Perdi: the cult artisan fries

“Perdi fries are crunchy, not oily at all, with just the right amount of salt, tasty;

so addictive, that one would say a hard and legal drug”.

Surely this is how one of the masterpieces of national literature would begin if Juan Ramón Jiménez had tried the chips that they make a few kilometers from his town, in Aracena (Huelva).

There they prepare hundreds of bags of this appetizer every day, in an almost traditional way, which each year that passes has more devotees beyond its region.

We are very sorry for him, but the cheerful donkey Platero would have been relegated to a third place - the second would be for the accompanying beer - in that book.

Perdi was founded in the eighties in this town in the Huelva mountains, although Miguel Ángel López, its current owner, acquired this family business in 2008. Miguel Ángel had no previous experience in anything related to gastronomy, his job was to inspect electrical installations, but he had one thing clear: he wanted to return to his town.

“At that time he worked in Seville and was looking forward to returning to Aracena.

I saw that you could live on French fries, that they were a good business, so I jumped in and bought it, ”he narrates.

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With family help

In those early years, the work of Francisco Castillo, an employee of Perdi since its inception, was fundamental: “He was the one who taught me everything, really.

When I started, I hired a woman and there were only three of us”, says the manager of the company, which currently has a staff of six people.

And, like many entrepreneurs, he also needed the help of his family: "We produced in the center of town and we even packed the bags by hand, so at Easter and Christmas my parents, my aunt and my brothers came to help us out" .

Five years later, they moved to an industrial warehouse, where they have more space and machinery, although they continue with the same philosophy: the more artisan and careful the process, the better.

“We do not release production just to release it;

we give each potato the time it requires.

We have recently installed a faster packaging machine, but that does not affect the quality.

You have to stop to fry, which is what we do”, sums up Miguel Ángel López.

Artisan process and care

In Perdi they pamper this tuber as if it were a helpless sparrow.

The manager of the business declares himself to be “obsessed with quality”, and that is why thoroughness is present in each step of the preparation: “

first thing we do is wash and peel the potatoes.

After that they should go to the cutter, but we transfer them to a belt and we inspect them all, one by one, to remove any damage”, López points out.

Once they are cut, they are put in the pan, which is not at a very high temperature: "We do not raise the degrees much to get more production, we let frying take what it should take."

After that, they are salted by hand —yes, by hand— and packaged.

“Every day we usually make between 280 and 300 kilos of already fried potatoes, approximately.

But the amount varies a lot because we do it by hand;

if you have to touch them up more, you fry less”.

Freshly fried PERDI POTATOES

Other aspects that make a difference is the thickness of the cut, key to the final result.

According to Perdi's owner, they leave it a little fatter than normal, just enough to make it crunchy and not dry out and lose all its water.

“It is not about making it tasteless and like it was a cigarette paper,” explains López.

This cut has its pros and cons: in favor, the flavor, of course, although it goes rancid sooner, because it absorbs more oil, which over time acquires an unpleasant taste.

“The expiration date is shorter, two months from its manufacture.

We could add a little more, but we're not interested”, says Miguel Ángel.

The importance of the raw material

And if they take care of every detail of the preparation, they also do it, of course, with the raw material.

In Perdi they only work with one variety of potato: the sour one.

“It always comes from Spain, and the origin varies depending on the time of year: in May it comes mainly from the Guadalquivir valley;

as the campaign progresses they come from Ciudad Real and Valladolid, and the last ones of the year, from the Galician region of La Limia”, reports the manager.

These tubers are fried in a mixture of sunflower and olive oil (usually extra virgin).

The reason for using both is explained by Miguel Ángel: “Sunflower is the one with which it is fried, and the olive one gives it flavor.

Most of the time we use extra virgin, because the price difference is small and the quality is much better”.

This is how they have managed to convert palates as well-known as David de Jorge, who wrote in his blog that these potatoes "are really tasty and taste like fried with race, good ingredients and no bullshit”.

“They cut them thick and they crunch so it's a pleasure to listen to them, they taste like potatoes without bullshit and they leave hands losing fat.

Mágico González must season them, what finesse! What elegance! And you can't stop until you finish the bag and feel like the happiest chubby in the world”, commented the Basque chef.

Or that of the gastronomic journalist from EL PAÍS Paz Álvarez, who assures that “they are a perdition”.

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beyond the town

Those addicted to their fried virtues are not limited to Paz and David: in the capital of Andalusia they have also had quite a few faithful losers for years.

"In 2011 we went to Seville to deliver once a week, now we go three times and we have distributors who help us because we can't keep up," says this businessman from Huelva.

Miguel Ángel was clear from the beginning that he wanted to expand beyond his region, in which the brand was already established: "When I took over the reins of the business I kept moving through the mountains and began to expand to the two closest capitals, Huelva and Seville”.

This development helped him to maintain a good volume of business when the confinement due to the pandemic arrived, during which he did not dispense with any employee.

"Since recently we have been operating online sales, we ship to all of mainland Spain, although I don't give it much publicity because I don't have time," says López.

The success of these chips has caused many to take an interest in the business: "They asked me to expand to Portugal and many other places, but that's a lot of trouble," confesses the owner of Perdi.

Because, above all, Miguel Ángel does not forget what was the reason that led him to start in this crunchy and fried world 15 years ago: "I would not like to move from here, what's up: I'm staying in Aracena".

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