If there is one traditional Spanish dish requiring very little preparation, recognised and loved in the UK it must tortilla espanola or Spanish omelette. In the UK what we generally consider to be an omelette is known in Spain as a tortilla Francesa or French omelette. Tortilla espanola is very easy to make and after a little practice you’ll have it down to a fine art that will even impress a Spaniard. There are many different recipes, but this is tried and tested and there are a couple of little “tricks” in here as well.

1) Peel the potatoes, hold one in your hand and using a knife “whittle” small chunks (2-3cm max) into the frying pan, you will find that they fit together quite comfortably.
2) Chop or slice the onion and add to the potatoes in the pan
3) Just about cover with the olive oil and heat until quite hot. Stir the mixture into the oil make sure everything is well coated, reduce the heat and continue frying for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently – the potatoes shouldn’t become crisp, the idea is to soften them. They potatoes may become a slightly golden colour by the end, which isn’t a problem as long as they are soft.
4) Using either a giratortillas or an inverted plate over the frying pan drain the oil. You can do the same by tipping into a metal sieve. Make sure you drain into a container that can handle the hot oil.
5) Put the potato and onion mixture in a bowl allow to cool.
6) Beat the eggs and salt together vigorously.
7) Add the egg mixture to the potatoes and turn it over until mixed.
8) Add a little of the oil you drained earlier to the frying pan, just enough to cover the bottom and reheat it to a fairly high temperature.
9) Pour the egg and potato mixture into the pan. Allow it settle at the bottom of the pan and reduce the heat immediately you don’t want the outside to cook brown too fast and the middle to be overly soft as a result.
10) Use a spatula or fish slice to gently encourage the edges of the tortilla away from the side of the pan. You need to shake the pan quite frequently to keep the tortilla loose and free.
11) After a couple of minutes when the tortilla is starting to firm in the middle put a giratortillas or an inverted plate on top and flip the pan over leaving the pan free, add a little more oil if necessary and slide the tortilla back in to cook the other side. Both side should have a light golden brown colour.

Serve on a clean plate and slice into wedges, serve with fresh baguette

You can add many other ingredients to a tortilla and when you have the basic technique to your liking then the sky’s the limit. Chorizo, garlic, mushrooms, spinach and asparagus are all popular additions.