Air fryer patatas bravas brings the tapas bar favorite home

In Spain, chef Omar Allibhoy tells me, nobody talks about Spanish cuisine.

Of course, they talk about food; I think you could probably make a credible argument that they talk about little else. What he means is that when they do, they describe it as Galician or Catalan or Andalusian. “Spanish cuisine is very regional,” he says in a Zoom interview from his home in London, where he moved from Madrid two decades ago. “In fact, you would really never hear anybody use the phrase ‘Spanish cuisine.’”

Different regions, naturally, specialize in different dishes, but two tapas are uniquely omnipresent across the country: croquetas and patatas bravas. “Even more so than the omelet,” he says, referring to tortilla Española. In fact, in Madrid, the two former dishes are how you judge the quality of any tapas bar, according to Allibhoy.

He should know: Allibhoy is a caterer, cookbook author and former restaurateur who has been cooking since he was a 5-year-old boy in Madrid. He initially moved to London to learn English, expecting to then travel the world to study different cuisines, but after falling in love he stayed put — and changed course. Allibhoy was surprised to realize that there was a hole in London’s food scene where excellent Spanish restaurants should be, which he called “particularly difficult to comprehend when 18 million Brits go to Spain every year” on holiday. So Allibhoy, who had worked with Ferran Adrià in Spain and with Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White in London, opened his own.

Croquetas are a topic for another day. I reached out to Allibhoy to talk about patatas bravas, my own favorite Spanish tapa. The dish features fried potatoes with a spicy, smoky tomato sauce, and Allibhoy included a great recipe for them in his cookbook “Spanish Made Simple.” I had a strong feeling that he had strong feelings about how they should be made.

Sure enough, he rattles off his rules: The tomato sauce needs to include gently fried onions, spices (cayenne, cumin, paprika) that are bloomed in the oil, a generous splash of vinegar, pureed tomatoes and maybe a touch of sugar. It should be intense enough to live up to the bravas name, meaning “strong” or even “fierce.” (When I tell him that some online sources say “bravas” means you have to be brave to eat the sauce, he scoffs: “It’s the dish that’s brave, not the person eating it.”)

That intense sauce is set off by another condiment: aioli, a garlicky mayonnaise called alioli in Spain. While in Barcelona, chefs will often mix the two, Allibhoy prefers them separate, with the potatoes sitting on the bravas sauce and the aioli dolloped around and served on the side.

To go with the spicy sauce, Allibhoy likes to make his aioli with milk instead of egg, creating something very light and fluffy. I took that as permission to use my favorite vegan aioli recipe, which is based on aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas. (What could be more Spanish than garbanzo alioli?)

You’ll have more aioli than you need for this recipe, but you can refrigerate it for several days and use it anywhere you’d use mayo. Or combine it with the leftover canned chickpeas, along with the spices and add-ins of your choice, for a quick and easy salad.

I’m saving the most important element for last. Choose a starchy potato (such as good old russets) and cook them twice or even thrice: boiled or steamed, then fried once and maybe once again. In Spain, Allibhoy admits, nobody makes patatas bravas at home, but that’s because they’re so easy to come by in restaurants. For home cooks in more tapas-deprived parts of the world, especially those without the will to deep-fry, he allows that after the steaming or boiling, the potatoes can be roasted instead.

As an air fryer devotee, I knew what I had to do. I microwave-steamed the potatoes, then tossed them in oil and air fried them. The objective is to get the exterior as crisp as possible (a job made for an air fryer), and not just because they’re so delicious that way. I had never thought of this, but as Allibhoy points out, “A crispy potato takes more sauce. A soggy potato is more slippery.”

In other words, when you go to the trouble to make patatas that are this bravas, you don’t want to miss a bite.

• Joe Yonan is the author of “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2024).

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Air Fryer Patatas Bravas

For the potatoes:

2 to 3 medium russet potatoes (1½ pounds total), scrubbed

½ cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon fine salt

For the tomato sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion (6 ounces), halved and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

½ teaspoon sweet or hot smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup canned no-salt-added crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Fine salt

For the aioli:

2 tablespoons aquafaba from one (15-ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas

1 heaping tablespoon canned no-salt-added chickpeas (from the same can)

1½ teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove

¼ teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as avocado, sunflower or grapeseed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Make the potatoes: Cut each potato in half lengthwise and then into ½-inch wedges. Transfer to a large microwave-safe bowl, add the water, cover with a plate and microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are barely fork tender. Pour off the water and let the potatoes cool slightly in the bowl.

On the air fryer, select the air fry mode, set to 400°F and preheat until the appliance signals it’s ready.

Add the olive oil and salt to the potatoes, and gently toss to combine. Air fry for 20 minutes, shaking the basket occasionally, or until the potatoes are golden brown and crisp.

Make the tomato sauce: While the potatoes are frying, in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it softens and lightly browns, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin and oregano, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes and vinegar, stir to combine, and reduce the heat to medium. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Taste, and season with salt as desired.

Make the aioli: In a tall container big enough to fit an immersion blender, combine the aquafaba, chickpeas, vinegar, mustard, garlic and salt. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. (If you have a mini food processor, you can use that instead, but a standard blender doesn’t work as well for this.)

In a glass measuring cup or other vessel with a pouring spout, combine the canola and olive oils. With the blender running, slowly drizzle the oils into the aquafaba mixture, which will expand as the emulsion forms. Taste, and season with more salt, if desired. You should have about 1 cup; you’ll need about ½ cup for this recipe.

To serve, spread the tomato sauce on a large serving platter. Pile the potatoes on top and dollop here and there with aioli. Serve hot.

Servings: 4-6

Make ahead: The sauce and aioli can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated until use. Bring to room temperature before assembling the dish. Storage: Refrigerate the potatoes, sauce and aioli separately for up to 4 days. Reheat the potatoes in an air fryer at 325°F for about 5 minutes, or until warmed through.

Substitutions: For russet potatoes, use Yukon Gold potatoes. For homemade aquafaba aioli, use homemade egg-based aioli or store-bought mayonnaise mixed with minced garlic. To make it more or less spicy, use more or less cayenne. For sherry vinegar, use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. For white wine vinegar, use apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar.

Variations: If you don’t want to microwave the potatoes, you can steam them on the stovetop for 10 minutes. If you don’t have an air fryer, you can roast the potatoes in the oven at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.

Nutritional information per serving (4 ounces potatoes plus sauce and 1 1/3 tablespoons aioli), based on 6: 280 calories, 18 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 26 g carbohydrates, 298 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 3 g fiber, 3 g sugar.

— Joe Yonan, based on a recipe in “Spanish Made Simple” by Omar Allibhoy (Quadrille, 2017)