Follow the trail of crumbs...

...into the kitchens of Spain.

Leave it to the frugal Spaniards to elevate a simple dish of stale bread crumbs into the gastronomic stratosphere. Migas, the Spanish word for crumbs, is so beloved throughout much of Spain that the residents of Torrox, a town along the Costa del Sol in Andalucía, annually host a Fiesta de Migas that draws tens of thousands of people.

At its most basic, migas consists of leftover bread torn into small bits, slightly moistened with water, and then fried in olive oil with garlic and pimentón, the Spanish paprika. Every region seems to have its own variation on the theme, most of which call for the cook to add healthy doses of cured pork products, such as chorizo (dry-cured paprika-laced sausage), morcilla (blood sausage), jamón serrano, and bacon (hungry yet, Biggles?). The dish also often includes peppers and onions in the mix and, surprisingly, may be garnished with a handful of green grapes. Typically, migas serve as the base for one (or two) of the glorious fried eggs I recently wrote about. They can also be topped off by many other humble delicacies, including, I feel obligated to add, sardines.

This weekend, I made a dish of migas con huevos for my entry in the 25th edition of "Is My Blog Burning?," Give Us This Day Yesterday's Bread, hosted by Derrick of An Obsession with Food.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, like all rustic, straightforward dishes, the key to making the most delicious rendition of migas con huevos resides in the quality of your ingredients. Use the best available loaf of country bread, farm fresh eggs, and, most importantly, authentic Spanish chorizo (in the US, there is only one brand, Palacios, available at specialty grocers and on line here and here), jamón serrano, and pimentón.

After N and I scooped up every last bite of our migas, we decided that the point of the humble main ingredient - day old bread - was to soak up every bit of precious pork fat that rendered out of the chorizo, jamón serrano and bacon in the dish. It was like breakfast hash, substituting bread crumbs for potatoes!

No wonder that I was surprised, then, to read that the dish seems to have originated with the Moors, the Muslim occupiers of the Iberian peninsula from the eighth to the fifteenth century. From what I read, it seems that buried beneath the avalanche of pork bits, migas shares a common, if distant, ancestor with North African couscous, steamed semolina.

Regardless of its mysterious beginnings, today a hearty plateful of migas con huevos will load you up with enough calories to keep you going out in the vineyards all day. If you won't be working the fields, you can reduce the fat somewhat (such as by poaching the eggs, as I did), but you lose some of the authentic flavor that makes this belly-buster so quintessentially Castillian. Spoil yourself and eat it for brunch or lunch on a special occasion. Next birthday or anniversary, skip the foie gras, oysters, and caviar, and beg for a plate overflowing with migas con huevos!

Migas con Huevos

Based mostly on the recipe found in one of my favorite Spanish cookbooks, Anya von Bremzen's The New Spanish Table.

Serves 2

extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
1 mild poblano chile, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 strip bacon, diced
2 slices jamón serrano, diced
2 oz. Spanish chorizo (preferably Palacios brand)
2 c day-old country bread, torn into ½-inch pieces
½ t smoked sweet pimentón de la Vera
handful of green grapes, halved (optional)
sea salt
2 eggs, poached or fried in olive oil

Heat few glugs of oil in nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Cook garlic until golden, then remove to plate. Increase heat to medium-high and cook peppers until slightly softened and blistered, then remove to plate. Lower the heat back to medium-low and add meats and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, then remove to plate. If you must, remove some of the fat and set aside to add if needed (just don't let me know you did).

Add the bread to the rendered pork fat and olive oil in the pan. Evenly splash about ¼ cup of water over the bread. Cook bread, using a spoon to break it up somewhat. Cook until it starts to crisp up and turn golden, about 10 minutes, adding back any fat that you may have set aside if the bread looks dry. Add the pimentón to the pan and stir and cook briefly, then toss back in all the garlic, peppers and meats. Stir the whole mess around and cook for a few minutes, adding the grapes if using. Taste to see if needs salt and season accordingly.

Spoon migas onto plates or cazuelas and top each plateful with poached or fried egg.

Food|and Drink|Recipes|Spanish|IMBB #25

Comments

[Tony of the Bachelor Cooking]

Sounds very interesting.. I have seen a similar dish in Maharashtra, India. Leftover Roti/Chapati, the Indian pan roasted wheat bread is shredded and then fried in oil with Onions and Masalas.

I like to fry leftover rice :-)

[matt]

I must say that I prefer this version than the tex-mex Migas I grew up eating. They may share a common name but the American version pales in comparison. I mean, really, anything with serrano AND chorizo is going to win–hands down!

[misspoetje]

cous-cous, grits, fried rice, masa etc. Every country has an excuse to mop up pork grease with a left-over something.
When is this festival in Torrox? I will be very close to it this coming june.
I want chorizo Now!

[drbiggles]

Admittedly, I make a slow round through my favorite food blogs. I go a little quicker to the blogs that are around me and I know the authors. But DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN.

I was reading your intro and felt as though I was Adam West being pounded by thugs. BIFF, FAMN, CLAAAANG. You're killing me. My mind was reeling and only repeating, "I'm SO going to do this." and "HOLY CRAP". Wow.

My smoker may totally kick your smoker's ass, but you left me weak in the meat knees.

xo

[Juan-Luis]

Hi Brett,
I was always under the impression that Migas were an Extremeñan dish, not Andaluzan, but who knows... last summer we ate them as the signature dish at the Parador de Mérida. I definitely felt guilty (and more than a little full) as I dug into them, but they were delicious. I think I'd have a hard time convincing Donna to dig in to some migas!

[Brett]

Tony, the dish you describe sounds excellent. Maharashtra migas?

Matt, I read about the Tex-Mex migas on line, but I've never had it. Eggs scrambled with tortillas and cheese sounds good, but probably not as good as anything with Spanish chorizo and jamon.

Misspoetje, the Migas festival takes place on the Sunday before Christmas, but I'm sure you can get someone in the area to whip you up a batch! Have a great trip!

Biggles, you crack me up!

Juan-Luis, you are of course right that migas is more closely associated with Extremadura, but it seems to be popular in Aragon, Castile, La Mancha and Andalucía too. I'm not sure why a town in Andalucía hosts the annual event. Maybe all the other foods already had festivals?

[Lisa D. Walker]

Your journaling is making me fat and I don't care. Bring it on!

So, do you think we could include panzanella as a distant relative to the migas family? Although it's considered a salad of torn, tired bread with olive oil and vinegar it too is super yummy baked in the oven with fresh tomato and basil, then topped with poached eggs and Parmigianno-Reggianno. But my favorite is Zuni Cafe's. It's baked with the pan-drippings of chicken, currants and pine nuts and served with juicy roast chicken.

[Lindy]

Oh excellent. This sounds splendid. Love that cookbook too.

[nopisto]

Migas are widely spread around Spain as they were a survu\iving dish. You can find them from extremadura to Aragon stoping in both Castillas.

They can have paprica (Pimenton) or not, in Alacala de Henares they serve them with hot chocolate, in andalucia with sardines escabeche and in Guadalajara with grapes and picadillo (the meat in the chorizo).

This is a whim statement but nobody does themn better than my grandma (from Guadalajara of course).

And the maximun is include a fried egg on top of the dish.

[Greg]

A perfect place for a poached egg. Well done sir.

[keiko]

Brett, I just love reading your Spanish related posts - they are always wonderful and make me want to go back there.

[lobstersquad]

Love love love migas! No pimenton, plenty of bacon, and for the last serving, just the migas with grapes and a cup of coffee. Bliss.
Or have them for tea with hot chocolate.
But just one thing: no, they cannot be compared to panzanella. Wouldn´t you agree?

[Nancy]

I was traveling through Toledo a few years ago and they were havina a migas cook off in the town park. I wandered around and they let me be an honorary "taster", it was delicious!

[demitademi]

I am reeling from the memory of migas... I had them in Badajoz, Spain (town bordering Portugal). They were, to say the least, an experience in unexpected goodness. Our version was super simple... bread crumbs fried up in garlic and olive oil. Simple 'nuff. The kicker... we ate it with coffee!!! We ate it like cereal... but, um, with bread and garlic and oil and coffee instead of cereal and sugar and milk. =D But hey, everyone else was doing it too.... heheh.