One of the best parts about travel is being able to try the same foods that the local people eat everyday. Not that three-star Michelin restaurants aren't downright heavenly; it's that they aren't realistic or--let's face it--affordable. I've just always been a fan of "bonne femme" cooking, which means simple and honest food. (Bonne femme loosely translates to "housewife," but in a good way.)
As I set out to literally eat my way across Spain as I walked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago, I most looked forward to the food in the little cafes; the unfussy restaurants; and the daily Pilgrim Menu, made from what was local and affordable.
I offer three of my favorites today. Just like our spaghetti sauce, meat loaf, and turkey dressing, each home and establishment has its own version. Which means each food is totally adaptable. It was fun to order the same thing in different places, just to see how Spanish kitchens matched the food to the local palates.
First up: The Spanish Tortilla (Tortilla Espanola)
I can't pass up a slice of tortilla. Each bar has one or two fresh each morning, bonne femme syle. Completely homemade and clearly the family favorite of the person who made it. (Probably the barkeeper's wife, since she's usually in the tiny kitchen preparing all the food. But I don't like to make sweeping generalizations.) Tortilla is a potato and egg pie. Delicious, filling, and sturdy. You can wrap it up and plunk it in your backpack for a snack. With a cafe con leche, it's a power breakfast. It's an on-the-go lunch. By afternoons, many places have sold out, but if not, it is a nutritious way to fill up before the late dinner.
Here's the recipe, courtesy of Food Network. The only glaring thing I see here is the parsley for garnish. That's just silly.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
4 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/8-inch thick
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
6 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnishing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and add the potato slices a few at a time so they don't stick together. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the onions are golden but not brown, about 10 minutes. Place a strainer over a bowl in your sink and transfer the potatoes and onions to drain; reserve the oil.
Whisk the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Drain excess oil off of the potato mixture. Add the potatoes and onions to the egg mixture and combine until they are completely mixed in. Set the bowl aside for about 15 minutes to let the potatoes release some of their starches into the eggs.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the reserved olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high for 1 minute. Add the egg-potato mixture, rotating the skillet in a circular motion to distribute it evenly. Lower the heat to medium-low and shake the pan a few times to prevent sticking (by shaking the pan, you ensure that the eggs and potatoes release from the pan bottom). Cook the tortilla for about 5 minutes or until the potatoes on the bottom start to turn golden brown. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until almost set. Remove from the oven and place a large flat plate on top of the skillet and invert the skillet. The tortilla should come right out. Add a tablespoon of the reserved olive oil to the skillet and slide the tortilla back in to cook the other side until it is golden-brown, about 5 minutes.
Turn the heat off and set the skillet aside until the tortilla cools to room temperature. Transfer the tortilla to a plate sprinkle with parsley and serve at room temperature cut into triangles or squares.
Next: Patatas Bravas
On every single tapas menu, and available in nearly every single bar, Patatas Bravas is the Spanish equivalent of American Buffalo Wings. Bravas means "fierce" and these potatoes can be as spicy as you want by adding Tabasco sauce. It all starts with cubed potatoes--of course, the tastiest ones are fried. From my experience, though, roasted is fine. It's all about the sauce.
My favorite Patatas Bravas (above) had two sauces: the fiery red tomato sauce and the smooth aioli. It was a big serving...I polished it off with no hesitation.
The closest recipe I can find comes from Allrecipes:
Ingredients:
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups olive oil
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion with 1 teaspoon salt in the hot oil until onion has softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic, chile, and smoked paprika; simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and return to a simmer. Transfer tomato mixture to a blender, cover, and puree until tomato sauce is smooth.
Serve patatas bravas with tomato puree and and mayonnaise for dipping.
Simple Aioli Sauce:
6 cloves garlic finely grated
1 egg yolk
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil
Third: Caldo Gallego Soup
Talk about a Warm-You-Up soup! The Galicia region of Spain is cool and wet. Lots of mist and rain, so there's a lingering dampness that seeps into your bones. Galicians figured out a few centuries ago how to warm up from the inside out. Caldo Gallego is on every menu...and is deliciously different at each place, even with the same basic ingredients. You can make this quickly and enjoy it for a few days.
I made this without a recipe when I came back from the Camino, based on my memory--it was the first thing I cooked. I used chicken broth...only to find out when I did a recipe search that most Caldo Gallega recipes use a ham bone or pieces of sausage. I never encountered that--I thought it was a meatless soup!--so I'm sticking with my version. My favorite one boiled the potatoes until they were mushy and dissolving into the broth. Again, your call. P.S. I used canned beans.
Here's a fancy recipe from Dean & Deluca, using sausage and kale. (Spanish chorizo tastes like pepperoni to me. Very different from Mexican chorizo.)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chorizo, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
10 ounces dried Calypso beans or other white beans
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
8 black peppercorns
2 cloves
6 ounces salt pork (cut in 1/4-inch cubes) or a ham bone
2 quarts hot water
2 cups diced potatoes (cut into h-inch dice)
2 cups kale, chopped (collard greens can be substituted)
salt and pepper to taste
1. Place olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over moderate heat. Add the chorizo and cook for 2 minutes. Remove chorizo with a slotted spoon and reserve.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pot. Cook until the onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Add the beans, herbs and spices, salt pork (or ham bone), and water. Increase heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. check the pot occasionally to stir and skim off any foam that may float on the surface.
3. Add the potatoes and the reserved chorizo. Cook for another hour, partially covered. Add kale and cook for another hour, uncovered, stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes. (By now, the soup should be quite thick) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Let's wrap things up for today. One final "comfort food" that I found one day at a tiny grocery store. It was perfect with my coffee as I sat in the shade and felt completely content:
So many ways to fix these simple dishes and all worth trying. It's worth the effort to find ingredients that "taste Spanish,"though. I wish I could find the kind of super aromatic garlic they grow there.
Posted by: Hattie | 11/16/2014 at 03:15 PM