Tortillitas de camarones facts for kids
Tortillitas de camarones served in a restaurant in Zaragoza
|
|
| Type | Appetizer or snack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Andalusia |
| Region or state | Cádiz |
| Main ingredients | Wheat flour, chickpea flour, onions, parsley, shrimp |
Tortillitas de camarones are crispy shrimp fritters. They come from the province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. These delicious snacks are like thin, savory pancakes. They are often served as an appetizer or a light snack.
How Are They Made?
To make tortillitas, you start with a special batter. This batter is made from wheat flour and chickpea flour. Water, onion, parsley, and tiny shrimp are mixed in. A little salt and pepper are added for taste.
Once the batter is ready, it is fried. Cooks use a pan with plenty of olive oil. The fritters are cooked until they are golden and crispy on both sides. They are usually served hot with small side dishes.
What Makes Them Special?
The secret to real tortillitas is a special type of shrimp. In Andalusia, they use a tiny shrimp called Palaemon longirostris. Locals call this shrimp camarón. These shrimp are so small that it is too hard to peel them. So, they are cooked whole in the batter.
It is difficult to find this specific type of shrimp outside of Andalusia. If you use a different kind of shelled shrimp, the dish will still be tasty. However, it will not have the exact same flavor as the original.
Where Do They Come From?
The exact birthplace of tortillitas de camarones is a bit of a mystery. They might have come from Cádiz or San Fernando. It is also possible they developed in both places. The dish became very popular in the 1800s. Some people think it might have been created much earlier, around the 1500s.
A group of people from Genoa (a city in Italy) lived in Cádiz long ago. They might have helped create this dish. It could have been a mix of their cooking ideas with Spanish recipes. In earlier versions of the dish, vegetables might have been used instead of shrimp.
See also
In Spanish: Tortillita de camarones para niños
