I have been missing La Casa del Tigre so much, their wonderful staff (who are also my friends), and their amazing food, especially THESE layered papas bravas. Happily chef Luis was kind enough to give me their recipe the other day, and then also gave me permission to post it here. As you can see from the photo below, my homemade ones didn’t quite turn out as perfectly as theirs, but they were still damn good. At Tigre they serve them with bravas sauce and alioli. I used their bravas sauce recipe but had mine with salsa az, since I usually have some made up in the fridge.
The recipe calls for agar agar to help bind the potatoes together while cooking, but I didn’t have any. Will try it with next time. Also, Luis told me that for weight on top of the potatoes while they are cooking in the oven they have a special pan that fits over/into the baking pan they use. I used light bricks, which may have been a bit too heavy (?) as mine were decidedly “squishier” than the Tigre ones. But that also may have been due to me not having as many layers. Whatevs, these are delicious. And although this takes time to prepare it’s not a difficult dish to make.
Note: to make a smaller quantity I found that 1 kilo of potatoes works well with an 18cm x 18cm pan.
Ingredients and instructions below…
- 2.5 kilos potatoes**
- 150 ml cream
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tbsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1-2 gr agar agar
- butter
- oil for frying
Whisk together the cream, egg, sriracha, salt, pepper, agar. Set aside.
Peel the potatoes and slice on a mandolin at setting 1 – 1.5 (very thin).
Dry the slices in a clean tea towel to get rid of excess moisture.
Line a 30cm x 24 cm baking pan with parchment paper and grease with soft butter.
** Or 18cm x 18cm using 1 kilo potatoes
Start layering the potatoes. Every two layers sprinkle lightly with salt and brush on the cream mixture (just a little, you don’t want the potatoes to get soggy while cooking).
When finished, place another sheet of parchment paper on top and put some weights on top.
Bake in preheated 220ºC oven for one hour.
Let cool a bit then cut into four sections (see photo) and finish cooling in the fridge.
Once cooled and set cut into squares. I got 12 squares per section.
Wrapped well in plastic film the sections will keep in the fridge for up to two days.
Shallow-fry in hot oil, carefully turning once (two forks worked better than tongs) to brown evenly.
Drain on paper towels, add a bit of finishing salt, top with the salsas, and you’re done.
Using an 18cm x 18cm baking dish with 1 kilo potatoes…
What they SHOULD look like (photo taken at La Casa del Tigre) 😉
Brava sauce
- 1 tin crushed tomatoes (titurado)
- salt
- smoked pimienta
- cayena (I used more sriracha)
Mix together in a saucepan and slowly cook down on very low heat 3-4 hours. If you like you can give it a buzz with a hand immersion blender.
Salsa az
- 50 / 50 mayonnaise and greek yoghurt
- dollop of dijon
- splash of soy sauce
- freshly ground black pepper
- minced garlic (optional)
- crushed chilli (optional)
Whisk together in a bowl until well blended.