Taste Tortilla

Hands up all those of you who love to eat a good Spanish made tortilla.
Thought so. Lots of you. I include myself in that group.

Tortilla sounds so much better than omelette, don't you think?

It's a great Spanish meal. Were it not for Paella, it would probably be considered the signature dish of Spain.

There are so many varieties of tortilla to choose from. You know when you've consumed a good one.
I speak of good home made tortillas. Not the soggy ones you might pick up in a supermarket.

The best tortilla I know of is made in a kitchen very close to me. But, fear not, you don’t have to come to my house to sample great tortilla.

The tortilla dates back centuries in Spain and was once known as tortilla de cartuja. Named after the Carthusian monks credited with creating it.
Another early recipe was called tortilla de aqua. A few drops of water would be added to the pan, after the oil has been poured out, but before the eggs were added.

This went on to be called a French omelette within Spain and would be referred to as tortilla francesca.
As time passed, the potato omelette in Spain became known as tortilla española and was recognised the world over as a national dish of Spain.

Since which time home cooks and restaurant chefs have just become more and more inventive and imaginative when it comes to the ingredients for a tortilla.
It is probably quicker to list the food that has not been used in one. But here is an edited version of those that can turn up in a tortilla.

Seafood, beans, spinach, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms. Liver, sausage, tuna, sardines; even snails. I have seen a snail omelette being served at a Spanish restaurant.

Then there are some specialities. Tortilla al modo de Palencia sees several tortillas stacked and tomato sauce poured over them. Not for me, thank you!
Or there is the three storey omelette called tortilla de tres pisos. Far too much mayonnaise is involved in that one for my liking. But, if my experience locally is anything to go by, I seem to be in a minority of one.

There is a tapas bar in Granada famous, or should that be infamous, for its serving of tortilla de sacromonte? Brain omelette no less. Or you can have one that includes the bull’s testicles. Or both delights in one omelette. Decisions, decisions!

Madrid is often considered to be the home of the modern day tortilla. Here the potatoes are fried, together with thinly sliced onions or cloves of garlic. An asparagus omelette (tortilla de esparagos) is very popular in and around the capital city.
The tortilla de escabeche a la madridleña includes marinated tuna fish. Here the potatoes and onions must be very finely sliced.

It is often the case in Spain that cooks and chefs cannot agree among themselves about the route to take in order to make the perfect tortilla.

But we can all agree that, for a dish with such humble beginnings and one which is so easy to make; the tortilla in Spain is a classic dish of which the country is rightly very proud.