Tortilla!

Gracias to my new friend E. – a true Mallorcan expat, now living in exile in Berlin. Apart from being a sweetheart, gracious host and fearless student of German, she is also a master of the Tortilla Espanola. And what can I say – she taught me!!! Look:

Yum, right?

Would you like to know how to make one? It’s very easy.

You’ll need

5 eggs

a generous splash of whipping cream or milk

3 potatoes, cooked and sliced

1 shallot (or onion), peeled and sliced

a blender and a frying pan

good olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Other than that? ‚Una tortilla se puede hacer con todos las cosas‘ – you can put pretty much anything in there that strikes your fancy, as long as it’s savory. Meats, fish, shellfish, any vegetable you like, cheese … on impulse, I added a few left-over green peas to this one.

Here’s how you go about it:
Crack eggs in a bowl, add a bit of cream or milk, season with salt & pepper and fluff up nicely with an electric blender. You can also use a fork – duh – but E. said it would give it that extra airy but scrunchy quality only found in a first-class tortilla. And I guess she was right, because I won’t be doing it any different anymore as long as I own a blender.

Heat the pan, pour a bit of olive oil in, add the shallot and potatoes and roast for a bit, then pour the eggs on. Cover your pan and let fry for a few minutes. Once the eggs look like they’re cooked, cover the pan with an upturned plate and turn out the tortilla – careful, use oven gloves or a cloth, pan will be hot! Also, it can get a bit messy if the eggs aren’t quite as done as you thought at the center.

Anyway. Pour some more olive oil in the pan and gently slide your tortilla back in to fry some more on the (now) bottom side. Cover the pan again and, after a few minutes, you should have a wonderful-smelling, luxuriously fluffy, slightly crisp tortilla to serve 2 or 3 – depending on individual appetites entirely. I’ve seen people eat one of these all by themselves (not going to be naming names here). In my book, this is, accompanied by a salad, a great lunch for 2.

Enjoy!