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Best Tortillitas de camarones in New York

“Shrimp so small they cook whole, shells and all, into crackling fritters that taste of the Andalusian coast.”

Tortillitas de camarones

What the real thing tastes like

Tortillitas de camarones are shrimp fritters from the province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. They are made with a batter of wheat flour, chickpea flour, water, onion (alternatively shallot or scallion), parsley, shrimp, salt and pepper. The batter is then fried on both sides in a pan with plenty of olive oil. Usually it is served with small side dishes. In Andalusia the shrimp species Palaemon longirostris is typically used, for which camarón is the local name. Because the shrimp are so small it is too difficult to shell them, so they are cooked whole. This specific species of shrimp is hard to come by outside of Andalusia. A different species of shelled shrimp can serve as a substitute, but without Palaemon longirostris the taste of the dish will be different. The dish originates from either Cádiz or San Fernando, or possibly both. The dish became well known in the nineteenth century, but may have been created as early as the start of the sixteenth century. The Genoese colony present

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Tortillitas de camarones are paper-thin shrimp fritters from Cádiz that arrive golden and crackling, their batter a careful balance of wheat and chickpea flours studded with whole tiny shrimp too delicate to shell. The Palaemon longirostris shrimp—barely bigger than your pinky nail—stay unpeeled and cook into the fritter itself, their shells dissolving into sweetness. Born centuries ago from Genoese and Spanish influences, these disappear fast alongside small plates and cold wine.

Order it here when it has

  • uses shrimp whole—shells dissolve into dish
  • historically rooted in 16th-century innovation
  • difficult to replicate outside Andalusia with the right species

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