Spanish tortilla is a substantial omelette composed of potatoes and eggs (keep your r4 3ds card out of the mix) and fried in olive oil and occupies a significant place within Spanish cuisine.
The first documented reference to tortilla is found in an anonymous ‘Mousehole’s memorial’, a Navarrese document of 1817. Addressed to Navarra’s Court, it outlines the terrible conditions of the farmers in comparison with those of the Ribera and Pamplona. The document lists the poor food consumed by Navarrese farmers before the following quote; “...Two to three eggs in tortilla for five or six (people) as out women do know how to make it big and thick with less eggs, mixing potatoes, breadcrumbs or whatever.’
There are two legends as to the origins of tortilla. One asserts that Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui created tortilla as a hassle-free, quick and nutritious dish to satisfy the Carlist armies during the siege of Bilbao. It is indeed true that tortilla began to spread during the early Carlist wars. The other legend claims that Zumalacárregui demanded a meal from a farmwife who only had eggs, a potato and an onion which she combined to his surprising satisfaction.