Eggs with Everything

Each Thursday men of a certain age in my village rush out of their homes when they hear the shouted word of... Huevos! It's funny how, when the bread man or fish van arrive, it is the woman of the village who come out to buy. And yet when the attractive egg delivery lady arrives, only men can be found looking at her rear. Of her vehicle that is! Eggs sell well in my village and the men are definitely happier on a Thursday. Do eggs taste nicer in Spain? You bet they do.

A full tray of large eggs will cost me 2.75 euros (no man is charged for looking at her rear). The eggs are ideal for making the deep, chunky tortillas that i like. For combining with spinach or mushrooms. Or simply for a great breakfast of egg with ham and/or chips. Historically eggs were a luxury in impoverished parts of Spain. A near neighbour of mine, Maria Louisa, recalls how eggs were a luxury when she was growing up. She says: "If my father or grandfather came home with fresh eggs, me and my sisters knew our mother would be happy and that we would eat well for a week. Now when i see eggs delivered to people at their door, i cry a little at the memory of how tough it was when i was growing up. Today eggs are in every home and served with almost every other food."

The eggs delivered to me are hatched locally and, in my neck of the woods at least, one only buys eggs at a supermarket in an emergency. The eggs produced by the noisy hens that live behind me are also delightful. The yokes in Spain are so much bigger and tastier than any egg i ever consumed in, for example, the UK. In Spain you can have eggs in a tortilla with seafood, with sardines, with tuna, with snails, with spicy sausage, with fresh vegetables.

With almost anything in fact. But, in a forthcoming recipe, we'll concentrate on the classic Spanish dish of scrambled eggs with mushrooms (revuelto de setas).