There is a recurring theme in the Twitter universe, which is the comparison between one photo and another accompanied by a text that compares them with sarcasm and sarcasm. Example: the object of the comparison is any village in empty Spain, on the one hand, and Tuscany, on the other. The comment that follows: Castilla y León is Tuscany, but with worse marketing.
Something similar happens with many foods that we did not know how to sell throughout the 20th century: the potato omelette is the pizza, but with worse marketing.
There are Italians who eat pizza on a daily basis – like the pizzaiolo of That’s Amore– and there are Spaniards who eat tortilla chips almost every day, as is the case of Guillermo V. Rodríguez i created the hashtag #miércolesdetortilla, a nutritionist who devotes Wednesdays to tortilla tastings. “It started as a silly thing: on Wednesdays I would go into the consulting room later, I would have an omelette skewer for breakfast, I created the hashtag #miércolesdetortilla and many people (known and unknown) would join me and have breakfast with me”.
Master tortillero
Guillermo started with this ritual before the pandemic began and has tasted more than a hundred tortillas and has made ranquines and even a tortilla route. To such a trained palate it is almost obligatory to ask him about the ideal potato omelette: “for me the ideal is without onion, lightly cooked, in the style of the Betanzos omelette, but a little more cooked (the Betanzos omelette is with sliced potato, crispy, crunchy and you almost have to eat it with a spoon)”.
He also draws an ideal of the worst omelette and does it in two steps “made with egg: that’s filthy because besides being dry, they are tasteless” and adds that “the worst thing that can happen to a skewer of omelette, anyway, is to listen to the microwave”.
The best omelette in Madrid
In a recently published competition organized by Acyre, Panpintao (in Pinto) was recognized as the best omelette in Madrid. We spoke with Guillermo V. Rodriguez he has a ranquin that he hardly has to think about and when asked about his favorite tortilla de patata pinchos in Madrid, he is clear about it:
1. Sylkar
“Because of the taste: it’s not the texture or anything. It’s the special flavor. He speaks of Sylkar as one who speaks of a deity and when talking about its flavor he refers to a theory of why it tastes like that “this is a secret that will never be known, but I have been told that it is made with chicken broth and that is why it has a special flavor. I don’t know how true that is.”
Espronceda Street, 17
2. Dani House
https://youtu.be/uI-eeBN8ujQ
Casa Dani is an institution among tortilleros around the world despite the controversy in which it was immersed by an outbreak of salmonellosis at the beginning of the year. Guillermo has no doubt that “he will be reborn like a phoenix”. He adds, “I think it’s a media hullabaloo that’s been created.” He defines his omelette as follows: “I like it very much because it is a very generous skewer and it is undercooked”.
La Paz Market (Cl. de Ayala, 289)
3. La Primera
It might seem like a riddle, but La Primera is third and occupies this honorable position because it gives the diner “a pretty crazy shot of flavor”. The skewer is smaller and is also undercooked, poached and with onion confit.
Gran Vía, 1
4.Joan the Mad
From Juana la Loca, Guillermo praises the size of the skewer and relates it to a typical Basque tapa: “they mount the skewer on top of the pam”. It is hearty, well curdled and quite tasty.
Pl. de Prta de Moros, 4
5. The Pontoon
The allusion to El Pontón is accompanied by a resounding “not many people know about it”. And it almost refers to the fact that it’s the kind of place you only go to if a neighbor recommends it. About their omelettes, one virtue stands out : they have omelettes to take away and “the price is very good: a whole one I think it’s 10€”. To close, he talks about its taste and says that “it is very tasty: it has no big frills or pretensions”.
11 García de Paredes St., 11
6. Longinos House
A house founded in 1929 (which will soon be able to join the select club of centenary bars in Madrid) is also on this list and Guillermo praises two things about his omelette: the size (large) and the price (cheap because the skewer costs 3,3€).
Those who are left out
To complete the ranking and not leave out some of his favorites, Guillermo points out other emblematic places: La Ardosa (Colón, 13), Hevia (Serrano, 118), La Jarana de Chamberí (Eloy Gonzalo, 17), La Jurucha (Ayala, 19), La Deseada (José Abascal, 53), El Bombo (Guzmán el Bueno, 73), Ocafú (several locations) or the imminent opening of La Martinuca.
The potato omelet, which must be one of the few foods that can be eaten at any time of the day, enjoys a steady popularity. It is not fashionable because as Brian Johnson, AC/DC singer, said in reference to rock: “it is not a fashion”.