Giovanna

One of my favorite Spanish tapas. I love it simple, served anywhere from cold to warm, though warm with somewhat runny egg is my favorite (my favorites in Madrid had the runny egg). Otherwise, I like it pretty simple and traditional, without any fancy toppings or additions.

As for the flip, I invert an oversized plate over my pan and then turn the pan over, carefully. I'll admit the first time I did this the plate moved just enough to cause 1/4 of the tortilla to pour out onto the stovetop . . . uggghhhhh!!! I've since been far more careful.

BR wrote:As for the flip, I invert an oversized plate over my pan and then turn the pan over, carefully. I'll admit the first time I did this the plate moved just enough to cause 1/4 of the tortilla to pour out onto the stovetop . . . uggghhhhh!!! I've since been far more careful.

A plate is traditional, but I use a flat bottom pan, which has a handle, facilitating greater control (at least in my case).

Giovanna wrote:Mio caro cugino David, did the Sicilian-cooking relatives in your family never make you a potato fritatta? Indistinguishable from your tortilla recipe. Not to take anything away from its indisputable yummyness.

Cara Giovanna, of the many frittata recipes I found online (e.g., first hit: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a- ... chn-170717), none contained the simple potato/onion/egg combo, without anything else, though that simple classic no doubt shows up in Italy (which, of course, taught Spain and France how to cook). A frittata seems usually to contain a lot more than just those three things, including cheese, sausage, chives, garlic, etc. All cool, of course, but no tortilla.

I use the 13" round pizza tray that came with my Breville toaster oven to flip. It has never been used for pizza. It has virtually no edge and is great for this task. I imagine the bottom of a tart pan or spring form pan can be used similarly.

I have also used the 14" lid to my 6 quart saute pan, but that is not ideal because it has a more pronounced lip (you lose about an inch in diameter) and it is a bit concave in the middle, though it is easier to handle because...it has a handle.

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've yet to experience a mishap.

I've also used carbon steel skillets rather than nonstick with good results. In fact, I've used tortillas as part of my seasoning process on the last two skillets I purchased. Some manufacturers call for cooking potato peels in oil in the skillet to help remove an outer waxy protective layer that you need to get rid of before cooking and seasoning. I figured, no reason to waste a perfectly good peeled potato, so I sliced it thin and mixed it with onions and plenty of oil (the potato did not brown). After applying a coat of seasoning or two, I proceeded with the recipe. Really, it's a good seasoning recipe since you are cooking in a lot of oil.

gastro gnome wrote:since you are cooking in a lot of oil.

The lots o' oil issue may give pause to some who are considering the Spanish tortilla.

If you watch some of the YouTube preparation, you no doubt will be taken aback by the deep oil bath that both potatoes and onions are frequently cooked in.

I have prepared the tortilla traditionally, cooking the potatoes in oil (though nowhere near as much as some recipes suggest) and baking the potatoes and then frying them in even less oil. I have not found that the low-oil approach has a significant impact on my enjoyment of the tortilla's flavor, though you do want enough oil, of course, to avoid sticking. Bubbly oil also helps the tortilla develop a crunch lacework, especially around the edges, which I find quite wonderful.

Not all the oil gets consumed. Not by a longshot.

In fact, after I'm done frying the potatoes and onions, I strain out the solids with a slotted spoon and pour out the oil entirely and reserve it in a jar (it's a delicious, onion-y flavored olive oil for use in future cooking). I then add 2-3 tablespoons back to the pan to cook the eggs.

David Hammond wrote:EWW, at the parties you attended with Spanish friends, I'm guessing the tortillas were served at room temp, right (in other words, made in advance and simply put on the serving table)? Interesting that you feel those friends would "turn up their noses" at chilies and scallions -- I tend to think you're correct, but it always surprises how traditional some Europeans feel they must be. That said, so far, I'm sticking close to the traditional recipe.

Totally agree that the flip is the most challenging, and I'm still working at that. Notice that the right edge of the tortilla in the picture is slightly ragged; that's the result of a less-than-totally-confident flip: part of the edge got snagged on the handle-side of the pan. With time, I will be able to do the flip with one, uninterrupted motion, for a more perfect circle.

Yes, the tortillas were cooked until firm, then cooled to room temperature and sliced into little squares with toothpicks in them for serving. The tortilla preparation rules were quite stringent as I recall. Chiles would have been especially verboten as my Spanish friends were very anti-spicy food (actually I found this to be generally true for many West Europeans). Also, no browning on the potatoes!

David Hammond wrote:
Cara Giovanna, of the many frittata recipes I found online . . . none contained the simple potato/onion/egg combo, without anything else, though that simple classic no doubt shows up in Italy

OK, I don't dispute your research, but I can assure you that Grandma Jenny [AKA 'OG Giovanna'] [AKA the cook by whom I judge all Italian cooking] fed me something exactly like this.

David Hammond wrote:
. . . that simple classic no doubt shows up in Italy (which, of course, taught Spain and France how to cook).

I should also add that an asparagus fritatta - steamed asparagus, olive oil, eggs, salt & pepper - is now and forever my favorite way to eat asparagus. [I do not have an un-favorite way to eat asparagus.]

I'm not generally an Italo-chauvinist, but I do like telling people that Catherine diMedici and her chef taught the French how to cook .

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:

David Hammond wrote:
Cara Giovanna, of the many frittata recipes I found online . . . none contained the simple potato/onion/egg combo, without anything else, though that simple classic no doubt shows up in Italy

OK, I don't dispute your research, but I can assure you that Grandma Jenny [AKA 'OG Giovanna'] [AKA the cook by whom I judge all Italian cooking] fed me something exactly like this.

Food terms can be the slipperiest. My Italian granny called bruschetta "pizza," but she also used "pizza" to refer to the commonly known flatbread covered in tomato sauce and topped with cheese and sausage. Her bruschetta could be pizza but our American pizza could not be bruschetta.

Similarly, tortilla could be frittata (with nothing in it but potato/onion/egg, which would be rare for frittata) but frittata could be tortilla only if it contained just potato/onion/egg, cooked and shaped in the traditional ways.

Hey, I didn't make the rules.

I'm in the lots of oil, medium-high heat, no other veg beyond potato and onion, keep it runny, serve room temperature, cut in wedges camp, though the toothpicked squares is indeed also a thing. I've encountered saffron or pimenton aioli on the side, or paprika and saffron in (or on) the tortilla as well in Cantabria, as well as (usually) olives or chorizo on the plate, but never cooked in (as Vera does with chorizo and morcilla).

I most frequently make the Adria potato chip version at home - I started with Cape Cod and Kettle Chips with sea salt and slightly thicker cut since that's more of the type of chip I saw in a live demo years ago, but honestly Lay's works just fine and may even distribute the salty and potato flavor better, and that (very thin crisp) type of chip is very common in Spain.

Frittata in my Italian family is invariably finished under the broiler (where tortilla is generally not), but I know different families and regions have different practices with this. Zucchini and fresh mushroom with Romano cheese and parseley when available, fairly brown and crisp on both top and bottom, is the default frittata for my great-aunts and and mom, though my personal favorite is also asparagus. Garlic doesn't touch either frittata or tortilla (except in aioli on the side) in the places in which I was introduced to either.

I do not understand Spanish tortillas. Eggs with potatoes in it. Bland and blah. Just don't get it. Now you could make it into something special, but that's no longer a Spanish tortilla.

teatpuller wrote:I do not understand Spanish tortillas. Eggs with potatoes in it. Bland and blah. Just don't get it. Now you could make it into something special, but that's no longer a Spanish tortilla.

You have not had it or you have not had a good one. It is glorious.

I have had it at the various Spanish outlets in town.

Sometimes, a guy gets lucky, but it spoils him for later Real Life. Years ago I went to a conference in Madrid, and stayed with a pal who was a researcher at CSIC, Spain's national research council. Since it was my first real visit to Spain, she took me to all the insider places, no tourists but me. Our first stop, early one midnight (?!) was the Meson de la Tortilla, a place that serves *only* tortillas and wine, located deep in a cave underneath some old city wall.

The tortilla–my first– was as good as tortillas can be, which is to say, ravishing: classic three-ingredients, as described by Hammond and others, and flipped.

I've never had a better, nor certainly ever made a better. But I suppose the occasion's ambiance might have coloured the experience just a bit....

BTW, in my Italian-based maternal side of the family, we were taught to finish off a fritatta under the broiler, after strewing a bit of freshly-grated parm or romano on the partially set eggs. And jarred sweet red peppers were de rigeur.

Geo

http://www.restauteca.es/blog/meson-tortilla-madrid/

I'm really glad this thread keeps popping up because the photo of the tortilla in David's OP is so damn delicious looking!

When I went to Spain several years ago, we had an apartment in Valencia where the owner left us a tortilla and salad for our arrival. Very simple, very good.

After reading this thread, this recipe for a Jewish Algerian dish called Mahkuda caught my eye as an obvious near relative of a Spanish tortilla. Except for the harissa, it seems pretty darn close. Anyone know much about it?

EvA wrote:After reading this thread, this recipe for a Jewish Algerian dish called Mahkuda caught my eye as an obvious near relative of a Spanish tortilla. Except for the harissa, it seems pretty darn close. Anyone know much about it?

There is also the Persian versisn often served at Naw-Ruz, called Kuku Sabzi. Perhaps Dr. Seuss was inspired by these green eggs.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/persia ... k-frittata

HI,

The first time I made this Cauliflower Kuku, I made another one the very next evening.

The other day when I worked the election, I made the Cauliflower Kuku as well as Persian variant with chopped dill, parsley and cilantro. This one I need to figure out a bit better, because it was a bit too grassy tasting for me.

Kukus, frittatas, tortillas and other variants are really great last minute meals.

Regards,
Cathy2

teatpuller wrote:I do not understand Spanish tortillas. Eggs with potatoes in it. Bland and blah. Just don't get it. Now you could make it into something special, but that's no longer a Spanish tortilla.

When I first read your comment, I thought, “Whoa, Teat, yousa dick!” After I got over the anatomical incongruity of that initial thought, I realized that the key words in your response are the first four.

So, let us speak in our common language: booze.

Think of a classic Manhattan. Three ingredients, right? (I’m not counting cherry or lemon peel). There is something about limiting cocktail ingredients to three that makes for a perfectly balanced drink, not only with my beloved Manhattan, but also with the Negroni, Daiquiri. Mint Julep, Moscow Mule, Old Fashioned, Side Car, the list goes on.

1 is, indeed, boring and alone; 2 creates a tension; 3 is resolution, harmony. That’s why I’m (currently) opposed to adding (as my sister-in-law suggested this morning) garlic and Hatch chilies to my tortilla: I like the composed uncomplicatedness, the coordinated coherence of the three ingredients, much as I do in a Manhattan, Negroni, etc.

Potatoes, onions and eggs are so basic and elementary that transmuting them into a tortilla does seem, if I may say so, somewhat magical.

It is not the simplicity that is the problem, it is the blandness. Like a plain omelette with potatoes in it, I mean that's great if you are starving to death or in a hurry to get back to the vineyard to prune.

I'd rather sunny side up eggs with crispy hash browns on the side. And a glass of red wine.

I think it's OK - we don't all have to love everything.

teatpuller wrote:I'd rather sunny side up eggs with crispy hash browns on the side. And a glass of red wine.

And I can't do that.

You're right of course: different strokes.

One thing to keep in mind: I know for a fact that Spanish eggs, potatoes, and onions *taste* different (in most cases, read "better" for "different" here!) so I'd bet that some of our memories, certainly those rooted in the Olde Countrie, might be coloured by that!!

Geo

EvA wrote:After reading this thread, this recipe for a Jewish Algerian dish called Mahkuda caught my eye as an obvious near relative of a Spanish tortilla. Except for the harissa, it seems pretty darn close. Anyone know much about it?

Now I'm sorry we volunteered to bring salad tomorrow night. I like the sound of this (which is close, but no tortilla).

Geo wrote:One thing to keep in mind: I know for a fact that Spanish eggs, potatoes, and onions *taste* different (in most cases, read "better" for "different" here!) so I'd bet that some of our memories, certainly those rooted in the Olde Countrie, might be coloured by that!!

Geo

I'm sure you're right, Geo. For a dish this simple, higher quality ingredients would make a significant difference.

David Hammond wrote:

Geo wrote:One thing to keep in mind: I know for a fact that Spanish eggs, potatoes, and onions *taste* different (in most cases, read "better" for "different" here!) so I'd bet that some of our memories, certainly those rooted in the Olde Countrie, might be coloured by that!!

Geo

I'm sure you're right, Geo. For a dish this simple, higher quality ingredients would make a significant difference.

I keep multiple dozen eggs in the house depending on their use. For all things where the egg itself is prominent then I go for local eggs from a friend who has hens or a local farm, so tortilla, other savory egg dishes including eggs jeanette, tea eggs, aioli, mayo, and meringues. If the eggs are an ingredient, like a wash for bread or pie or used in a cake I use store-bought, whatever(but generally cage-free, organic, etc.) eggs.--LLAP

Perfectly reasonable policy, Pairs! I do pretty much the same thing, except recently I've been blessed with a surplus of eggs from a friend in the next village, so they're used in *everything*! But when supply is down, and I have to retreat to supermarket eggs--even 'cage-free'--for my breakfast soft-boiled eggs, well...., there's a lot of boo-hoo around here.

Geo