The Hindu Business Line : Of eggs in olive oil…

Recently in Toledo Imagine yourself in the old and picturesque city of Toledo in northern Spain, which sits atop a mountain and is surrounded by the Tagus river, boasting of Alcazars (palaces) of ancient kings, spectacular cathedrals full of the richest of medieval art – paintings, stuccos, carvings, et al.

Like several ancient European towns, this one too has narrow cobbled streets, where each turn unravels a magnificent building. Tucked away in one such street, and housed in a 12th century mansion, is the Adolfo restaurant.

Run by the famous Spanish chef Adolfo Munoz, this restaurant specialises in gastronomic delights, and when the guests are a group of international journalists on an olive oil tour of Spain, one could trust the chef to pull out all the stops.

The rather striking and handsome Adolfo did just that… the long list of gastronomic delights he had for us were served with personal attention and oodles of charm.

First came the bread – I would rate it easily the best I’ve ever had… with a scrumptious upper crust and deliciously soft on the inside.

Perhaps, the long walk had worked up our appetite… even before the soup was served a good portion of it was downed with several varieties of extra virgin olive oil.

The soup was made with lamb, cream of cauliflower and green beans and was prepared with Cornicabra olive oil.

As we oohed and aahed over it, a Tuna dish made with Arbequina olive oil was served, followed by fried scallops served with vegetables and fruits, a risotto (rice dish) with cheese and rabbit.

The rabbit meat was tender enough, but when you think of the rabbit, you just can’t eat it! At least I couldn’t… but the rice and cheese made in Picudo olive oil got full justice. Pheasant cooked with mushrooms followed and one decided to call it a day… But then how can you refuse a tempting pre-dessert offering made of fresh tomato paste, almonds, cheese and lemon juice? And, Adolfo’s special dessert served along with creamy peppermint ice cream? A strong dose of caffeine was necessary to wake us up after this mind-blowing gourmet meal.

But, apart from Adolfo’s charm and attention — he appeared at each table when each dish was served to explain to us in detail the ingredients and the preparation — a takeaway from this restaurant will be my Indian colleague Chitra Narayanan’s experience.

The chef was told she was vegetarian – but ate eggs — and for the first five servings he astonished us by innovating amazing mouth-watering dishes for her.

But when two deep-fried eggs served with a tomato paste arrived, there was derisive laughter all around. “Oh, they ran out of ideas for you in the kitchen”, was about the kindest comment.

Till she dug into the eggs… and couldn’t stop eating until the last bit had been cleared from the fancy plate.

The eggs, we were told, were deep fried in olive oil and were served with a delectable fresh tomato paste made with herbs and olive oil.

Try it at home … perhaps, for breakfast… but be sure to use olive oil, and your breakfast will never be the same again.

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Of eggs in olive oil…

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