This tasty garnish, which reminds us of bakery potatoes, is one of the typical dishes of the eastern part of Andalusia. There are many recipes to prepare this dish but in general, they all have the basic ingredients in common, potato, onion, pepper and garlic. We are talking about the potatoes to the poor. How are they made and why are they called that?
You will undoubtedly know this recipe, or one of its more or less historical versions, and you will surely enjoy it as one of the best side dishes to accompany some slices of chicken – they go great with chicken wings -, some fried eggs or some slices of lean pork.
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Why are poor people called potatoes?
Poor people’s potatoes have this name because They are prepared with whatever is in the pantry and sometimes without any ingredients other than those mentioned above. for the basic recipe. Furthermore, in this preparation the used oil is recovered, which will be used to make tortillas, fried foods and other preparations. Perhaps for that reason they were called poor people’s potatoes.
The recipe can be accompanied when possible with fried eggs or smashed with potatoes making broken eggs. If you are lucky and the pantry is full, you can add pieces of ham, chorizo and other sausages to form the Alpujarreño lunch and other similar dishes or prepare them to accompany a rabbit with garlic, which is perfect with these potatoes.
The name derives from the post-war years in which when there was nothing in the kitchen or pantry, the potatoes were made alone with the onion, garlic and pepper and it was said that to eat, there were potatoes to the poorthat is, the garnish became the main or only dish with which the entire family was fed.
Poor people’s potatoes recipe
After this introduction we only need to do the classic preparation of this recipe, without any additional complementary elements. There is no doubt that it is a simple, tasty and excellent recipe. both in its use as a garnish and in its use as a single dishin time of need.
Potatoes to the poor They are similar in appearance to baked potatoes., except that the latter are cooked in the oven and the former are made in the pan. In both cases, they are looking for a soft, candied potato rather than a crispy, fried potato.
To make this garnishpeel the potatoes and cut them into slices about 3 mm thick -similar to bakery slices-, cut the peppers into medium-sized pieces and chop the onions into fine julienne strips.
In a frying pan we put plenty of oil and we add all the ingredients starting from cold oil. This way we get everything to fry very slowly or rather, to become caramelized. Don’t worry about all that oil then we will strain it and we can take advantage of it for a thousand and one recipes, fried foods and stews.
After about fifteen minutes on low heat There will begin to be movement in the pan and we will see the first bubbles, at which point we can season and increase the heat to lightly brown the potatoes, once we have verified that they are already beginning to be soft as they have been confit.
With another five or ten minutes over medium heat we will have the poor potatoes ready. To brown them a little more, remove the frying oil and let them toast for a minute in the pan. Be careful so that they do not break, as much as possible.
Once the potatoes are done, we will drain them well in a colander to remove all the excess oil. When serving them, they are usually sprinkled with chopped parsley and some recommend adding a few drops of white wine vinegar.
What to accompany the poor potatoes with
The potatoes to the poor They are great as an accompaniment to stews such as rabbit stew, chicken stews or with some simple fried eggs, which are probably the best company for this side dish that, on its own merit, could be a main dish.
Dishes with which to serve poor potatoes
Although poor potatoes can be a main dish, The usual thing is to serve them as a garnishgenerally with baked meat or fish. Other highly recommended recipes that you can accompany them with are baked salmon, a classic roast chicken or baked sea bass, among many other possibilities.
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