An Irishman in Basque Country: ‘My first encounter with a tortilla came out of necessity. Now I order one out of desire’

My first encounter with a tortilla came out of necessity. In 2005, I’d been diagnosed a coeliac and on a holiday to Donosti in the Basque area of Spain the following year I entered a bar one morning asking for something that didn’t have flour.

I was directed towards what looked like a potato cake.

From my experience of them in Ireland, I expected a bland flavour, but after buying a slice I was surprised to discover a savoury one seasoned with salt.

I snacked on this during the trip and on successive holidays. However, it was only when I moved to the Basque Country in 2019 that I found out how they were made.

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I assumed that you boil the potatoes – how they are made at home – but my flatmate Aroa explained, while cutting them up into small pieces, that you fry them instead. She then whipped a few eggs in a large bowl, while the potato pieces sizzled in a saucepan of oil; and afterwards added a few pinches of salt.

When the spuds were fried, she scooped them out of the oil and into the bowl of whipped eggs where she blended them together. She then transferred this mixture to a heated frying pan for about half a minute, flipped it over using a plate, and after another 30 seconds, Voilà!

Since that time, I’ve sampled many different types of tortilla, from tortilla de bacalao (cod) and tortilla de atún (tuna) to tortilla de cebolla (onion) and tortilla de espinacas (spinach), all with their own distinctive savoury flavours; and now today when I order one in a bar it is not out of necessity, but desire.

Poraic Cahill was born in 1976 in Dublin. He has worked as a gardener, butcher’s assistant, barman, administrator, secondary schoolteacher, writer and now teaches English in the Basque Country. His latest book, Out of the Ordinary/Gertaera Bitxiak, is 90 short stories told in both English and Basque about unusual observations encountered over four years of living in the Basque Country.
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