Broken Eggs with Serrano Ham, and the Naval Medal of Merit

Natacha Sanz Caballero Eggs, Events & Travel comfort food, Cruz al Mérito Naval, eggs, Embassy of Spain, entrée, huevos, Spanish cuisine, Washington DC

The eggs in this recipe don’t look perfect but, who cares! They will be broken up just before serving to blend their flavor and texture to that of the other ingredients in the dish. They are huevos rotos, broken eggs, after all.

Huevos rotos con jamón, broken eggs with serrano ham, are a comfort food dish in Spain. It’s a dish probably made in every household in the country, with different variations between them. In fact, one will usually call them with the general term huevos rotos, broken eggs, despite the fact that you can make them with serrano ham, like I did, or with chorizo, with blood sausage, with Iberian bacon, with Iberian ham, even with foie!

Today I brought you the more traditional one, which includes serrano ham. The rest of the ingredients are simple: fresh eggs, potatoes, green pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Easy enough to find in your pantry and fridge, but there’s one trick: the ingredients have to be of the best quality, and you cannot substitute the olive oil. If you don’t have olive oil, I wouldn’t recommend making the dish.

Looking sharp before heading to the Spanish Embassy

A very warm welcome at the Defense Attaché to the Embassy of Spain in Washinton DC

Brigadier General Pedro García Sipols between Ambassador Santiago Cabanas and Navy Captain Manuel González Serrano, me and my family

Having said that, I can promise you will want to have this dish over and over. At home, it is one of our favorites! As I said, it’s a dish you will find at most homes in Spain, but also at traditional, neighborhood restaurants, as well as in very upscale, Michelin-star-chef-ran ones (here you may encounter slight variations, like the use of some truffle oil, or potato foam, or any of the ingredients or methods that fancy chefs use).

When I was thinking of a subject to accompany the recipe on this post, I scrolled down Mama Ía blog to discover that I had never talked about an event that happened last year, and that was a highlight of the life of my novel, Yo fui el primero—and of my life.

General García Sipols reads the directives for the imposition on the Medal and delivers a very personal, moving speech

On April 4, 2023 (yes, it’s been over a year now!), at a ceremony at the Defense Attaché of the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC, I was awarded the Naval Medal of Honor with White Distinction (for civilians). The award was presented to me by His Excellency the Ambassador of Spain in the United States, Santiago Cabanas Ansorena, in the presence of Brigadier General Pedro García Sipols and representatives from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force of Spain in the United States.

The medal was awarded for the dissemination of the history of Spain in the United States, through my book Yo fui el primero and its English version, I Was the First. The book narrates the story of the first circumnavigation of the world, a trip started by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 and completed by Spanish mariner Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522. The story is narrated through the voices of two young men that traveled with the expedition and survived to tell it.

The ceremony was very moving. My family, my friend Shelby, and I felt very welcomed by everyone and, after the solemn presentation of the award and speeches by General García Sipols, Ambassador Cabanas and me, all present cheered and toasted with Spanish wine for the King, before gathering around the delicious Spanish dishes that had been prepared to celebrate the occasion. We left the embassy after a few hours, with a full heart, many stories to remember and feeling we had made new friends for life.

This post may come as a bit out of place (rather, a bit out of time), but I think it deserved to be represented on this journal that is Mama Ía blog. I remember every person that was present that day, keep in touch with and think of with the utmost affection.

With Brigadier Pilar Vila Torres

Con el Embajador Santiago Cabanas y el General García Sipols

Shelby, by my side on this very special day

So huevos rotos con jamón, broken eggs with serrano ham, a very Spanish comfort food dish, is the perfect recipe to accompany the journal entry of that very special day, that I will never (nor my family) will ever forget.

My most sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the people present that day, that made it an unforgettable experience, and particularly to those that were not there, and whose initiative and drive brought about the proposal for the award, namely, Rear Admiral Santiago Barber López, Navy Captain Carlos Maté San Román and the late Admiral General Chief of Staff Antonio Martorell Lacave.

As we enter the holiday season, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I encourage you to explore the many recipes on Mama Ía blog that can help you build the most delicious menu. You can also access all my resources —the ingredients and utensils I use—, and even the photography elements I use to capture the moments and the food in my posts, or the programs that have helped me build Mama Ía blog. Check the RESOURCES section of this blog!

And if you have questions, contact me! I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

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BROKEN EGGS WITH SERRANO HAM

Huevos Rotos con Jamón

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Spanish

Servings: 4

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Equipment

• 2 small paella pans
• skillet

Ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 slices serrano ham use prosciuto if serrano ham is unavailable
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Peel the potatoes and cut them in small, irregular chunks, about 1-inch in size. Place 1/2 cup olive oil in a medium size skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the potatoes, gently turning over every few minutes so they soften but don’t get crunchy, about 15 minutes per batch. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Add more olive oil as necessary before the next batch so the potatoes are mostly covered.
• Slice the pepper into about 1-inch wide trips. Remove some of the oil from the pan and save. Sauté the peppers, about 1 minute per side. Set aside.
• Return the saved olive oil to the skillet. One by one, fry the eggs, sunny side up, to your liking.
• Build the dish: season the potatoes and the peppers with some sea salt. In a cazuela or in a small paella pan if available, arrange the potatoes, scatter the peppers and the serrano ham slices on top, and top with the eggs. Season the eggs with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Serve.
• Before eating, make sure to break the eggs, so the flavors of all the ingredients combine.

Notes

1. A popular way in Spain to make fried eggs, and my dad’s favorite, is what is called “con puntilla”, literally translated to “with lace”: you fry the egg in very hot oil, which produces a light brown, “lace-like” edge

2. If a cazuela or small paella pan are not available, use any serving plate you have available

3. I like to cut the serrano ham slices in half before arranging them over the potatoes