History
The first reference to the tortilla in Spanish is found in a Navarrese document. It is an anonymous "Mousehole's memorial" addressed to Navarra's Court in 1817. It explains the sparse conditions of the farmers in contrast with Pamplona's and the Ribera's inhabitants. After listing the sparse food eaten by highlanders, the next quote follows: "…two to three eggs in tortilla for 5 or 6 as our women do know how to make it big and thick with less eggs, mixing potatoes, breadcrumbs or whatever."
According to legend, during the siege of Bilbao, Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui created the "tortilla de patatas" as an easy, fast and nutritious dish to satisfy the scarcities of the Carlist army. Although it remains unknown whether this is true, it appears the tortilla started to spread during the early Carlist wars.
Another tale is that during the war, Zumalacárregui was in the field and happened upon a farmhouse and demanded a meal from the farmwife. All she had were a few eggs, a potato and an onion, so she combined all three, making an omelette. Surprisingly, Zumalacárregui was pleased and took the idea with him.
Read more about this topic: Spanish Omelette
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