“Patatas bravas” is probably one of the most popular Spanish dishes, and it consists of fried potatoes served with a unique spicy sauce.
Omar Allibhoy, a Spanish celebrity chef and founder of the Tapas Revolution group, shared on his website Thespanishchef the “ultimate Patatas Bravas or potatoes with spicy sauce” recipe.
The chef explained that patatas bravas is “the ultimate tapa”. He said: “Every tapas bar has them on the menu and everyone makes them differently but the one thing in common between all of us who cook it is that we all try to make it the very best we can.”
He added that in Spain, a lot of people measure the quality of a restaurant “by how good or outstanding the bravas are”.
Luckily, this delicious dish can be made at home in just a few simple steps and with a handful of ingredients.
Method
1. Start by peeling and cutting the potatoes, place them in a pot and cover them with water. Bring the water to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and place the potatoes in a tray with the crushed cloves of garlic, the oil and season with a bit of salt. Proceed to roast the potatoes for around 30 minutes (oven at 180 degrees). Shake them a couple of times while roasting and add the springs of rosemary on your first shake.
Omar said: “Sprinkle sweet paprika over the top before serving. Use three of the roasted garlic cloves for your alioli.”
2. Fry the bay leaf, the onion and the garlic in a saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes, and then add the paprika, chili flakes and oregano. Fry for one more minute before adding the sugar, the sherry vinegar and the chopped tomato tin. Add a bit of salt and black pepper and let it cook for around 20 minutes.
“Add the water and simmer on low heat for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and blitz until smooth,” he instructed.
3. Finally, put all the alioli sauce ingredients in a jug or bowl and use the blender to blitz for five seconds. Omar recommended: “Tilt the hand blender and slowly raise it to the top within the next five seconds.
“When you reach the top move the hand blender from top to bottom for the following five seconds until it has homogenised completely.”
The Spanish chef recommended serving with a lot of salsa brava over the top, alioli and a sprinkle of parsley.
