The potato omelette is one of the most iconic dishes of Spanish cuisine, but, although it seems like a very simple dish, the truth is that it has several schools and multiple ways to make it. And, even today, we find different methods.
The Cook Domingo A. Dugarte (1995, Mérida, Venezuela) won a few weeks ago the prize for the best potato omelette in the Community of Madrid, organized by the Association of Cooks and Pastry Chefs of Madrid (Acyre Madrid), with a recipe that goes against many of the conventions we have around this dish.
Dugarte welcomes us at his restaurant Panpintao, in the town of Pinto, to explain in detail how he makes an omelette that already generates a constant pilgrimage of diners.
In the ingredients there are no surprises: sour variety potatoes, from Madrid; Free-range eggs from the Villareal Farm (Meco) and onion. It is in the elaboration where Dugarte has created a style, if not his own, at least different from the usual one.
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A very creamy tortilla
The first thing the chef does is cut the potato into very fine flakes “so that when it is caramelized with the sunflower oil and the onion we can break it with the rod and the eggs”. That, she says, “is the secret.”
Dugarte fry the potato and onion in cold sunflower oil
Why sunflower oil? “It is more neutral in flavor“If we use olive, the potato absorbs all the flavor, here we want it to be neutral to perceive all the flavor of the potato and onion,” he says.
The onion is added finely chopped brunoise, so that, when it comes to confit together with the potato, it browns a lot and its bite disappears. “Its flavor within the mixture and the tortilla is half sweet,” says Dugarte.
Contradicting the canonical recipes for potato omelette, in which it is usually indicated that it is convenient to fry the potato at some point during cooking over high heat, to achieve crunchy texturesDugarte fry the potato and onion in cold sunflower oil.
“It is the key point of the preparation,” says Dugarte. “The potato, onion and sunflower oil are cold fried. Without salt and without anything, so that it goes away poaching very gently. When it is about to boil, lower the temperature so that the potato is caramelized and does not cook above 120º. The result is a poached potato with onion, which it caramelizes a little in the pan”.
We always try to exceed 63º
While it is cooking, Dugarte breaks the potato to create, he explains, a very creamy texture: “The egg must be cooked and mixed with the potato and the tortilla must be undercooked, but not raw. We always try to exceed 63º in everythingThat is why we use the potato very hot when mixing it with the egg”.
Once they are well poached, mix 250 g of potato and onion with three eggs. “I burst the potato along with the egg,” says the chef. “It is a homogeneous mixture, but with a lot of body”. Only then does he add the salt.
Now comes the moment of curdling, for those who do use very hot olive oil, about to smoke. Dugarte skips the tortilla before giving it, by eye, two or three turns. “I know the exact spot I want on the tortilla,” he assures. She’s ready in about a minute.
a different omelette
The result is a different tortilla, very creamy, with the egg more integrated than usual and an almost shredded potato.
Although there will be those who prefer tortillas of another type -personally, I prefer to notice the ingredients further apart–, but it is very rich and well worth a visit to Pinto.
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The omelet is priced at 12 euros and it’s good for a snack between four, but, in addition, the restaurant has a quite successful menu with dishes such as Galician-Peruvian octopus, confit suckling pig or duck stew rice. Will have to try other things again.
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