Tortillas de camarones
For the last few years we have been spending some of our free time in south-western Andalucía, specifically in the sherry producing regions around Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the province of Cadiz. One of the distinctive tapa from the region are Tortillas de camarones, these are crispy shrimp fritters made from masses of tiny shrimp help together in a fine crispy matrix of chickpea and wheat flour, flavoured with parsley and a tiny bit of onion. The main flavour of the fritters actually comes from the shrimp and especially their shells. These shrimp are tiny, only 2-3 cm long. I have been told that camarón is a local name for the adult stage of Palaemon longirostris and hopefully this identification is correct.
The shrimp are sold live outside the main market in Sanlucar by half a dozen of so competing women shouting out "Camarón, camarón, camarón" to passing potential customers. I never actually saw the shrimp inside the market itself, which otherwise is full of fish and crustaceans. As the shrimp are sold for tiny sums of money by these women, it must represent a great deal of time and effort on their behalf for a very small return. I have also seen similar shrimp sold at the Rialto market in Venice, in both cases the shrimp are placed in simple cones of newspaper (or less romatically, in plastic bags) and you can tell who has bought them by the rustling sound the shrimp make in the paper cones as people walk by in the market.
I like these tortillas very much and have wanted to make them at home. Unfortunately the main ingredient is very specific and these live tiny shrimp being difficult to some by. However, I have experimented a little and have come up with something that while not authentic, is close flavour and texture to the original.
Tortillas de camarones perdido
400 gm of shelled shrimp/prawns meat diced into 1 cm cubes; or 400 gm of whitebait.
100 gm chickepea flour.
100 gm plain wheat flour.
50 gm of dried shrimp (available in SE-Asian grocers,) finely ground.
5 spring onions/scallions, finely sliced.
4 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley.
Water.
Salt and pepper.
Olive oil for frying.
Mix flours together and add enough water to produce a batter as thick as single cream and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a pepper. Rest for four hours. The batter will thicken in this period. Add the other ingredients and mix well.
Add oil to depth of 2 cm to frying pan, heat to frying temperature and fry a teaspoon of the batter. Test for salt and pepper balance. Adjust as required. Fry the rest of the tortillas to a golden brown (remember that the tortillas should be 90% shrimp or whitebait, just held together by the batter). Drain on absorbent paper.
Serve with a cool glass of manzanilla.
I stayed in Cadiz Province for 3 months last spring, and these were definitely my favorite food. Also good were the pescadita frita you could get Freiduria Las Flores on Plaza de Topete. Andalucia, what a lovely place!
Posted by: Renee | January 29, 2009 at 08:31 AM