Trofeo Coca-Cola XI Spanish Championship of Tortilla de Patatas

THE “ENCINA” FORMULA, THREE-TIME CHAMPION
 

Ciri González, three-time champion of the Spanish Tortilla Competition, offers this tortilla, which has made her famous the world over, both in the bar as well as the dining room of her establishment. What was nothing more than an anecdote a few years ago has become her supreme specialty, an honor that is shared with the suckling lamb–the combination thereof being the ideal menu. Ciri uses the Kennebec potato variety, from the fields that surround Palencia.The harvest is from summer to fall, with an ideal ripening period of one month, with an expiration in March. One must remember to peel them just before preparing the dish. Another tip: don’t wash them with water. Clean them, rather, exhaustively with a cloth. Cut them into small cubes, approximately 1 cm, or even a little smaller. Season them while raw, before frying them. The oil should be virgin olive oil, always from the Jaén province, of the picual variety to be exact, which has a bitter but characteristic flavor. “On this aspect it is crucial to invest a little more because without a good oil or without enough of it–the supporting artifice of the dish–no one will ever reach the pearly gates of Tortilla heaven”.Place a sauté pan over high heat with an abundant amount of oil. Add the potatoes, which should be almost completely covered by the oil. You must start with high heat to gradually lower it as the process continues. The total time, more or less, is around twenty minutes, flipping halfway through, at the ten-minute mark. When you see they are done on one side, flip. The objective is that they end up more fried than cooked. Once removed from the pan, drain them in a colander. Beat the eggs well and make sure they are at room temperature. Use 8 eggs for every 500 g of potatoes. Add the eggs to the fried potatoes and leave to marinate for 3 minutes. Place a sauté pan over very high heat. When very hot, grease lightly with oil, add the tortilla and leave for a few moments, until just golden, then move to a large plate. Add a few more drops of oil to the hot pan, return the tortilla to the pan and brown for a few more moments. It should be slightly wet in the middle, without curdling the egg. The thickness is a little more than a finger and less than two. This is not a thick tortilla.