“Revuelto” means scrambled but the significance of “Gramajo” is a subject of debate. It is capitalized because it is supposed to be someone’s name — the person for whom the dish has been named. Who he was exactly, no one can seem to agree.

What isn’t in dispute is that the potatoes in revuelto Gramajo have to be fried to a crisp. I cut mine like French fries but traditional recipes have potatoes cut longer and thinner. Julienned, in fact, like shoestring potatoes.

What isn’t in dispute either is that there is meat in the dish. Ham, originally, although as revuelto Gramajo evolved, other meats, even fish and chicken, are sometimes used. I picked sausages which, depending on their quality, can have complex flavors as ham.

Adding fried potatoes to sausages and eggs

What isn’t in dispute too is how the dish is assembled. The potatoes, meat and scrambled eggs aren’t served as individual components of the dish. They are tossed together in the frying pan.

Fried potatoes and eggs (revuelto Gramajo)

A la Revuelto Gramajo

Connie Veneracion

In this recipe, sausages take the place of ham which is the traditional meat component of the dish. Hence, "a la" is added to the title. If using sausages, choose highly flavorful ones. The final taste of the dish depends largely on the spices and seasonings in the sausages. Please do not use canned sausages or hotdogs. They just won’t work.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Course Breakfast

Cuisine South American

Servings 3 people

Ingredients

2 cups cooking oil
3 medium potatoes peeled and cut into sticks a la French fries
100 to 150 grams sausages cut into half-inch cubes
3 large eggs beaten
salt to taste to taste
ground black pepper to taste
torn cilantro to garnish
sliced chilies to garnish

Instructions

Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan.
Fry the potato sticks until golden and crisp. Scoop out and set aside. To make them retain their crispiness longer, move them to a rack while you cook the sausages and eggs.
Pour off the oil from the pan leaving only about a teaspoonful.
Heat the oil and fry the cubed sausages until nicely browned. Lightly browned is fine but, if you want more caramelization, go for deeply browned. Just don’t burn the sausages.
When the sausages are done, pour in the beaten eggs. Cook, stirring, until set.
Taste a piece of egg. If the seasonings and spices in the sausages aren’t enough to flavor the eggs sufficiently, sprinkle in salt and pepper until you get the balance that pleases you.
Add the fried potatoes to the sausages and eggs. Toss until heated through.
Garnish the revuelto gramaho with torn cilantro and sliced chilies before serving. Totally optional but both add so much depth to this simple dish.