IAN & SPAIN

The potato is one of the most appreciated products due to its low price, versatility, variety and flavour. It is also one of our favourite foods, very present in Spanish gastronomy in which we find countless dishes in which the potato is the protagonist. Among all of these potato recipes, today we will be looking at two very popular cold tapas or ‘portions’ (ración) that you can enjoy as a snack or even a meal at home. 

In first place today we have Alioli Potatoes, effectively a  potato salad with garlic mayonnaise.    

Ingredients for four people: 2 potatoes, 1 egg, 1 clove of garlic, 150 g of sunflower oil, a few sprigs of parsley, salt and a few drops of lemon juice.

Preparation: 

• Cook the unpeeled potatoes -well washed- in a saucepan with salted water and remove them after 20 minutes, when they are well cooked. 
• Then we peel them and cut them into irregular pieces, leaving them in a bowl to cool well. 
• We can prepare the alioli or all-i-oli following the traditional recipe and making it only with garlic and oil, without eggs and in a mortar, or we can do it, like most bars, a simpler version, making mayonnaise with garlic. Here is a link on how to make real Alioli and also a way to cheat. You decide!

HOW TO MAKE IT AND HOW TO CHEAT

•  When the potatoes are cold, we add our Alioli sauce and slowly stir it in trying not to break them up. It is better to add the aioli little by little, so as not to overdo it with the quantity.
• Lastly, finely chop a handful of parsley and add it to the Alioli potatoes, and slowly stir it in. Reserve a little more to sprinkle on top when serving and a sprig to decorate.
• We keep the potatoes covered with transparent kitchen film in the fridge for 30 minutes so that they are chilled when we are ready to eat them.

The next fantastic potato dish is Country salad or Ensalada Campera, a great dish for a warm day.

Ingredients for two people:

400 g of potatoes, 1 spring onion, 3 plum tomatoes, 1 green Italian pepper, 1 red pepper, 2 eggs, 1 can of tuna in oil or natural (or bonito), 10 green or black olives, 60 ml of extra virgin olive oil, 15 ml of sherry or white wine vinegar, 5 ml of lemon juice, salt and ground black pepper.

Preparation: 

• The first, and almost the only "complex" step, is to cook the potatoes and eggs. 
• To do this, you have to wash the first ones before putting them to cook in a pot or casserole with plenty of salted water, although they can also be steamed. Boiling is more practical because we can take advantage of it to cook the eggs at the same time. 
• After about 9-12 minutes of cooking, remove the eggs and allow to cool slightly before peeling. 
• Continue cooking the potatoes until they can be pierced with a knife without difficulty. The important thing is that they are not raw or very hard, although, again, you can adjust the texture as you like. 
• Drain and let cool until we can peel them without burning ourselves. 
• Wash the peppers well, open and remove the seeds. Cut into small cubes or strips. 
• Finely chop the onion and also chop the tomatoes. 
• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl adding the sliced olives, the potatoes, season lightly and mix.
• Prepare the vinaigrette by emulsifying the oil with the vinegar, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Serve with a drained can of tuna or Bonito del Norte (my favourite), spread it on top, add the peeled and cut eggs and dress as desired.
•  We can also simply mix the tuna and the egg with everything else, although the presentation is a little less elegant!

Enjoy!