Uruguayan Tortilla

This is a bit of food voodoo that I have to thank my time in Australia for. In the twilight of my stay at the house in London Street (Enmore, Sydney) a vacant room found itself possessed by a young woman from Uruguay. Bibiana was warm and vivacious and while we may have come to have our differences as those thrown together by circumstance often do, I am grateful for the few hours that delivered an approximation of her mother's tortilla recipe into my care.

So is this a tortilla? Manuel would say no. With sweet potato? Surely this is not possible! This is how it goes. It's a pretty simple list of ingredients:

One large onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
White potatoes
Red sweet potatoes
6 eggs
Milk, about 1/3 of a pint
Salt and pepper to taste.
Olive oil for frying
A little salt and pepper

And yet there is so much to be done with so little. How long will this take to make? If you're going to do this properly and only have one decent pan you're looking at a little over an hour.

The big issue is whether you decide to cook all the ingredients separately; it takes longer, but the result is worth it. Ok - this tortilla will fill an average size frying pan so you'll need around 50% white potatoes and 50% red sweet potatoes so let's cook X and Y amount of white potatoes (I am happy to take Manuel's suggestion that the supermarket variety known as Vivaldi are the best) and red sweet potatoes, the long, slightly knobbly ones. So two pans of boiling water. I defy anyone not to be able to cook these two primary ingredients: bring to the boil and simmer. The sweet potato cooks quickest, give 'em the taste test after about five minutes and the whites after about eight. When both are firm but cooked drain and allow to stand for a couple of minutes.

Each must now be shallow fried. Separate pans is the order of the day, or if you only have one decent pan for frying clean between batches and use fresh oil. Brown nicely and allow both potato and sweet potatoes to sit on kitchen paper to drain.

Next (or at the same time if you have a third pan) fry the onion and garlic. Onions first, until they start to soften, then add the garlic. These too are allowed to drain on paper immediately post frying.

And so to combine: potatoes, sweet potatoes and onion/garlic mix. Loosely mix in a bowl and transfer the mix to a reasonably deep sided, lightly oiled non stick frying pan , and here I cannot overstress the importance of 'non stick'! Start the heat and add the beaten egg and milk mix which should have been seasoned with a little salt and pepper. The trick is to cook things very slowly, so, a low flame. And it's a good idea to move the pan around to ensure the underside gets an even exposure to the heat.

Once up to heat you should get some gentle bubbling , cook in this fashion for around 15 minutes or until there is a sense that the underside of the tortilla is approaching done. Transfer the pan to a grill and cook from the top down. If the pan is truly non-stick it will be easy to flick the tortilla round to even out the cooking. This particular trick with the grill means you side step any foolhardy attempts at flipping or the need to slide and turn the tortilla with the aid of a plate.

It's important not to overcook the tortilla; it's finest if the egg and milk mix retains a little fluidity, in the same way that scrabbled eggs are so much more appealing if they remain a little 'blue' in the French sense. All the same, we are looking a firm, sliceable consistency.

So that's it! This tortilla may be served hot or cold but I am particularly fond of it when it has cooled to just a little above room temperature. This is, as far as I understand it, the most authentic way to produce this dish. By way of short cuts the potatoes and sweet potatoes may be fried together. And yet the result is definitely not quite as good.

I have made this tortilla on many occasions, often as part of a buffet, placing it on a table with salads, salsa, olives etc. In all honesty it never fails to disappear quickly. Even my Spanish friends are know to pass positive comments!

Eventually.