Tortilla De Patatas

I got home from a party last night at about 10 o’clock this morning. After five hours sleep I wasn’t exactly perky, but I did realize how glad I was to be home. I hadn’t eaten anything in about ten hours so I went to the kitchen where I got sidetracked by Maria, who was just starting up a traditional Spanish dish called Tortilla de Patatas, which is basically an enormous omelet with potatoes. The one today also included onions, zucchini and cheese. I’m told cheese was a bit of an experiment in this case. It’s a simple concept, but in reality a bit challenging to make.

After slicing and peeling potatoes we fried them in three quarters of an inch of olive oil on a low heat as to cook them without getting them crispy. A little later some onions were sliced thinly and added to the pan. In another, which just enough oil to cover the bottom, were the zucchini slices which were cooked and then set aside on paper towels. Our resident three year old and part time dictator was assigned the job of cracking eggs into a bowl, which he performed more aptly than I, 16 years his senior, ever could. After the eggs were soundly beaten salt and the zucchini were added. By that time the potatoes were soft and ready. 

To avoid the hot potato-onion mixture from cooking the potatoes in the mixing bowl and to reduce the amount of oil in the dish, after taking the potatoes out of the pan with a slotted spoon the potatoes and onions were placed on paper towels for about 5 to 10 minutes before also being added to the mixture. The bowl was set aside for one hour.

After the hour had passed more salt was added as well as slices of cheese. A pan was put onto a medium high heat and lined with olive oil. When the pan was hot the egg-potato-cheese-zucchini-onion mixture was poured on top. To check and see if the underside as sufficiently cooked the pan was shaken back and forth to see if the tortilla moved. It happened that this particular tortilla was incredible large, making this effect more difficult to achieve. We then placed a place with a diameter a little great than that of the pan on top and, with the two of us together, managed to flip the half made tortilla onto the plate and upside down back into the pan. More shaking of the pan, a little more time and…A tortilla was made!

I’ve never been a huge fan of cooking, eating always being the more tasty option for me. But there is something about this country, this house and my own personal journey here that is bringing cooking into a healthy proportion to eating. I labor under no delusions however; even though I know I may never reach any kind of skill or awaken any talent with the former, I know I shall always excel at the latter. With Maria’s ideas, support and guidance I am learning to cook! Lord help my family when I get home, I just might want to feed them…

God bless you all, have a great week.

Kika