Shortly after ten in the morning, dozens of people queue in front of a restaurant in the Salamanca neighborhood. The reason, to try the exclusive smoked potato omelette muffin that has been “flying” since it began to be sold just three weeks ago.
Although they can only be purchased from eleven to twelve in the morning, in front of the door of the Basque-French restaurant Haramboure people queue long before to avoid the muffins running out and having to leave with empty hands – and stomachs.
“I’ve been waiting in line since ten fifteen, but it’s worth it,” Carla, a young woman who has been buying this muffin that costs five euros, tells EFE for several days. She says that she came earlier today because on Friday they sold out in twenty minutes.
Asked about the taste of the tortilla, she comments that it is very characteristic. “It is slightly curdled but just right and has a sweet and salty taste that makes it super delicious and different,” says Carla while she waits in front of the establishment located at number 4 Maldonado Street.
There are people of all ages in the queue and, although the majority are from Madrid, there are those who come from further away. About fifteen meters behind Carla is Jaume, a tourist staying near Haramboure.
“We came directly from Barcelona. We wanted to try it before they ran out and that’s why we haven’t even let go of our suitcases,” this Catalan, who learned about the gastronomic proposal on Instagram, told EFE after it went viral on social networks.
Behind the embers is the cause of this “revolution” of tortilla muffins: chef Patxi Zumárraga, a Basque cook who created this recipe almost by chance.
When the queue has dissipated – in just 30 minutes – Zumárraga attends to EFE at a table inside the restaurant, a cozy semi-basement with stone walls and about 35 wooden tables without tablecloths on which each one has a candle. in the middle.
There he explains that everything came about in August, when he was testing different types of firewood to open the restaurant in September.
“One Saturday night I was with some friends to watch a soccer game and I brought an omelette with a bottle of wine. When I poached the potatoes with the onion, since I had the fire on, I passed it through a strainer to drain and I smoked that potato a little. I made the omelet and it turned out that it came out with something super delicious, which I had never made before, an umami, an elegant smokiness and I said, ‘damn, what a delicious omelette,'” the chef explains.
He details that he didn’t think it would fit on the restaurant’s menu, but it occurred to him that it could be “a pretty punk and fun thing” to sell potato omelette sandwiches in the Salamanca neighborhood.
Patxi Zumárraga, who has worked in restaurants such as El Bulli or Fismuler and has been head chef at a Michelin star restaurant, assures that this “punky” idea has become “crazy.”
“My colleagues told me that I was crazy, that no one was going to come. October 1, the first day, arrived and I sold 30 of the 30 that I made. The next day a ‘tiktoker’ came and in two hours he must have had about 100,000 views. And this has become crazy. Now we make 120 or 150 tortillas and still many people leave without being able to eat them,” he says.
Asked what this sandwich is like that has caused this “sensation” in the capital, he says that the bread is a “soft” and “white” oil muffin and that it is made by baker John Torres.
The tortilla is rare, with onion and has a touch of oak wood smoke. “The fact of passing the poached meat over the flame generates a very elegant, subtle smoky touch and an umami, that flavor that you don’t know if it’s true or not that makes you want more,” he says.
According to Zumárraga, the fame he is obtaining – he says that they recognize him on the street – poses a conflict with himself, since, in a way, being associated with the idea of ??tortilla muffins could overshadow his image and that of others. your restaurant.
“At Haramboure we propose a proposal that has a sense and gastronomic rigor. It is a dynamic restaurant, with a menu rooted in the product that I bring from the Basque Country, with maximum temporality. Being known for being the one who makes potato tortillas generates some discussion with me “I wouldn’t want to be known for that,” the chef told EFE.
To prevent many of the people in line from being left without trying them, Zumárraga has limited the sale to one sandwich per person. According to the Basque chef, they have insulted him on social networks.
It’s already close to twelve and people continue to arrive. “Don’t tell me that!” Shouts a visibly angry young woman who came with her friend from Getafe and, upon arriving, they saw that there were no muffins left. “Auntie, we’ll try tomorrow,” the other girl responds, resigned, before turning around together.
Right after, a 75-year-old retiree arrives. It is the second day that she approaches this place and says that today she hoped to have “more luck” because she has not yet been able to try them; “Nothing happens, I’ll come back tomorrow and take another walk,” she tells EFE.
