Asturian-American Migration Forum

Royce, this is for you and, of course, for anyone else who may be interested.

Betanzas is in A Cornuña, Galicia not Asturias. The tortillas are serve at several of the restaurants in the area, including O Pote. Here's a link.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mes%C3%B ... 9555940045

There are a number of photos online of this kind of tortilla and even recipes:
https://www.google.com/search?q=betanzo ... 3Aofficial

Galician is different from peninsular Spanish, and resembles Asturian. I don't find it too hard to read, but if you are used to Mexican Spanish only, you might have some difficulty with it. There are differences in words and orthography. Let me know if you need anything translated.

While visiting northern Spain earlier this year I had a potato omelette that was like no other. Although it was in Betanzos Galicia (restaurant POTE) I thought some Asturian cook might know how they did it. The potato (patata kennebec) appeared to be very finely chopped, fried (en abundante aceite muy caliente) into a crust both sides enclosing a runny egg center (3 huevos de gallina de corral por cada patata). My tortilla had 6 eggs as an entrée. Evidently this tortilla has won a food award.

Although POTE says to mix the eggs with the potato before forming the tortilla that appears unlikely unless the potatoes are already cooked. Also would they use a special frying pan to cook both sides as a "flip" with a runny center would be courting disaster. Any ideas?

Asturias was a highlight for shellfish at Cudillero (cider was an excellent accompaniment) & we did the "Ruta del Cares" in the Picos de Europa. Magnificent country, would do it again tomorrow

I have moved Royce's message to Bob's thread.

It is true that in the traditional tortilla española, the potatoes are fried in a lot of oil first. There are different styles of tortilla. In some the eggs are pretty well cooked, but other styles have very runny egg. Maybe Pote's style is simply runnier (more liquid) than usual. There are also styles that add other ingredients, such as ham, queso (not very often, I think), peppers, onion, etc.

I don't know what kind of pan Pote uses to cook theirs, but I have never seen anyone use a special frying pan. It gets easier with practice. Or you can use a plate to guide the tortilla when you flip it.

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He movido el mensaje de Royce hasta el hilo de Bob.

Es cierto que para la tortilla española tradicional, primero las patatas se fríen en una cantidad de aceite. Creo que hay diferentes estilos de tortilla. En algunos de los huevos son muy bien cocinada, pero otros estilos dejan los huevos muy líquida. Tal vez el estilo de Pote es simplemente mas liquido de lo habitual. También hay estilos con otros ingredientes (jamón, queso (muy poco corriente, creo), pimentos, cebolla, etc.)

No sé qué tipo de pan Pote utiliza para cocinar los suyos, pero nunca he visto a nadie en una sartén especial para freír. Se hace más fácil con la práctica. O puede usar un plato para guiar la tortilla cuando le des la vuelta.

You may find Galician easier if you are somewhat used to Portuguese. Words, meanings and entonation are much more similar.

You may find of interest as well that probably the tortilla is the real universal Spanish dish, unlike the paella, since it easily represents all the country no mattering the autonomical community, while the paella is a purely Valencian dish.

Variations are also plentiful and unimaginable, as Art has just stated above. Perhaps the most complete of them I know is the tortilla "del Sacromonte", which in this case is typical of Andalucía and has all sorts of ingredients inside... even lamb brains!!

Thanks for the addition, Maestro Tomberi!
Wow, lambs' brains in a tortilla. And to think that I was going to eat lunch next!

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¡Gracias por e mensaje, Maestro Tomberi!
Vaya, sesos de corderos en una tortilla. ¡Estaba pensando de comer el almuerzo, pero.....!

I read Asturian, Castellano, and Portuguese, so Galician is not difficult for me.

By the way, Maesto Tomberi, your fabada recipe is interesting. Lighter on the azafrán and heavier on the pimentón than the way I make it. I'll have to try it with the balance of flavors in your recipe.

I think I'll pass on the lamb's brains in my tortilla.

Hmm. I wonder if brains would give the tortilla a soft, liquidy texture, much like lightly cooked eggs?

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Umm. Me pregunto: ¿Es posible que usar sesos en una tortilla daría una textura muy parecido a huevos ligeramente cocidos?

This video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRf73MNgXfA ) shows how to make the Tortilla de Betanzos. Interestingly, the cooking time is very short. That might be possible in part by adding the secret ingredient, boiling broth, before frying the tortilla in a very hot frying pan. The video also shows how the tortilla is flipped using a broad soup bowl, and how the tortilla rests in the bowl until the pan and oil are hot enough to cook the second side. Enjoy!

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Este vídeo ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRf73MNgXfA ) muestra cómo hacer la Tortilla de Betanzos. Curiosamente, el tiempo de cocción es muy corto. Tal vez esté posible en parte por razón de añadir el ingrediente secreto, caldo hirviendo, antes de freír la tortilla en una sartén que sea muy caliente. El vídeo también muestra cómo la tortilla se da la vuelta utilizando un amplio sopero, y cómo la tortilla descansa en este recipiente hasta que la sartén y el aceite son lo suficientemente caliente para cocinar el segundo lado. ¡Qué aproveche!

That's exactly how I cook my tortillas, hot pan over high heat, and I also turn it with the aid of a plate. I'm going to try the new recipe.

Tortilla española: la historia

En este enlace de la wikipedia se explica qué es una tortilla española. Ingredientes: huevo y patatas, y aceite de oliva. Se puede usar el cambio de idiomas al inglés.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla_de_patatas

La tortilla de patatas, también llamada tortilla española, es una tortilla (es decir, huevo batido y luego frito1 ) con patatas. Se trata de una de las preparaciones más clásicas de la cocina española que puede encontrarse en cualquier bar o restaurante del país.

La leyenda dice, empero, que fue el general Tomás de Zumalacárregui quien, durante el sitio de Bilbao, inventó la tortilla de patatas como plato sencillo, rápido y nutritivo con el que saciar las penurias del ejército carlista

Existen tantas formas de hacerla como cocineros. Según algunos, las patatas deben estar más bien cocidas que fritas[cita requerida] en aceite (de oliva o de girasol, según se opte por hacer notar el sabor a aceite), y se deben dejar en remojo con el huevo batido un tiempo -no menos de diez minutos, aunque mejor si se las deja durante media hora- para que se empapen y adquieran la consistencia adecuada[cita requerida]. En cualquier caso conviene escurrir bien de aceite las patatas antes de mezclarlas con el huevo.

Thanks for the variations on a theme. Art, I watched the video (which led me to other alternatives as well) but amazingly your selection turned out to be the chef from POTE who preformed her magic right there. I can see a new omelette pan is order and many practice attempts before the desired result will be attained. Looking forward to investigating your site more thoroughly for other interesting tidbits. Keep up the good work.

Royce