My O is for an Omelette....

Blood sausage & artichoke O, Restaurant Cañete, BCN

My body builder friends will call this their simple meal protein though heaven forbid they use the yolk. Such a shame to throw that rich yolk away though I get the cholesterol fest of 10-16 eggs with yolk included, eaten at one sitting. Be that as it may, us normal folk can enjoy a 2-egg omelette in all its glory from time to time. And oh my!

An egg is such an easy, fast and nutritious meal. Add almost any ingredient to it and you can elevate your already wonderful omelette to the title of Orgasmic Omelette to Die For. Check out my piece of heaven to your right - add a blood sausage and some artichokes and your soul will dance in delight. I MEAN, WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT? SLURP.......

Tortilla, Xampanyet, BCN

Then you have the slightly more time consuming version of an omelette, the Spanish Omelette or the Tortilla (NOT to be confused with the round, Mexican flatbreads). Whatever anyone might tell you, and believe me, they are lying through their eye-teeth, to have a truly orgasmic experience, you need to add tons of olive oil when you make this. I have tried making a healthier version with boiled potatoes/par-boiled ones/less oil and nope- you never get that rich, mouth melting sensation until you have used up at least half your bottle of olive oil. Sigh. Oh and I have seen some recipes online with butter (BUTTER! -Outrage!) and or milk and ignore those. Here is a decent one.


And then you have the Over The Top omelette which is your basic tortilla with- hang on.....Boloñese sauce (hysterical giggle), which I had to try in a random bar in Santander, a while ago. Was quite good, surprisingly enough!

The Three Truffled Tasties

Truffled fried eggs and taters

The season for fresh truffles is roughly autumn to December, which is when I look forward to eating this natural wonder, lightly shaved on here and there or crumbled or grated, as in the delightful preparation above which is: sauté some potatoes in a pan, break a couple of eggs on top and just when the eggs are done, add salt, switch off the flame, grate some truffle and sprinkle some parsley. Serve instantly!

For those who don't know, a truffle is basically an underground fungus - which sounds as gross as curdled and rotten milk ie cheese but in reality is a delight to eat ( as cheese can be). Edible truffles are held in high esteem in many European and middle eastern countries and figure highly in 'haute cuisine' due to their special but pungent taste. 

To the left is another way to eat truffle- a cholesterol inducing but oh so wonderful bite-ful of egg yolks injected with truffle and then coated in tempura and fast fried. Accompanied by straw potatoes, this amazing dish is served in a restaurant nearby. Put a yolk in your mouth, bite in and have an orgasm as the runny yolk laced with truffle oozes onto your palate. Heaven.

A lot of places do something simpler, which is to make pasta and simply shave some truffle on top. A good dish becomes an amazing dish with this simple step, just like adding accessories can change you from 'nice' to 'wow'. 


And lastly, why not, pay out for some divine mortadella infused with truffle. Simply amazing. Accompany with your favourite wine and voilá, you have a chic starter.

Snailsssssssss

Bové snails 'a la llauna´

Viñala snails with black pepper and ham

Snails are not everybody's cup of tea though in Europe, land snails are consumed regularly. The slime element is a deterrent for sure but when cooked, they are not slimy at all but almost firm, like a chicken thigh! Funny how we find slime so revolting almost globally and yet no one finds milk, which contains cow pus, as gross- oh well, that is for another post or maybe another blog!

Edible snails are either land, freshwater or saltwater snails. There are two main species of edible snails: the ones that have "helix" in the scientific name (for their spiral, circular shells) and "achatine." Helix snails are a European species.

Tis true that there is some prep needed to eat snails but a lot of food needs prep. I always prefer to eat these critters in a restaurant well known for making them. There is one such place about an hour away from the city, where I had a divine feast of 4 different snail dishes with 2 varieties of snails - the 'Viñala' and the smaller 'Bové'. On the top left, I particularly liked this latter variety of snail - small, firm and almost crunchy. Oven baked in a special oven dish or 'llauna', the garlicky oil with the parsley chiffonade made this delicious!

Next you see snails with black pepper and ham, using the bigger and mushier Viñala snails. Mmmmm

Did you know that the French word for snail, 'Escargot' is the common name for snails when they are to be eaten in a dish? Millions of pounds of snails are consumed around the world annually. In fact, there is even a day to celebrate it! May 24th is the National Escargot Day. 

There are many different types of edible snails in the world. The most common are:
Helix aspersa - also called the "small grey snail."
Helix pomatia - also called "the Roman snail."

Viñala snails with chocolate sauce

In California and Japan some edible snails are called Abalone.
In Greece they are called Tsalingaria.

In other parts of Europe and South Africa there is the Periwinkle Snail.

In the West Indies they eat a snail called the Queen Conch.

One of the 4 snail dishes we had was almost Mexican in its sauce; snails accompanied by pigs' trotters in a chocolate sauce - was an interesting combo as one tries hard to get rid of the sweet taste that chocolate is associated with in your brain to the actuality, a thick sauce with a small note of sweet and entirely devoid of the bitter which is characteristic of dark chocolate. It makes me wonder why chocolate isn't more often used in savoury cooking

Viñala snails cooked with chorizo

The last was a particularly tasty snail dish with chorizo sausage cooked into the sauce - doesn't it look delicious? The richness of this paprika sausage gave these little beasties a particularly spicy sort of taste....just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Is your watering too?

Still life of Ham and Bread

Ham heaven, Bar Mudanza, Barcelona (Spain)

I find this photo so magnificent, somehow, that I just HAD to do a little post on this. Just look at that ham, curling deliciously, with a transparent patina of rich fat, alongside that crunchy toasted bread which has been generously rubbed with those viney tomatoes especially bought for this job, and topped with a generous sprinking of green gold ie virgin olive oil. Add some wine and you are all set for an evening of chatter and delight.

Dr Seuss says it so well.....

Say! I like green eggs and ham! 

I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! 

And I would eat them in a boat! 

And I would eat them with a goat...

And I will eat them in the rain.

And in the dark. And on a train.

And in a car. And in a tree.

They are so goodm so goodm you see! 

So I will eat them in a box.

And I will eat them with a fox.

And I will eat them in a house.

And I will eat them with a mouse.

And I will eat them here and there.

Say! I will eat them ANHYWHERE! 

I do so like 

green eggs and ham! 

Thank you! 

Thank you,

Sam-I-am

Pizza with a twist - Chicken tandoori pizza!

Mezze, Kathmandu, Nepal

Who would think that our Asian brethren would give such a twist to the classic Italian pizza? Why not add tandoori chicken ( chicken marinated in spicy yoghurt and cooked in a special oven called a 'tandoor') and sprinkle on some fresh cut coriander?
Any bready base with any tasty topping should be good, right? This pizza with a twist goes on to prove it. Absolutely delicious and still making my mouth water, even as I type. 
For you purists out there, I'd even add chillis to this particular one so SHOOT ME!

Pi Pi Pizza!

Pizza Roman style

Though most pizzas are not really weally healthy meals in themselves, they COULD be. Think about it - a thin crust (fast carbs), tomatoe sauce and veggies (slow carbs) and chicken/ham/meat (protein) topping plus some cheese ( fat, calcium and protein) - voilá, a complete and healthy meal. Add a salad and a glass of wine and no nutritionist can complain, surely?

Pizza Florentine style

In this spirit of health, I venture out, once in while, to a place nearby where they serve pizza with different toppings and you can choose as many combos as you fancy rather than having one type of pizza - the thought of eating one type of pizza has never ever appealed to me - what if I order a whole pizza and I don't like it? Argh! 

And so nice to have a few bitefuls when you are in between meals.. or travelling...

Slurrrrp

Little bites of heaven

White anchovy on toasted bread with tomatoe

Sometimes, you just want to eat something small, simple and fresh. Just a few bites, washed down with a good red or a light white. Think fresh, crunchy toasted bread, lightly rubbed with a juicy tomatoe and sprinkled with a slightly bitter virgin olive oil.....lay a firm fleshed white anchovy or 'boqueron' as they are called in Spain, sip a cool glass of white and mmmmmm....

Sirloin and padrón pepper on bread

Or how about a quickly grilled piece of sirloin with a possibly hot little pepper, dripping juices and blood...grrrrrowl- brings out the animal in me. Definitely with a red!

Foie gras with caramelised onions

And if you have had a particularly tough day, why not treat yourself to a few bites of pan fried foie gras with caramelised onions, coarse salt and chives, accompanied by a glass of bubbly?