Bravas potatoes

Fried potatoes with brava sauce (salsa brava), is probably one of the most popular Spanish tapas served frequently to wine or beer. Bravo in Spanish means wild, angry, and so is the traditional sauce served with this dish - very spicy. This dish consists of potatoes, cut into large cubes, fried until golden brown in oil and then topped with the sauce. Sometimes the potatoes are first cooked and then diced and fried. Different are also the methods of preparing the sauce. The classic one coming from Madrid and patented there in 1960, is a sauce based basically on tomato sauce and cayenne pepper. In Catalonia and Valencia, however, the sauce is often prepared with olive oil, smoked paprika, vinegar and chili called guindilla and is usually accompanied by alioli sauce made of garlic and olive oil (in Catalan all means garlic and oli means oil). Sometimes fried potatoes are topped with a pink sauce which is a mixture of spicy tomato sauce and mayonnaise.

Ingredients (serves 2):

4 big potatoes

oil for deep frying

sauce salsa brava:

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons smoked sweet Spanish paprika

2 chili peppers

1 teaspoon sugar

250 g of tomato sauce

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 teaspoons tomato concentrate

60 ml water

olive oil

salt

Method:

the sauce:

In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss chopped onion and garlic. Fry for a few minutes and then add the paprika and chopped chili. Fry for 1-2 minutes and then add the remaining ingredients: sugar, tomato sauce and paste, vinegar and water. Cook for about 20 minutes over a low heat. Then transfer the content of the pan to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the sauce back into the pan and cook until the excess of water evaporates and the sauce is thick.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large cubes. Fry them in plenty of oil until golden brown. Pour the sauce over fried potatoes or serve it in a separate bowl. Optionally you can add a small bowl of alioli sauce, mayonnaise or mayonnaise with garlic.

Enjoy !!!