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Papas Aliñás Gaditanas
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Papas aliñás are Cádiz on a plate: warm boiled potatoes drinking in olive oil, sherry vinegar, sweet onion, and parsley until a poor man's salad tastes like the thing you came for.
Salads
Spanish
Make Ahead
Picnic
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield4 servings
Papas aliñás are from Cádiz, Andaluz and coastal, and the name tells you the work: potatoes dressed, not buried. Good waxy potatoes, sweet onion, parsley, olive oil, vinagre de Jerez, and salt. Tuna and egg are welcome, but they don't get to take over. This is a potato salad with a clean aliño, a dressing, not a mayonnaise bowl in disguise.
The method that decides it is the dressing while the potatoes are still warm. Boil them whole in their skins, peel them as soon as your hands can bear it, slice them thick, and dress them then. Warm potato drinks oil and vinegar. Cold potato just wears them on the outside and sulks. That is the difference between papas aliñás and a dull bowl of boiled potatoes.
If you are far from Cádiz, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a firm waxy potato, a mild white onion or spring onion, good extra virgin olive oil, and sherry vinegar if you can find it. If not, a mild white wine vinegar works, but it will be sharper and less round, so start with less. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Papas aliñás belong to Cádiz and the Andalusian southwest, where simple cold dishes suit the heat and the vinegar of the Marco de Jerez sits close at hand. The dish is common in home kitchens and bar counters, often served with preserved tuna, melva, or hard-boiled egg when it needs to become more of a meal. Its plainness is the point: potato, onion, parsley, oil, vinegar, and salt, made good by timing and seasoning rather than expense.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
waxy potatoes
Quantity
1kg
similar size, unpeeled
mild white onion or spring onion
Quantity
120g
very thinly sliced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
20g
leaves chopped
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml
vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)
Quantity
35ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g, plus more to taste
large eggs (optional)
Quantity
2
hard-boiled and quartered
good tuna in olive oil (optional)
Quantity
160g
drained into large flakes
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| waxy potatoessimilar size, unpeeled | 1kg |
| mild white onion or spring onionvery thinly sliced | 120g |
| flat-leaf parsleyleaves chopped | 20g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml |
| vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar) | 35ml |
| fine sea salt | 10g, plus more to taste |
| large eggs (optional)hard-boiled and quartered | 2 |
| good tuna in olive oil (optional)drained into large flakes | 160g |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium pot
- •Small knife
- •Wide mixing bowl
- •Large spoon
Instructions
- 1
Boil the potatoes
Put the potatoes, unpeeled, in a pot and cover with cold water by 3cm. Add the 10g salt and bring to a steady boil, then lower to a lively simmer. Cook until a small knife slides into the centre with no hard core, about 22 to 28 minutes depending on size.
Choose potatoes close in size so they finish together. If one is much larger, cut it in half before boiling and accept that it may lose a little neatness. - 2
Peel while warm
Drain the potatoes and let them sit just until you can handle them. Peel them while still warm, using a small knife if the skins cling. Cut into thick slices or rough chunks, about 1.5cm, and put them in a wide bowl so they are not crushed under their own weight.
- 3
Dress them warm
Pour over the olive oil and sherry vinegar while the potatoes are still warm, then add the onion and parsley. Fold gently with a spoon, lifting from underneath, until the potatoes glisten and the onion is scattered through. This is the step that matters: warm potato drinks the aliño, cold potato only gets wet outside.
- 4
Rest and taste
Let the bowl stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Taste and correct the salt and vinegar; potatoes need more seasoning than you think, but add it in small steps. The edges should soften slightly, the oil should shine, and the vinegar should wake the potatoes without making them harsh.
- 5
Finish plainly
If using tuna and egg, lay the tuna in large flakes over the potatoes and tuck in the egg quarters. Do not mash them through. Serve at room temperature, not fridge-cold, with any oil left in the bowl spooned back over the top.
Chef Tips
- •Use a waxy potato, not a floury baking potato. You want slices that hold together after dressing, with edges that soften just enough to take the oil and vinegar.
- •Vinagre de Jerez is the right vinegar here, round and nutty from the Cádiz and Jerez larder. If you only have white wine vinegar, begin with 25ml, taste after the rest, and add more only if the potatoes ask for it.
- •Serve this at room temperature. The fridge dulls the oil and hardens the potato, so take it out 30 minutes before eating if you made it ahead.
- •Tuna in olive oil, melva, or caballa are all natural additions in Cádiz. Use one of them if you want the salad fuller, but keep the potato as the main thing.
Advance Preparation
- •You can boil and dress the potatoes up to 6 hours ahead; keep them covered at room temperature if your kitchen is cool, or refrigerate and bring back to room temperature before serving.
- •Add tuna and egg shortly before serving so the egg stays clean and the tuna remains in good flakes.
- •Leftovers keep 1 day in the refrigerator, but taste again before serving because cold storage flattens salt and vinegar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 375g)
Calories
510 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
1200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
47 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
20 g
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