Pan Con Tomate: Literally bread with tomato, there is some dispute over whether the olive oil or garlic go on first, but this is the recipe we like best.

Rustic bread sliced

Whole garlic clove, unpeeled

Good spanish olive oil

Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half horizontally

Toast the bread, preferably over a grill, but a normal toaster will work too. Slice off the top of the garlic clove and rub all over the toast, usually half a clove is good for one slice of toast. Then drizzle the olive oil over the bread. This is where many people disagree, a lot of Catalans opt for the oil, then the garlic, but we find the garlic rubs off easier on the dry toast. After the garlic and olive oil, take the half tomato and firmly rub it all over the bread too, squeezing out all the seeds, juice and pulp onto the toast. Finally...eat it!  

Authentic Spanish Omelette: Seems pretty basic, but there are certain tricks to make a proper Spanish Omelette. The biggest thing is to make sure the potatoes are sliced super, super thinly(we use a peeler), and to master the 'flip'.

8 medium-sized potatoes, peeled

5 eggs, beaten

1 onion

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes, then use the peeler to thinly slice the potatoes into a bowl. It's important to get the potatoes as thin as possible, not just for texture, but they cook quicker too. We found that using a peeler is the only way to get the right thinness. You can use a knife though to thinly slice the onion into the potato slices.

After this, cover the bottom of a BIG flat, fry-pan with olive oil and heat. You need more olive oil than usual to make sure the 'flip' is succesful, so don't be shy...but more on the 'flip' later. Dump the potato and onion mixture into the pan, add salt and pepper, and cook until potatoes and onions are completely cooked. It is important that you keep stirring the potatoes so they cook, but don't fry or crisp. This part takes about 20 minutes, or until you can poke the potatoes with a knife and there's no resistance and it slides right out.

While you're doing the potatoes crack 5 eggs into a big bowl and beat, then set it aside. When completely cooked, dump the potatoes into the eggs and stir so the eggs cover all the potatoes and onions. Then, pour the whole thing back into the fry pan. Keep running a flat spatula between the edge of the pan and the egg-mixture to form a flat edge.

Finally, when the top of the omelette gets a glazed look, the edge feels firm and there are tiny bubbles forming on the top, its time for the most important step: the 'flip.'

Place a dinner place over the omelette and bring the entire pan to the sink (helps avoids messes!). Using your dominant hand to hold the pan and keeping your other hand firmly on the plate, flip the pan over so the omelette slips onto the plate, cooked and golden side up. Big sigh of relief when this is done...WHEW!!

Ok, almost done. Now bring the pan back to the stove and gently slide the omelette back into the pan, keeping the golden, cooked side up. Then cook for another 5-7 minutes, while you do the same thing with the spatula to keep the shape of the omelette.

After it's all cooked, slide it back onto the plate again, cut like a pie, and serve with Pan Con Tomate. YUM!!

Enjoy both of these delicious Spanish dishes with a nice Brut Nature Rose Cava. Our fave was the De Nit Rose from Raventos i Blanc. It's not a super sweet or fruity rose, rather it's  dry and crisp with hints of fresh strawberries and stone. Because its made from Monastrell, there's a complex play between the earthiness and soft fruit flavors that is absolutely perfect for summer dinners on the patio.