[afcapel]

I'm a Spanish person, living abroad and with a penchant for cooking, and I was too very gratefully surprised by Kenji's Spanish tortilla video. Also by his other Spanish recipes such as Gazpacho[1] or Paella[2].

It's not that they are very orthodox recipes, cut and paste from a traditional recipe cookbook, but instead very good adaptations of them, taking into account ingredients availability and different contexts.

I can't really tell about other cousines, but judging how he cooks Spanish food I'd say he knows what he's talking about.

Add to that that he seems like a very decent and empathetic person and I'd say he's someone you want to listen to if you are looking for cooking advice.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3WyeqCDHw

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASP74I0B7zo

[tptacek]

I can't believe I didn't know about Spanish tortilla before. Easily the best egg dish and also maybe the best way I currently know to prepare potatoes at home now. And they get better when they're cold! I've wasted my life!

I've made dozens since last summer, and Kenji's technique in the video has been pretty much bulletproof for me.

His extra-creamy scrambled egg is also a mainstay now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX-Y513ohbc --- I love how little patience he has with macho restaurant culture, and that he won't even link to Gordon Ramsay, who popularized the dish.

[professoretc]

I've made his Spanish tortilla once a month or so since that video came out... However, I once dropped the whole thing in the sink while doing the "flip". (Maneuvering a hot cast iron pan isn't easy.) I've never felt more disappointed in myself than I did at that moment; I was making it for breakfast and I basically just turned the stove off and went back to bed. So now I'm always a bit wary when I start on it, knowing that it has the power to destroy me psychologically.

[dkarp]

This has happened to me a few times, and I imagine many others!

I bought a “tortilla pan” in Spain which prevents this. It’s basically two pans with an interlock on one side. You cook the tortilla on one side, grab the other pan and lock it on, then flip it over and put the other pan on the heat to cook the other side. Foolproof and worth it when you cook as many as I do!

[vitaliyf]

I am very surprised it's not a more popular dish in the US - it seems like it would fit well the Denny's, IHOPs or even some fast-breakfast drive-throughs, and work as breakfast or appetizer or dinner.

It's on every menu in Barcelona - yes, served cold.

A Spaniard taught me that mixing in some potato chips gives it some variety. He said he even sometimes makes it completely out of packaged chips.

[tptacek]

The potato chip Spanish tortilla is supposedly a Ferran Adria thing.

[chockablock]

It’s in his cookbook “The Family Meal”.

It is a curious and useful book: the recipes are for the unfussy Spanish homestyle meals they served to the staff at el Bulli each night before opening. Each recipe is one that can scale way up, and the quantities are given to make each dish For 2, 6, 20, or 75 (!) people. It’s a good source of inspiration if you need to cook a dish for a crowd.

There are also detailed photo illustrations of the ingredients and of each step in the recipe.

[tptacek]

Huh, it's weird, I have The Family Meal, and even remember reading the potato chip omelette thing, but never connected that to a Spanish tortilla.

[samatman]

Just as a point of order (and because I don't like giving Gordon Ramsay credit for things either), Jaques Pépin popularized that technique for scrambled eggs when Ramsay was ten years old.

He remains a delight to watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqKq0bQHnZU

[bobf]

I've watched this Jacques Pépin video countless times and the ease with which he casually prepares the two styles of omelets in ~5 minutes and narrates the process amazes me every time. I still can't perfectly replicate the second "classic French omelet" style even after years of effort. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1XoCQm5JSQ&t=8s

[tptacek]

That video is amazing and taught me how to make omelets. Of course, Pépin is also responsible for the single greatest cooking video on the Internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8

[catillac]

I’ve been following Kenji for a very long time. One thing I like is on the subject of adaptations. I have made his beef stew a few times, it’s quite involved. But I love how the recipe on the site adapts over time to take into account how people in the comments find different ingredients and tooling. For example, his original recipe works great on his super nice restaurant quality oven, but not as much on your regular persons oven. He adapted the recipe for the audience to take this into account, which I absolutely loved.

[AdmiralAsshat]

His wife is Columbian, IIRC.

[notagoodidea]

Not sure to understand the point made between European Spanish cuisine and the Colombian one ?

[zeroimpl]

Presumably there’s some similar food culture between Spain and Spanish-speaking countries?

[flobosg]

While there is obviously Spanish influence in Latin American cuisine, I wouldn’t say the food cultures are similar. Furthermore, the culture can vary a lot between different (or even neighboring) Latin American countries.

[david-gpu]

Not really, not at all as far as I can tell as a Spaniard. Cuisine in Spain is remarkably similar to that of France, though.

[jghn]

Yes she is

[systemvoltage]

Why does it matter if someone is Spanish to be able to cook Spanish food (or Columbian)? It is neither a sufficient, nor a necessary requirement.

[AdmiralAsshat]

Where did I say it was?