Tortilla Española de Patatas

Mexican Quesadillas Fritas (corn tortillas)

My Mexican friends and those from Spain may both speak Spanish, but they don’t mean the same when they say “Tortilla.” 🙂 In Spain ‘tortilla’ is a mix of beaten eggs and anyone of the following: Veggies, cold cuts, beef, chicken or even fish. You may think ‘omelet’ but Spain is very particular about Tortillas and they would rather have you not mistake them for omelets. They are delicious, by the way! On the other hand, corn and flour tortillas are at the heart of Mexican cuisine.

Here is my take on two recipes which may help explain (or so I hope.)

Spanish Tortilla (from Spain)

• Ingredients:

1 egg per person, cooked potatoes cut in cubes, diced white onion (about 1/4), 1 diced tomato, 2 slices of ham, cubed. Salt to taste.

• Directions

Start by adding 1 tsp of butter to a pan. Add the onions. When the onions are starting to turn clear, add the diced tomato. Cook for a minute and then add the potatoes, and the ham. Mix well and let it saute for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs. I like to experiment, so I add 1 whole egg and then I beat the other eggs before mixing them all in. 🙂

In the end of this step, it should look like this:

Turn when you see the eggs starting to cook completely

Turn once again and serve! 🙂

My Mexican corn tortilla recipe is extremely easy to make and it is wonderful for breakfast, snack, light lunch or even dinner, accompanying a main dish. It can even be a dessert if you sprinkle the ending folded tortilla with brown sugar and cinnamon.

• Ingredients

3 corn tortillas per person (they’ll want more…), cheese (you may use mozzarella, queso fresco, queso cotija or queso panela.) 2-4 TBSP canola oil. Salt.

• Directions

Start by heating up the oil in a pan. Add the corn tortillas and let them stand against each other as shown in this image below. You will see them softening and at that point, you may add the cheese in the center.

Fold them and let them continue frying.

Turn them to make sure they’re golden brown on each side. Serve and enjoy! 🙂