Asturian Baked Potato

[Manuell Alvarez]

Hola Amigos,

Back in the 1980's, I received some travel literature from New York concerning Asturias. Unfortunately, I have misplaced this information. There was an interesting article about coring out a potato and stuffing it with meat and vegetables. It was then rubbed with olive oil and baked in an oven. It sounds very delicious.

I can not remember if the literature said that it was a regional Asturian dish or not, and I was wondering if our Asturian members could tell me anything about this interesting way of preparing baked potatoes.

Asturias para Siempre +

Tu Amigo,

Manny

[Art]

Maybe Maestro Tomberi will have a better answer, but I found a number of recipes by searching in Google on:
Asturias patata rellena

Here's the search:
http://www.google.com/search?q=asturias+patata+rellena

And here are several recipes:
http://www.verycocinar.com/receta/los_r ... _de_alcira
http://cocineroastur.over-blog.es/article-33896010.html
http://www.spain.info/es/saborea/receta ... lenas.html

Some of these recipes take different approaches, so you'll want to look at the photos.

I don't think I've ever eaten these, although I have enjoyed stuffed onions at my cousins' homes.

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Quizás Maestro Tomberi tendrá una respuesta mejor, pero he encontrado una serie de recetas por buscar en Google con:
Asturias patata rellena

Aquí está la búsqueda:
http://www.google.com/search?q=asturias+patata+rellena

Y aquí hay varias recetas:
http://www.verycocinar.com/receta/los_r ... _de_alcira
http://cocineroastur.over-blog.es/article-33896010.html
http://www.spain.info/es/saborea/receta ... lenas.html

Algunas de estas recetas tienen enfoques diferentes, por lo que hay que estudiar las fotos.

No creo que he comido este plato, aunque he disfrutado de cebollas rellenas en las casas de mis primos.

[Maestro Tomberi]

Hola, Manny, y a tí también, Art.

A lo mejor la receta original podría ser la propia patata rellena de sobras de otras carnes, al estilo de la famosa "ropa vieja", y asada pero sólo cambiando el aceite por unto. Si bien no sé con certeza si ésta es asturiana o no, sí sé con certeza que pertenece al estilo del Noroeste español.

Conozco también otras sabrosas formas de hacer patatas rellenas, como puede ser con diferentes salsas, bien con salsa española, de vino o de tomate, esta última muy difundida.

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Hello, Manny, and to you too, Art.

Perhaps the original recipe could be the very own potato stuffed with spares of other meats, emulating the style of the famous "ropa vieja", and roasted with the sole difference of using pork lard instead of oil. If well I don't know certainly if the recipe is Asturian or not, I do know certainly that it belongs to the Northwestern Spanish fashion.

I know also other tasty ways to make stuffed potatoes, like with different sauces, such as the spanish sauce, wine sauce or tomato sauce, this last one widely spread.

[Bob]

My Asturian abuela made potatoes stuffed with ground meats of various kinds. Sometimes she oiled and roasted them, and sometimes she cooked them in a tomato sauce with pimientos and a tiny pinch of saffron. No onions because my father didn't like them.

[Art]

Thanks, Iván! I knew you'd have experience with this topic. You and Bob should meet because you both love cooking.

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¡Gracias, Iván! Sabía que tendría experiencia con el tema. Tú y Bob debéis encontraros porque os encanta cocinar.

[Manuell Alvarez]

Hola, Art, Maestro Tomberi, y Bob,

Thank you very much for your postings and information concerning my culinary inquiry concerning this unique method of baking a potato. Without the travel literature copy, I am relying on my memory and I do not want to misrepresent this food preparation method as being authenic Asturian without really knowing the facts and history. So far, I have not seen this cooking method outside of Asturias.

I did find a photograph of meat stuffed potatoes that had been scooped and cored out like the ones I saw in the literature for Asturias travel. The internet photo is for a company named "Enastur" located in Norena, Asturias, which is a city located to the east of Uvieu, (Oviedo in Spanish and Ovetum in Roman times). The company makes Asturian sausages. They show the dish cooked in a vegetable sauce. The ingredients are show in their advertisement.

Part of learning about our heritage includes a total immersion into all aspects of the cultural including food and its method of preparation.

We made sidra at home; however, once it became hard with alcohol content, we were not allowed to drink it because of the laws forbiding giving alcohol to minors. I did not know the significance of this beverage to our heritage until joining the forum. Asturian Chef, Jose Andres, on his TV show, "Made In Spain", demonstrates how it is poured in Asturias. There is also an example in the Asturian film maker and writer, Luis Argeo's film, "AsturianUS".

Manny

[Art]

Ha ha, but those fools pouring cider in the AsturianUS film were out of practice and spilled a good percentage of it. (I assure you that we're both much better at it now!)

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Ja, ja, pero esos bobos echando la sidra en el documental AsturianUS necesitaban más práctica y se derramó un buen porcentaje de la sidra. (Te aseguro que los dos estamos mucho mejor ahora!)

[Manuell Alvarez]

The demonstration looked very good to me. I am going to leave this ancient tradition to the younger generation of Asturians. At my age, I am going to be a spectator and enjoy watching.

Manny