The story goes that one of the chefs at El Bulli, Ferran Adrià’s now legendary restaurant in Roses, was tasked with knocking up a post service snack for the team. He was completely knackered so just grabbed a pack of crisps and a few eggs and made this in minutes. Ferran was knocked out by this innovation and subsequently published a recipe in his book, Cocinar en Casa (Cooking at Home), claiming authorship for himself. My guess is that kids have been doing this for years. What Spanish kid would not love the idea of combining his favourite brand of ‘chips’ (what the English would call crisps) with a tortilla. Crisps are often served on the side anyway,
It is difficult to even consider it a recipe really but let’s have a go.
Take a packet of your favourite crisps. Cheap old fashioned thin ones work better, or at least faster, than posh kettle chips if you’re in a hurry The thick cut ones need soaking longer in the egg or they will remain determinedly hard rather that get mushed up in the goo.
So whisk up 8 or so large eggs with, optionally, finely chopped Serrano ham, chopped canned piquillo peppers, and some thyme leaves. No need to salt as this will come from the crisps themselves. Personally I would leave out all the extras and let the flavour of the chosen crisps decide the taste. Anything more than egg and crisps seems rather pretentious in this context.
Stir a bag of your favourite crisps into the eggs so they are all covered and wait 5 to 10 minutes.
Get a well oiled cast iron pan pretty hot and tip the mix in. Push it to the edge but then do not stir at all. Wait 3-4 minutes for the bottom to brown. At this point, If you are brave enough, flip the tortilla. Otherwise shift the pan to beneath a hot grill to cook the top for another 3-4 minutes. It is important that the inside is still moist and a tad sloppy. Remember that it will continue cooking on the plate.
Slice in triangles from the centre out, or cut into 3cm cubes with a toothpick in each.