Tortilla time, parte dos

In which I make a tortilla (almost) by myself. Also, the best spots for tortilla in Madrid!

Aug 03, 2022

Finished product of my tortilla experiment. Not too bad for a first try!

Dun-dun-DUN! This is the post you’ve all been waiting for, the follow up to The Great Tortilla Debate. For those of you just joining in, last week I wrote a bit about the famous Spanish dish of tortilla de patata (potato omelette): what it is, how it’s made, and the controversy over whether it should have onion or not. I promised that this week I would share my adventures in making tortilla all by myself (okay, with some instruction from David).

Without further ado, let’s get to it! I should let you know, though, that there was never any debate in this household: this tortilla was being made with onion sí o sí.1

To start, I weighed out all the ingredients and prepped my workspace. I used about 800g of potato, 135g of onion, and 8 eggs.

Potatoes, onion, and eggs: ready to be chopped and cracked

After getting everything together, the first step was to peel and slice the potatoes. Peeling I finally have down pat (I used to drop the potato on the floor basically every time), but slicing is another story. To make matters worse (or technically better, I guess), I was using the Big Kid Knife, which always scares me that I’m going to chop off a fingertip.

After slicing one out of three giant potatoes, I started to sigh and whine about how slow I was. You know that scene in Julie and Julia where all of Julia Child’s classmates in culinary school are scoffing at the way she chops onions? That was me, but with potatoes.

Next up was dicing the onion (this went faster since I have more practice), and then heating the oil in the wok (Yep, wok. You read that right.). David was vigilando2 how much oil I needed to add, and while it seemed like a lot to me at first, after the oil was hot and I slid in the potatoes, the amount seemed slightly more reasonable.

Potatoes and onion sizzling in an olive-oil-filled wok

I fried the potatoes for about five minutes before adding in the onion. While everything was goldening, I cracked my eggs into a bowl and beat them with some salt (about 6 g for anyone interested). The potatoes cooked between 20-25 minutes total, with some careful flipping every now and then to make sure the bottom potatoes weren’t burning. As I mentioned last week, the idea is to have the potatoes slightly golden but not crispy.

When the potatoes were done I carefully scooped them out along with the onion using a spider strainer (I actually needed to use a smaller fine mesh strainer to grab the leftover onion bits after) and placed them into a large metal strainer sitting on top of a plate. This step is so that the excess oil can drain onto the plate and then be reused to cook the tortilla.

After sitting for a bit (maybe 10 minutes?), I carefully folded the strained potatoes and onions into the beaten egg and salt mixture. I left the mix to sit for another 15 minutes or so in order for the potatoes and onions to soak up some of the egg. David and his mom always taste the raw tortilla for salt before cooking it, and honestly five years ago I probably would have balked at this, but ya estoy curada de espanto3 so I went for it. I ended up adding another gram of salt, bringing it to 7 grams total.

I was very confident and happy up until this point, but I grew nervous anticipating the next step: actually cooking (and flipping) the tortilla.

David helped me eye how much oil to add to the non-stick skillet (we used the reserved oil that had accumulated on the straining plate), and it was actually quite a small amount. I would say enough to just barely cover the bottom of the pan. My tortilla anxiety increased as the oil began to heat.

Already in the pan! Tortilla anxiety level at its max.

Once (I thought) the pan was ready, I plopped in the potato/onion/egg/salt mixture, making sure to spread the potatoes to the edges so they weren’t all piled in the center of the pan. Honestly this part is a blur because all I could think about was having to flip this enormous skillet of scorching potato and egg. I do remember that I probably should have waited a bit longer because the pan wasn’t hot enough (oops), but no big deal. David also showed me how to use the spatula to push the edge of the tortilla a bit to help shape it.

Now it was flipping time. I couldn’t avoid it any longer. I picked up the dinner plate, turned it upside down and placed it so that it was covering the pan like a lid, spread my fingers on the back of the plate, started to rotate the plate and—

Right before I handed the reigns over to the expert (David)

“I CAN’T DO IT!,” I cried to David (you can literally hear me whimper these very words in the video David was taking).

In an effort to save the dinner plate, the tortilla, and my arm from being scalded from sizzling oil, I passed the pan to David and he did the first flip for me. Like the pro that he is, he simply rotated the pan so that the tortilla landed on the plate, then slid the tortilla back into the skillet so that the other side could cook. No fair (clearly years of practice didn’t have anything to do with this).

Surprisingly calm and not beating myself up for chickening out, I cooked the tortilla for a bit longer, continuing to use the spatula to shape the edges. When it was done (it cooked about a minute and a half on each side since there was a lot of egg), David asked if I wanted to try doing the final flip. I normally hate anything I’m not immediately good at (not my best trait, I admit), but I decided to go for it.

Not-so-great screen grab of the video of my tortilla flip. Ignore our well-loved oven mitt; the point is that I did it!

This time I grabbed an oven mitt (ours have fingers for maximum dexterity) to ease my fear of oil burns. I placed the plate, situated my hand, grabbed the pan, whispered a little prayer, and flipped. Success! I know I sort of sound like a five year old riding a bike for the first time but I was really proud of myself.

Was my first tortilla perfect? Not exactly. It was slightly misshapen, and maybe a liiiitle overcooked for my taste. But the flavor was excellent, the top was golden, and no plates were broken or arms were scalded in the process. The finished product is below, and you can see what it looks like inside in the picture at the top of the newsletter.

Looks like a tortilla, smells like a tortilla, tastes like a tortilla!

Many thanks to David for supervising and encouraging me, helping when I was too scared to do the first flip, and suggesting that I do wrist-strengthening exercises to prepare for my next tortilla.

And there will be a next tortilla, because we ate almost all of this one in one sitting.

For anyone living in Madrid or for future travel adventures, I’d like to share some of our favorite tortilla spots in the city. Making the tortilla was fun, but as you can see, it wasn’t a fast (or easy) process, and sometimes you just want the egg and potato (and onion) goodness without the work.

Casa Dani- This is the tortilla featured on the Madrid episode of Somebody Feed Phil, and with good reason. Located in Mercado de la Paz, it’s a classic, and one of the most popular spots for tortilla. They don’t take reservations, but trust me when I say the wait is worth it. It’s also a good meeting spot for those divided by tortilla politics, as they serve the dish both with and without onion.
La Ardosa- You can find this bar in Malasaña, and you’ll also find another delicious pincho4 (with onion) to be devoured. Like Casa Dani, this spot is always packed, and expect to eat your tortilla de pie.5 What’s that phrase about standing while you eat to make room for more tortilla? Oh, I made that up?
La Primera- The most “restaurant-y” place on our list so far, La Primera is right by the iconic Metropolis Building on Gran Vía. The tortilla is excellent: perfectly cooked and studded with caramelized onion. I know this post is about tortilla, but while you’re there you have to try the buñuelos de bacalao6, and David insists that they have the best cheesecake in Madrid.7
Támara Restaurante Lorenzo- This is the spot to eat tortilla like a true madrileño, as it’s in a less touristy neighborhood and has less fame among travelers. Another sit down restaurant, Támara offers up tasty tortilla with onions in a more low-key environment. To learn more about how they make their tortilla, check out the article linked here.
José Luis- If you find yourself without a bocadillo or planned ahead enough to have extra time for a pre-game tapa, José Luis has your back. As it’s right by Bernabéu (Real Madrid’s soccer stadium), it always has a steady stream of concebollistas8 lining up for a bite on game day. A fun game to play is one I like to call How Many Pinchos Can I Order and Eat Before I Have to Run to the Stadium. Also totally worth a visit outside of game days.9

Is there a certain dish that you’ve been wanting to prepare but haven’t yet due to a complicated technique? Any tips on improving wrist strength or tortilla-turning maneuvers? Let me know in the comments!

See you Friday for the last issue before vacaciones!10

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