Tortilla De Patatas: The Humble Spanish Staple

Originally published April 30, 2025 on Eats by Liwen.

Cooked to perfection: a little runny.

"Studying abroad was probably my best decision in college," is a strangely universal agreement among those who were lucky enough to spend a semester abroad in college. Conversely, those who stayed in the US often say their biggest regret was missing that opportunity.

I scoffed the first few times I heard this. Ignorantly, I believed I knew what studying abroad was like. I had "studied" abroad 22 times. Since the ripe age of 6-months old, I've spent every summer of my life overseas in Taiwan, taking random art and language courses. My baseless refusal was also because my heart was stuck in Baltimore. If the time I have with college friends is priceless, then the price to take me away from them is a hefty one.

But by the time Junior year of college rolled around, the number of encouragements to go abroad grew alongside my sense of humility. I recalled the saying, "If you see a turtle sitting on a fence post you know it did not get there by itself." Even if I didn't quite understand the hype around studying abroad, it my last chance in my life to apply, so I did it. I was going to trust the process and solve the mystery hands-on.

Though I've technically only aged 4 more months since I left for Spain, I look back at Past Me the way one might look at a toddler trying to eat soup with a fork— well-meaning, but tragically unprepared. Picture a grandma in a rocking chair, chuckling and shaking her head like, "Ah the youth, they really think they know everything." I've become one of those people who preach the gospel of studying abroad, as if I'd been converted into the very cult that I found so senseless. So understandably, I'm itching to pitch it to you.

Sure, one has the rest of their life to travel or to immerse themselves fully in another culture. Your lifetime may be plentiful but it's your perspective that's the time constraint. There's something special about traveling when you are a spirit with no obligations. There's no 9-5 on the other side of the return flight. You can roam the streets and say, "What if I just move here next year?" Though we know no one is stopping you.

Another aspect is traveling with friends. Happiness is sweeter when shared. Friendships at this age feel like everything, and you are presented with the opportunity to frolic together on the world's biggest playground every day. Soon, we'll all have to face the headache of aligning PTO days with friends and coordinating around deadlines.

Trips will lack the excitement of spontaneity. When else will all your friends be free every single weekend? When will you'll meet your travel buddies for the first time at the airport? Together forming a ragtag team of friends-of-friends people you met briefly in class or sports on campus solely aligned by the singular fact that they had an empty calendar.

My study abroad cohort took a cooking class together

Of course, there's also the perspective building. When I went to Spain, I lived with a lovely host family. It's a rare opportunity to be welcomed into someone else's life with a warm embrace (because once you have your own family, moving in with strangers is no longer charming, but questionable). I was immersed into a lifestyle different from the one I grew up with, and I left with values that I will embed in my life.

Among the family was Elsy, the housekeeper who has been a core member for the past 20 years. She was my introduction to home cooked Spanish cuisine.

She didn't speak a word of English, and my Spanish was also nonexistent, so in the beginning, we would laugh as we communicated through games of charades, and I was grateful for her endless patience. Finally, after a few months, I had built up a word bank large enough to ask her to teach me my favorite of her dishes, one that she made every week: Tortilla de Patatas.

To me, the tortilla is more than just egg and potato. It was proof that everyone, no matter how distant or what language barriers exist, has something we can learn from, and it's on us to go out there and take advantage of it. The mystery was solved, and I understood why my friends would encourage me to study abroad with such deep passion.

Here's her recipe for a classic Spanish tortilla—simple, warm, and meant to be shared.

Tortilla is commonly served with bread

Tortilla de Patatas Recipe

Servings: 8 slices

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large russet potatoes
• 6 medium eggs
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin rounds, about 4mm thick.
2. Beat the eggs thoroughly in a bowl until they're a bit bubbly.
3. Heat about 3cm of olive oil in a pan.
4. Fry the potatoes until soft and slightly browning at the edge, cutting them up with a spatula as they cook.
5. Add a pinch of salt to the beaten eggs and mix.
6. Once the potatoes are cooked, transfer them into the egg mixture.
7. Drain the oil through a strainer from the pan into a jar to reuse for frying two to three more times.
8. Pour the egg and potato mixture back into the empty pan.
9. Cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes.
10. Flip the tortilla using a plate, then cook the other side until done.
11. Slice into pieces. Enjoy alone or inside a baguette to make a Bocadillo de Tortilla.