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As January comes to a close, the many culinary delights of Carnaval loom on the horizon. Some of the most well-known dishes eaten throughout Spain for Caraval include torrijas, rosquillas and leche frita. In Catalunya, bunyols de vent, coca de llardons, botifarra d’ou and xató salad are popular as well.
But, always on the lookout for lesser-known regional dishes, I like to unearth those that you're not likely to find in the supermarket, or even in your local bakery or cafe if you're not in exactly the right spot.
One such treasure is la fogasseta del dijous jarder (aka dijous gras—Fat Thursday). This simple dish is an artichoke, sausage and spring onion tortilla (omelette) traditionally eaten on a round, flat bread baked only for this day especially for this purpose in the Terres de l'Ebre—specifically in the towns of Aldover and Xerta.
Fat Thursday is the first day of Carnaval, and on this day the townspeople go on an excursion to the edge of town, to the banks of the Ebre river or for a walk in the mountains. They bring with them the hearty fogasseta which is eaten as the merienda (afternoon snack) often around a bonfire.
While the tradition arises from a provincial custom observed on Fat Thursday, there's absolutely no reason not to take advantage of fresh artichokes and make it all season long. It's an unassuming recipe that is quite easy to make, requiring only a bit of patience and a very sharp knife to trim the artichokes. Don't fret about the bread, you won't find it if you don't live in southern Catalunya, so get something you like. In fact, don't fret about anything—just make sure you have quality ingredients and you can't go wrong.
INGREDIENTS
- 400 grams raw sausage, botifara or llonganissa work nicely
- 1 bunch of alls tendres or green onions
- 4 medium to large artichokes
- 8 large eggs
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
METHOD
- Prepare your ingredients. Cut the sausage into bite sized pieces and set aside. Clean and trim the spring onions, then cut on the bias in 2-3 centimeter (one inch) pieces and set aside separately. Trim and thinly slice the artichokes—Epicurious has a good video on how to trim them. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan (or sarten double*) on medium heat—I used a 25 centimeter (7.5 inch) pan. Saute the spring onions until tender and then set aside.
- In the same pan, cook the sausage, adding a bit of of olive oil if necessary. Once cooked through, set aside with the cooked spring onions.
- Add more oil to the pan and fry the sliced artichokes, browning them lightly on both sides.
- Return the sausage and onions to the pan, give them a stir to mix them a bit and then pour in the eggs. Cook over medium heat until well set, making sure not to burn it. Flip the tortilla and cook on the other side until done. *A sarten doble (a special double pan for making Spanish tortillas) is helpful, but not necessary. If you're not sure how to flip the tortilla without one, check out this video.
- Toast your favorite crusty bread, rub with garlic and tomato, drizzle with olive oil, add a slice of tortilla and enjoy!