Sicilian Diary

Yesterday went well. Lots of people came to eat and it all went well. I took the orders mostly and chatted with all the customers, advising things, recommending the specials, welcoming back previous customers. I brought up the salmorejo for people to try. It is the quintessential summer tapa in Andalusia, but when you describe it (basically, it is a cold tomato soup – we call it a vellutata di pomodori to try and entice the customers), it doesn’t sound very exciting. You have to have tried it in the heat of a scorching Andalusian summer, or Sicilian sun, to realise how wonderful it is. Imagine the burst of flavour of a kilo of sweet Sicilian tomatoes blended with a little garlic and onion, finest olive oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. In Cordoba they sometimes serve it with icecubes in the middle to chill it even further, and diced jamon Serrano or boiled egg in the centre to garnish. We had to give up on that though because the aiuto cuoco simply can’t chop the ham fine e...