Welcome to By the Book, a new weekly online column in which we try our hand at recipes from some of the many amazing cookbooks that come across our desks. We thumb through, pick a dish and then get cooking – revealing the recipe we chose and the results of our culinary journey. Scroll to the bottom of the post to find out how you can win a copy of the featured book.

The tortilla de patatas ranks as one of the most well-known dishes in Spanish gastronomy. The potato omelet is so quintessentially Spanish that it’s also calledtortilla Española and you can find it in any bar or cafeteria throughout Spain, no matter the region. Though a simple dish of only eggs, potatoes and oil, it does take a bit of time to prepare – peeling, thinly slicing and cooking a couple pounds of spuds before you even get to the egg part.

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