The bravas according to Arola
The bravas that appear on this list are the best that I know of, which are quite a few. Y meet several requirements: do not leak grease (most frequent error), having fried in clean oil and be seasoned with the "salsa brava", which animates everything it touches.
Relatively modern, it does not appear in any of the traditional regional cookbooks and, as far as I can tell, begins to be seen in bars well into the postwar period (1950s of the 20th century). There are two basic versions to which everyone adds what they think is appropriate: the one that is prepared with flour and/or onion and hot paprika (for many it is the authentic one) and the one that has as its main base a sauce of tomato with paprika or chilli pepper . This has led to many bars in a kind of spicy and sticky ketchup that has nothing to do with the subtle original sauce.
In Barcelona, in Valencia and in other cities they consider bravas those that in Madrid are called mixed because they incorporate, in addition to the brava sauce, alioli (or allioli). I prefer the bravas without more, only with hot sauce . The ones at Bar Tomás in Barcelona have a legion of followers, but they disappointed me: an aioli that leaves its mark and a splash of oil with paprika. Something similar has happened to me with those in the bars on Calle Laurel in Logroño and with many that I have tried here and there.
This is my top 10:
1) Docamar ( Alcalá, 337. Madrid). They have been preparing them since 1963. Every week they fry more than 2,000 kilos of potatoes peeled and cut into regular quarters, which are creamy and not excessively crunchy, because they are cooked in oil rather than being fried. They are seasoned with a secret sauce with a paprika aftertaste that it is quite hot and it is sold in liter bottles.
The braves of the Docamar
2) The little tavern in front ( Ballesta, 6. Madrid). Today it is a major restaurant but years ago it was a tavern where excellent bravas were served. Juanjo López, keeps the original recipe of his father, and prepares them from time to time. Well fried, between crispy and soft , seasoned with a creamy sauce of hot paprika, which has a background of ham.
**3) Las bravas ** (Espoz y Mina, 13. Madrid). Perhaps they are the most famous in Spain. Thousands of tourists pass through this place and yet **its sauce (secret of course and patented with number 357,942)** maintains its quality, just like the potatoes that are constantly being fried. They are not crispy, but wrapped in the sauce they are wonderful to the touch.
4) Bohemian (Manso 42. Barcelona). large chunks of potato, without skin, bathed in a soft aioli and a reddish sauce of oil and paprika , whose ingredients chef Francesc Gimeno keeps secret. High-flying braves.
5)The still life (Pelayo crossing, 2. Ponferrada). The uniqueness of its brava sauce is that it is prepared with broth from cooking mussels , the other specialty of the house, which, like the potatoes, is accompanied with the same sauce. Galician potatoes, not too crispy and an exceptionally good and spicy sauce.
6) The boys. (Guzmán el Bueno, 33. Madrid). A classic of Madrid's bravas, which has recently been revamped, but the tapas have not changed. Crispy potatoes on the outside and soft inside. The sauce is thick and spicy.
7) Caesarean Bar (José de Calasanz, 1. Valencia) A traditional neighborhood bar, with well-fried potatoes cut into irregular squares, seasoned with brava tomato-based sauce, very spicy and without allioli . A reference in Valencia.
**8) Central Bar ** (Central Market. Valencia) . The chef Ricard Camarena has copied the recipe from his partner Lourdes Luz and pays tribute to her in the menu. Traditional style potatoes, with a point of crispy frying, alioli and spicy paprika sauce.
9) The chula from Chamberí (Ferdinand the Saint, 11. Madrid). Madrid-style, skinless, cut into irregular quarters, crispy but not too crispy, and dipped in a thick, spicy paprika-flavored sauce.
Potatoes from La Chula de Chamberí
**10) Vicool ** (Huertas, 12. Madrid). Sergio Arola had the courage -and the merit- of aesthetically sophisticate this lid Scoundrel, which in its classic version is ugly. Candied potato cylinders, stuffed with a spicy tomato sauce and topped with aioli. The result: compelling mixes that are taking the world by storm.
The bravas of Sergi Arola
And in case someone wants her, there goes my brava sauce recipe :
- 2 large onions
- 1 tablespoon of spicy La vera paprika
- 1 tablespoon of sweet La vera paprika
- Cooked broth (with ham)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Vinegar
- Salt
1) Peel the onions, chop them tiny and sauté them in a little oil (just enough to fry them) until they are very soft. It doesn't matter if they take on a little color.
2) Add the paprika and give a couple of quick turns so that the paprika does not burn. The paprika has to be from La Vera because it is smoked, the one from Murcia, which is also very good, no.
3) Add a splash of vinegar and cover with the broth. Let it cook until the onion is almost undone.
4) Pass through a food mill and if it is too thick (almost certainly) add more broth and bring to a boil again.
5) You can also pass the sauce through a blender, it will have a different texture and more orange due to the effect of the oil when emulsifying. To ensure that the sauce thickens enough, you can add a teaspoon of flour to the onion when it is frying.