The potato omelette is a traditional preparation of Spanish gastronomy that, as the annual report on home delivery trends published this week by Just Eat has shown, is liked by almost 100% of Spaniards.
Despite being a very controversial recipe, due to its variations with and without onion, cooked or rare, fried or poached, the data from the aforementioned study also indicate that 71% of Spaniards prefer it with onion, while a 56% like it rare.
From Los Tortillez they explain that in their restaurant they prepare individual tortillas to the taste of their customers, where they can choose it more or less done, and with or without onion, although their statistics confirm that 85% prefer “with”.
It can be found in many establishments, but cooking it at home is simple and it is worth learning how to make it well, especially on World Potato Omelette Day, to celebrate the day as it deserves.
The renowned chef Karlos Arguiñano revealed some time ago his secret formula to get a perfect potato omelette: six eggs, three potatoes and one onion, although he acknowledged that his recipe also includes a green pepper. This formula is also used by chef Mario Sandoval, who has two Michelin stars at his restaurant Coque in Madrid.
Although not all recipes are so rigid – and even add yolks and whole eggs, do not add onions, etc. – this is an easy way to remember the proportion to ensure it turns out well when cooking at home and in a hurry.
Miquel Antoja, chef and collaborator of La Vanguardia, recommends using the Monalisa potato, a variety that absorbs little oil and is also ideal for boiling. This contains a fairly balanced proportion between water and starch, which is why it cooks before others.
Both at Mantequerías Pirenaicas, whose excellent tortillas are sold successfully and have even earned a prominent place in the gastronomy pages of The New York Times, and at Los Tortillez, their choice of potato is the same, so it can be deduced that This is the ideal option. Even so, the Kennebec potato is another of the most used for the preparation of potato omelettes, due to its low proportion of water which means that it absorbs less oil and is soft on the inside, but crispy on the outside.
Miquel Antoja opts for poaching the potatoes over high heat – at about 160 °C – until they are soft, puree in texture, and then giving them a final touch with his own oil in the pan in which the omelette will be cooked. With this, he gets them to toast and caramelize with a touch of salt – he suggests about 6-7 grams – which he does not add until that moment.
At Mantequerías Pirenaicas, the first cooking also consists of poaching the potatoes, and then frying them, in the same way as it is done at Los Tortilez. Although there are recipes that are made with boiled potatoes, this is not usually the option chosen by chefs, since it is not as melty or crunchy.
The oil most used for frying has traditionally been sunflower oil, but olive oil resists high temperatures better and, consequently, its oxidation is less.
For Antoja, mild olive oil is the only one necessary for the potato omelette. At Los Tortillez they also opt for EVOO – which they use in all their fried foods – while Mantequerías Pirenaicas opts for high oleic sunflower oil, because it does not burn, but whose fats are relatively similar to olive oil.
Although some chefs know how to turn things around, it is not always that easy and it is not worth risking losing the omelette. Therefore, there are other simpler and safer ways to achieve it successfully.
To start, the most important thing is to have a good non-stick pan, neither too big nor too small. During cooking, it is important to move back and forth to ensure that it is not sticking to the base. When you turn it over, the bottom surface must be well cooked. The most common thing is to do it with a plate, with a diameter larger than that of the pan, and flat so that the tortilla does not sink or break.
There are also other tools to carry out this step successfully, such as double frying pans. In this case, it is advisable to heat the pan that is not in use so that the cooking is not interrupted when turning it over. There are also very light “turners” made of plastic, stainless steel or wood, with a sturdy handle, to use instead of the plate. However, any flat, slightly concave lid without holes would work.
Antoja warns of the importance of spraying oil on the base with which the tortilla is going to be turned to prevent it from breaking, as well as turning it enough times – about eight, every one or two minutes – so that the tortilla gains temperature. without burning and it is creamy inside, but not liquid.
It is known that adding milk to the egg mixture helps make the potato omelette more unctuous. Chefs, however, do not usually use this technique, because they trust that a good choice of ingredients and their proportions is enough to achieve the desired texture.
Antoja admits that in the beginning she used cream, but now she adds 4 egg yolks, in addition to the eight whole ones that her recipe already contains, to achieve a fattier texture and a prettier color.
Another trick is to pour the potatoes into the eggs just drained of the oil, so that the heat begins to cook the egg, it can be reached more easily to a creamy point and it does not take too long.
For those people who like a liquid tortilla inside, you have to be careful because the egg is prone to Salmonella and is very difficult to detect a priori. Therefore, it is recommended to cook the egg at a minimum of 75ºC to eliminate the microbiological risk, as well as to consume the omelet immediately, since the microbiological load is greater as time passes.
In Barcelona, ??the variety of potato omelettes is very wide and for all tastes. Miquel Antoja, for example, proposes an incredible recipe for potato omelette with truffle that the famous Bar Alegría in Barcelona also uses and is one of the successes of Mantequerías Pirenaicas. Another of the most common tortillas is sobrasada, which the Mantequerías Pirenaicas restaurant also prepares accompanied by brie cheese, and zucchini, which is very easy to prepare thanks to recipes like this one.
Some bizarre combinations among the most popular tortilla restaurants are macaroni and cheese from Flash Flash, ensaimada with sobrasada from Les Truites, or squid in its ink with Iberian chistorra from Los Tortillez. In this last location there is even the option to personalize its name and interior.
The desserts, which cannot be less, also consist of sweet omelettes such as rum, candied fruit with coffee sauce and orange, from Flash Flash, or chocolate with red fruits, from Les Truites.