| It certainly is a poor man or woman who cannot | | | | underside. But the simplest method is toplace the |
| find a few eggs, acouple of potatoes and an onion | | | | frying pan under the grill to brown. |
| in their store cupboard! | | | | Whichever way you choose to prepare it, once |
| The ever-practical Spaniard realized this and thus | | | | cooked, leave it tocool a little, cover with a large |
| created theirmarvellous "tortilla" - an | | | | plate, then gently ease out theomelette. It should |
| easy-to-make dish that could besavoured by rich | | | | be circular, about an inch-and-a-half thick,and it is |
| and poor alike. | | | | usual to cut it in slices or wedges. |
| Not only cheap to make the tortilla, or Spanish | | | | Having said that, you can divide it into small cubes, |
| omelette, isimmensely adaptable: you can eat it | | | | popcocktail sticks on top, and serve along with |
| hot or cold, depending onthe weather and your | | | | other "bits andpieces" as apéritifs. |
| mood; you can enjoy a small slice as a | | | | Spanish recipes for tortilla vary from region to |
| "tapa" (snack) in between meals; or, accompanied | | | | region - alsowhat you have in the fridge and what |
| by a multi-coloured mixed salad and crusty, fresh | | | | you fancy! You can replacethe potato with, say, |
| Spanish bread, you have amarvellous main meal! | | | | spinach, leave out the onion, add a bitmore garlic, |
| Should unexpected guests come knocking at your | | | | etc, etc. Just use your imagination! |
| door ... just whipout the ever-adaptable tortilla, | | | | Below is a recipe for traditional potato-and-onion |
| pour them a glass of smooth, | | | | tortilla. |
| Spanish wine and they are bound to be delighted! | | | | TORTILLA - Spanish Omelette |
| Unlike the better-known French omelette, which | | | | Ingrediants: |
| should be madequickly and over a high heat, the | | | | Olive oil. |
| Spanish omelette needs to becooked more | | | | 1 large onion, chopped. |
| gently, so that the middle is not too runny. | | | | 1 clove garlic, crushed with 1 teaspoon salt. |
| The French omelette is best eaten straight away | | | | 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced. |
| and always hot. | | | | Black pepper. |
| Its Spanish counterpart, on the other hand, | | | | 6 eggs, beaten. |
| improves if left torest for at least five minutes | | | | Method: |
| before eating, keeps well for acouple of days in | | | | 1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. |
| the fridge, and can easily be re-heated in | | | | 2. Add onion, garlic/salt, pepper and potatoes. |
| themicrowave, unless you prefer it cold. | | | | 3. Gently fry until golden-brown and potatoes |
| As with the French omelette, the Spanish tortilla is | | | | slightly softened. |
| made in afrying pan (preferably non-stick) but, | | | | 4. Tip potato-and-onion mixture into bowl |
| unlike the French version,both sides need to be | | | | containing beaten eggs. |
| browned. For this reason, it is possibleto buy | | | | 5. Stir and transfer to large frying pan containing |
| special tortilla frying pans - a sort of double pan | | | | clean oil. |
| whichallows you to swish the omelette over to | | | | 6. Cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. |
| cook the other side! | | | | 7. Transfer pan to preheated hot grill until top is |
| I have to say, I prefer the traditional method of | | | | browned. |
| placing a plateon top of the pan, turning the tortilla | | | | 8. Carefully tip onto plate and slice as you would a |
| out and then returning tothe pan to cook the | | | | cake. |