Crane needed to flip world’s biggest Spanish omelette as Sanxenxo feeds 10,000 for charity

Sanxenxo, a Galician town, hosted an event on Saturday to cook the world’s largest Spanish omelette, also known as a tortilla de patatas. The family-run egg company, El Huevo de la Abuela, utilized 17,000 eggs, 1,700 kilos of potatoes, 300 kilos of onion, 300 liters of oil, and 30 kilos of salt to make this massive dish. The town hall reported that thousands gathered for the cook-off, which was part of the local onion fair and Santa Rosalia festivities.

The cooking process required a 75-tonne crane to flip the six-meter-diameter pan, with seventy-two people working together to ensure a high-precision job. The flip was deemed the most nerve-wracking moment of the day, as the cooks risked ending up with scrambled eggs instead. The omelette was then divided into 10,000 portions, each priced at €3, with options for onion and without, reflecting Spain’s ongoing debate on the perfect tortilla de patatas.

Proceeds from the event went to charity, and the town hall thanked the family company, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees for making the event a success. This was not an isolated incident, as the same egg company had organized a similar giant omelette in Melide last year, with Sanxenxo’s version featuring its own onions in the Feira da Cebola.

Galicia is already famous for its food culture, including dishes like octopus, percebes, and hearty home cooking, and a monstrous tortilla certainly fits into this pattern of communal, large-scale meals that raise both food and funds.