Ten years have passed since I’ve completed my 1600 km pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. While the sceneries and the name of the villages along the way have started to fade, my daily stops at a local Café or bar to eat a piece of ‘’tortilla de patatas’’ are still vividly fresh in my memory.
What was the common thread of my walk? With no hesitation, I have to admit that it was the ‘’tortilla de patatas’’ which is also known as the Spanish omelette. You may wonder what was so special about this omelette. Let me tell you why.
My friend Diane and I walked an average of 20 to 25 kilometers daily. To get me going and motivated – especially when I was struggling with a few blisters and accumulated fatigue – I needed to give myself small goals. I would look at the map and identify where the next village was and more precisely the next bar. So instead of thinking about the long distance to walk, I focused on the distance to my next Café stop.
Stopping at a local bar was one of the best moments of my day. It is when I connected with new hikers from around the world or chatted with someone I had not seen in a few days. It was also the time to get some rest and of course to eat plenty. As soon as I entered, I looked around to check if my treat was there on the bar counter. Rarely, would I not see the familiar large, thick, golden omelette presented on a dish and cut into pie shape slices. I probably ate about 30 tortilla pieces during our 38 days walk in Spain and I never got tired of it.
So what is a Spanish omelette? It is a popular dish in Spain that can be eaten as a snack or even as a main dish for lunch. If I tell you that it only contains three or four basic ingredients: eggs of course, potatoes, onion and sometimes green peppers, I can easily imagine your reaction: ‘’So what?’’ This simple, cheap, comforting and nourishing dish was just what I needed on this journey. It was my fuel, my motivation, my reward or my 2nd breakfast of the day. It reminded me of home cooking. Maybe that’s why I loved it so much.
It is hard to describe the pleasure I felt at the sight of this piece of tortilla with a slice of French baguette placed in front of me. Oddly, the tortilla would usually be served with a fork planted in the middle. ‘’Why do they stab my tortilla with a fork?’’ did I always wonder. Images of St James Matamoros, the Saint who is the inspiration for this pilgrimage and sometimes represented with a sword, would come to my mind. Is it a cultural thing? Just a habit? Or to prevent the fork to fall on the floor? I never dared asking the waiter why.
Today, when I think about Spain, I have this image of a Spanish omelette with a fork proudly standing in the middle of it that comes to my mind. It brings back some wonderful memories of my Camino and makes me smile. Ten years later, I still haven’t solved the mystery but it could be another reason why I loved this tortilla so much.
I walked 1,600 km from Le Puy-en-Velay, France to Santiago de Compostella & Fisterra, Spain from September to November 2014. To read about this pilgrimage walk, visit (in French only) http://1yrinasia.over-blog.com/tag/2014%20compostelle/