Wed, July 23 - tortilla española

8.15am - cereal, walnuts, seeds, coconut rice milk, at home11.32am - a peach, cherries, and a mini-sandwich w/ German beetroot syrup, at work

14.44h - some pineapple and another sandwich, this one w/ turkey, tomatoes and basil aoli, back at work after acupuncture by the beach in Santa Monica. I so deserve extra credit for going back to work after that...

19.40h - taste-testing two different olive oils - Italian on the left, Spanish on the right, at home. As you can guess by the looks of it, the Italian one had a much better, deeper taste. But I used the Spanish one anyway to fry the potatoes and onions for the quintessential Spanish omelette, the tortilla española (which has nothing to do with Mexican-style tortillas)

20.25h - ta da! Turned out great, if not entirely even around the edges. But I did manage to flip it over as you should, without the whole thing falling to pieces, so I was pleased. And the smell alone brought back so many memories... I was an au pair in Madrid the summer before going off to university in England, and this tortilla was one of my main staples. Every bar in Spain sells it, every family makes it, it's ubiquitous. That was the summer I discovered olive oil, and Spanish-style potato chips - there was a little mom-n-pop store on my street (Calle Altamirano, if you're heading over there) that sold nothing other than paper bags bursting with freshly fried potato chips, made with nothing other than olive oil and salt. Quite the revelation for someone raised on German paprika chips and sunflower seed oil...

20.33h - bocadillo de tortilla (potato omelette sandwich) w/ salad, at home, with Ritesh. In Spain, this tortilla sandwich would not be open-faced, but this bread was just too doughy. It tasted decent enough though, and Ritesh liked it, which set me off planning future trips to Spain, so Ritesh can taste the original ...