The Most Famous Tortilla in Argentina

It’s 11:30 am and there’s a line outside Las Chicas de la 3, the food stand in the third pavilion at Mercado Central, the most important market on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Many are here to try the tortilla, which is similar to a Spanish omelet, except it is stuffed with ham and cheese. 

Patricia Rodríguez (Pato) is inside cooking typical fast food dishes like pizzas, empanadas, savory tarts, and the famous tortilla. While Pato cooks and prepares the food, her business and life partner Romina Moore (Romi) takes orders and serves hungry customers. 

Pato’s father first opened the stand in Mercado Central over 30 years ago. It’s located in the midst of the bustle of the market, with vendors selling wholesale fruits and vegetables. Tens of thousands of people pass through the market every day.

Pato and Romi are always busy and never seem to stop working. They are constantly moving around, preparing dishes, taking foods in and out of the oven, and attending to customers as they dance around each other in the small food stand.

Many of the workers in the market pass by Las Chicas stand once the day’s work is done. The peak hours tend to be very early, from 3 am - 9 am, so Pato’s food is usually the first nourishment of the day. Before the tortilla craze hit, Pato was known for her pizzas and empanadas.

The tortilla wasn't a hit until chefs began to visit, eating breakfast at Pato and Romi's stand after shopping for fresh produce. Many were not in the mood for pizza, so they ordered the tortilla instead. Word of mouth spread through the gastronomic world that this was the dish to eat in the market. 

There are several key steps when making the tortilla. First, Pato takes fried chopped potatoes and mixes it with eggs and seasonings. Then, she takes a hot pan and pours the mixture inside until it hits the halfway point. 

Pato adds an abundant layer of cheese to the egg and fried potato mixture. Then, she puts slices of ham on top. Finally, she pours the rest of the potato and egg mixture, and into the oven it goes.

Once the tortilla is golden brown, it comes out of the oven. Pato puts a top on the pan, flips it over, and checks if it is ready. She can tell just by poking the tortilla with the spatula if it needs more time in the oven. 

The tortilla is five centimeters high and always made fresh to order. The best part? When Romi and Pato cut into the hot and bubbling tortilla and the cheese oozes out. 

The Argentine diet tends to be heavily meat and cheese based. Despite the access to fresh produce, many of the market food stands offer fast foods. With this in mind, Pato and Romi decided to incorporate vegetables where they can, like a green version of the tortilla. 

This tortilla replaces the potatoes with spinach or Swiss chard. They add eggs, chopped onions, shredded cheese, and seasonings like salt, pepper, and nutmeg. When half of the mixture is poured into the hot pan, a handful of cheese is added, more of the mixture goes on top and it is baked in the oven.

Whether it's a truck driver, produce vendor, shop owner, cook, or market management, all walks of life hop up to the bar at Las Chicas for Argentine comfort foods. Despite being two women in a male-dominated market and industry, Pato and Romi are respected and beloved. 

Pato and Romi’s tortilla took off in 2020 when it was featured on the Netflix’s series Street Food: Latin America. Now, people from around the world want to visit the market for a chance to try their cheesy tortilla.