Spanish Tortilla

Perfect for travellers, Spanish children take it to school for lunch, workers take it to the field or factory for the midday break, toddlers and grannies thrive on it. It's cheap, available everywhere that hens lay eggs, uses very little fuel in a single pan on top-heat - no need to finish it under the grill or in the oven, take a deep breath and flip it over.

       In Spain it's the go-to fast food at home for busy people, a stand-by when visitors drop in for a bite, a staple of the tapa-bar.  The thickness of the tortilla and the number of portions available depend on the size of the pan.  Every household has its own way of making it, the perfect pan to cook it in and the inclusion of onion is negotiable.  Garlic and parsley are sometimes included, as are other ingredients - cooked chickpeas or haricots, wild or cultivated mushrooms, fava (broad) beans, peas, green beans, green and red peppers, leaves such as spinach and chard, asparagus of the skinny uncultivated kind, wild greens such as thistle-rosettes, sweetbreads, fish-fry, artichoke-hearts, end-scraps of chorizo and the last salty little morsels carved from the serrano ham-bone before it's sawn into lengths to flavour the bean-pot.

       Yes, well. As an all-egg pancake that serves as a carrier for seasonal additions, Spain's tortilla belongs to the Persian kookoo school of egg-preparations.  Potatoes are usually, though not always, included - potato being a post-columbian addition to the Old World kitchen.  Before the New World botanicals arrived, (potatoes, tomatoes, chillis, maize - imagine!), the bulking-ingredient (at least in Andalucia) was (sometimes, not always) cooked, mashed aubergine. Which is a word borrowed from the French, who had it from the Catalans, which is known in Spain by its distinctly Arabic name, berenjena, and in the US as egg-plant, presumably because in its white form it came into the west coast with settlers from China, and the early European settlers were northerners who didn't bring it with them.  

       In other words, it's complicated.  In essence, however, the tortilla de patatas is the universal fast-food throughout the Iberian peninsula - variable, distinguished by regional preference, a reflection of how people really like to eat and cook.  Olive oil is the cooking-medium, eggs are the diagnostic ingredient, the rest is up to you - within reason. It's not an excuse for dumping leftovers, unless these are compatible with the spirit of a simple, no-nonsense fast-food whose primary purpose is to give pleasure while satisfying hunger.  Right.

Tortilla de berejena

I first came across this in the Bar Los Gigantes in Seville during Holy Week, a friendly time of year when everyone is happy to talk to everyone else. A neighbour on the bar-stool looked over at my choice and smiled: “Comida moro – Moorish food,” she said approvingly. “I like it too.”

Serves 4 as a tapa, 2 as a main course

4 large free-range eggs

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 large firm aubergines, diced

3-4 garlic cloves, skinned and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon powdered cumin

1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

1 teaspoon powdered coriander

Salt and pepper

Crack the eggs into a bowl and fork to blend, and reserve.

         Heat the oil in a small frying pan – about the size you’d use to make a one-person omelette. Add the garlic and fry gently for a moment or two - just enough to soften. Add the aubergine cubes, salt lightly and fry steadily, turning the cubes so the heat reaches all sides - they'll drink up the oil like little sponges.

Carry on frying till the aubergine begins to soften, releasing oil back into the pan.  Tip off and reserve the excess oil. Sprinkle in the spices then turn down the heat, lid and leave the aubergine to cook gently in its own juices for 15-20 minutes till perfectly soft.  Remove the lid and bubble up to evaporate the juices - the mixture should not be watery.

Tip the aubergine into a bowl and allow to cool to finger-heat. Mash well and mix into the egg – you can do this in a processor if you prefer.

Reheat the pan. As soon as the metal is good and hot, add the reserved oil.  Tip in the egg-mixture and use a fork to pull the sides to the middle as soon as the edges begin to set. Turn down the heat, lid loosely and cook gently for 5-6 minutes, till the top begins to look set.  Place a plate over the pan - it should complete cover it - and reverse the whole thing so the tortilla ends up soft-side down on the plate.