Spain taught me that eggs are never eaten at breakfast
In Spain, eggs are frequently eaten for lunch or dinner, or as a midmorning snack.
I grew up in rural suburbia an hour north of Seattle. Every year, on our acre of land, we raised two cows, two pigs (always named Roto and Rooter), and a hundred or so chickens. We also had a dozen egg-laying hens. That meant we ate a lot of eggs. Fried. Poached. Softboiled. Scrambled. But these were always — and only — for breakfast.
It was something of an adjustment, then, when I settled in Spain 20 years ago and found that eggs were frequently eaten for lunch or dinner or as a midmorning snack — but never for breakfast. And that they were prepared in far more interesting ways.
My adaptation began, appropriately enough, with the first dish I learned to make in Barcelona, the humble and iconic tortilla de patatas. A thick wedge of egg layered with tender slices of potato is one of Spain’s culinary highlights, especially when served alongside country bread rubbed with tomato and doused with olive oil.
My future brother-in-law taught me to keep the inside moist, with the egg still a touch runny at the centre, and to mix in an equal amount of onions with the potatoes for both texture and sweetness. “The key to a successful tortilla is the flip,” he stressed, and demonstrated how to turn over the half-cooked mass using a plate without making a mess or burning myself. “If the bottom sticks, you are in deep trouble.”
Soon mastered, the dish has been a staple.
While matchless for many Spaniards, potato (and onion) is far from the only type of tortilla. Cooks make them with a range of fillings, including eggplant, artichokes, zucchini and mushrooms. In the Basque country, salt cod is typical.
If my brother-in-law taught me the classic thick tortilla, it was my motherin-law who showed me how to prepare one with zucchini or spinach for a quick meal. Her version with spinach, pine nuts and raisins makes a delightful midweek treat.
Spanish egg dishes go beyond tortillas, though, and I more frequently prepare revueltos, the local version of scrambled eggs. The name comes from the verb “revolver” (to turn or to stir), which is a more precise way of describing the light stirring used when cooking.
Eggs in a tortilla or revuelto do more than simply absorb flavors or act as a binder for the other ingredients: They are also filling. “If you have some vegetables and some eggs, you have enough for a meal,” my mother-in-law says.