If like me, you are the sort of person who is not put off by strange translations into your native tongue of a dish you encounter on your travels, this one is for you. Coming across this dish in a small local restaurant near our mountains in Southern Spain, you’d probably read something like “Mushrooms to the wild, cooking with soft potatoes of the saffron dressing up in vinegar”. Or some such bizarre description.
It doesn’t even look that pretty, as the end dish is indeed “with soft potatoes” and has rather a look of mush about it. What you would be served with, however, is a dish with simple ingredients combined in a way you’ve probably never tasted before, and a flavour that makes you say “ooh, that’s so good…I really didn’t expect that”!
Around our neck of the woods (or Up Our Mountain), the most commonly eaten mushrooms are Oyster mushrooms. We have grown them ourselves in the past and Big Man would often come home with a crate of them for me to turn into dishes like Mixed Mushrooms with Cinnamon and Lemon or Braised Mushrooms. This dish is made across Andalucía but is probably known by other names outside of the radius of our local villages. Here’s our local version, the simplicity of the ingredients hides a wonderful combination of flavours. It is vegetarian/vegan and can be served alone as a tapa or starter, or alongside other dishes as part of a meal. A poached or fried egg is a wonderful accompaniment.
Ingredients (to serve 6-8 as a tapa, 4 as a starter or 2 as a hearty main course)
- 1 kg peeled and cubed potatoes (cut into small cubes)
- About 600g of thickly sliced mushrooms (I used a mix of Shitake, Chestnut and Forestiere Mushrooms)
- Olive oil for frying
- 1 level teaspoon of sweet pimentón
- ½ level teaspoon of hot pimentón
- A pinch of saffron or turmeric (in Spain though you find they usually use food colouring)
- About 60g of stale bread
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- About 240ml water
- About 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
You will need 2 frying pans (or you will need to cook the potatoes and mushrooms separately. In one pan with about ½ cm of oil to cover the bottom, slowly cook the potatoes until they are soft and just starting to brown at the edges. Mix occasionally as they cook. You don’t want them to be crispy like chips.
In another pan, add a little oil, the mushrooms and some salt and cover with a lid. Slowly braise the mushrooms until soft and releasing their juices. The potatoes and mushrooms both take about 20 minutes to cook.
Meanwhile, put the bread, water, garlic, spices and 1 tablespoon of vinegar into a blender jug and blend (I use a hand blender) until you get a mix which resembles slightly runny porridge.
Drain the potatoes from the oil and add to the mushrooms and pour in the bread/water mix. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until it all thickens up (you may need to add a splash more water). Just before serving, taste and season and add a further tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Think of the resulting taste in the same way that you would use lemon juice to “lift” a dish.
Serve with plenty of crusty bread and if you’re feeling a bit cheffy, some chopped parsley on top makes it look pretty. But don’t tell the local village ladies I said that as they’d be horrified at any such nonsense.
Chica Andaluza 
Didn’t know this dish, but sounds wonderful! Amazing how local gastronomy changes across the peninsula…😄
It varies so much and each area (or even village) is so proud of what it produces!
I’m suffering form a tortilla and salsa brava bocadillo overdose, but I think I could manage a couple of forkfuls of morrete de setas – it looks delicious! I’ve seen a few people at farmers’ markets selling mushroom implanted logs which a friend of mine tells me are very good. I think they might go very well with potatoes and saffron 😉
Hope you’ve now recovered from the tortilla and salsa brava overdose 😉 Now you’ll have space for some of this! Will have to see if we can track down some of those mushroom logs here….
Ha ha – yes! I haven’t seen the logs for a while, but I would imagine they are seasonal, so perhaps they sell them in the Autumn. This looks interesting, you find your own log and buy the spore kit for under £10:
http://www.rusticmushrooms.co.uk/buy-mushroom-kits/category/12-diy-mushroom-log-kit
In Spain they only seem to sell then in the autumn. You find the most interesting things for us to look at!
That’s good, but it was the topic of conversation that made me think of it 🙂
And we thank you!
🙂
This looks both pretty and delicious. I’m going to print out the recipe to try later. Thanks Chica. I also want some of Mad Dog’s mushroom implanted logs 🙂
I want some of those logs too!
Love the color! I would never have thought of this combo of ingredients, but it sounds like it would be so delicious, especially using the saffron and not just food coloring! 🙂
Most Spaniards use food colouring at home (not us though!) and it’s considered quite normal. I’m not keen on it though L
Simple, amazing, full of the promise of some serious flavour bombing going on and perfect for narf. You did it Ms Chica! I love this kind of thing and the more mushy it is, the better ;). Scooped up with gorgeous fresh bread this would be a meal fit for a king (or a narf 😉 ). What a lovely share and love that picture of Alfie half in, half out of his bed, knackered (and no doubt stinky) from his week next door 😉
This one was definitely with you in mind 😉 Hadn’t seen that picture of Alfi in a while and it had us in stitches!!
Dogs do the funniest things 😉
Have learned something again! Somehow had the obviously totally incorrect idea that mushrooms implanted in logs were ‘an Asian thing’: quite expensive here and oft unavailable . . .now I know better 🙂 ! Altho’ I but rarely eat potatoes this recipe makes me want to go to that bag at the back of the pantry cupboard . . .the taste seems most attractive!!
It’s a really unsual flavour…I’d very a very sad person without potatoes in my life L
Yes well, comes from all the 25 + years of studying nutrition on top of medicine: one tends to apply it to oneself also 😀 !!! I do buy them 2-3 times a year and steam in jackets!!!!
Aha – you have an interesting background! In Spanish cooking we use a lot of hot or cold boiled potatoes which are cooked in their skins – will have to try steaming them.
Potatoes and mushrooms. Two of my favorite foods 😀
Oh mine too!
I love mushrooms so this dish is a winner as far as I’m concerned. Thanks for the heads up about the food colouring 🙂
Yes, the food colouring is widely used in Spain and not at all frowned on – if I don’t have saffron I’d rather use turmeric which changes the flavour a little but not in a bad way!
This looks like perfect winter comfort food… delicious!
Gracias Margot J
That looks wonderful, and also would make a good dish alongside a grilled meat. It will be added to the stack of options from your blog!
Ah, so glad you liked it!
Yum! I love anything with mushrooms in it.
Me too – or even mushrooms with mushrooms 😉
Love mushrooms, love spuds- nothing to lose! 🙂
I’m with you on that!
Very, very good idea. Love the “translation”….:)
The translations we come across are often quite hysterical – one local restaurant serves “corns” which bizarrely is tripe so not sure which sounds more scary!
This sounds delicious and like something I’d make again and again. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Yum.
Thanks Amanda J
This sounds a really tasty meal! I bought a jar of mixed mushrooms in Lidls awhile back which I’ve been wondering what to do with. Seems like I’ve just found the perfect recipe!
I’ve bought those jars of mushrooms – very good in risotto too!
I would never have thought of this combination but I will now. 🙂
I could smell her from here, it looks interesting and wonderful. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe. I will try another time
It’s an unusual and very tasty dish!
what delicious,….
nice picture
Thank you – it’s a very tasty dish!
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The food was delicious, I so want to cook yourself, but do not feel confident fear bad, hehe
Potato and Mushroom indeed these two materials already good. Moreover cooked together, I think it would be more enjoyable.
They do indeed taste great together!
hmm yummyyyy 😀