Duelos y Quebrantos

Mentioned by Cervantes in the opening lines of Don Quixote de la Mancha, 'duelos y quebrantos on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays' it is usually translated into English as 'hash,' losing the charm of the Spanish, which literally means 'sorrow and sadness.' Essentially it is eggs scrambled with the staple supplies of a kitchen in La Mancha -- salt, pork, ham, chorizo, brains -- a meal in itself.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes (plus time to soak the brains)

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3.5 oz streaky salt pork

3.5 oz Jamón Serrano

3.5 oz chorizo

3.5 oz lamb's brains

1/2 onion

1/2 bay leaf

8 eggs

Parsley, salt

Fried bread

Preparation:

Soak the lamb's brains in warm water for 30 minutes. Remove the skins and veins and cook for 5 minutes in salted boiling water with the onion and bay leaf. Drain and cut into pieces. Dice the pork, the ham, and the peeled chorizo. Heat the pork in a frying pan with no oil over a gentle flame so that it releases some of its fat. When reduced to half, increase the heat, add the pieces of ham and chorizo and fry together. Then add the pieces of brain. Beat the eggs until frothy then add to the frying pan stirring constantly over a gentle heat or over a pan of boiling water so that they set evenly. As soon as the eggs are cooked, transfer to an earthenware dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with slices of fried bread. There is no need to add salt because the pork and ham are salty enough but taste for salt half way through cooking just in case.

Selected by María Jesús Gil de Antuñano
Recipe courtesy of Spain GourmeTour magazine.