This tortilla is from Michelin
Look, we've told them over and over again. Look, we reiterate, to all those who arrive in Madrid for the first time, that find a paella in the capital it is an impossible and frustrated mission. But nothing, no case.
Here in Madrid what people come to eat is the potato omelette like those of our mothers, and of those, even, there are few . That does not mean that finding one that looks like it cannot come to fruition, especially in bars lifelong , the same ones that illustrate the authenticity that we want to communicate to the world as our registered trademark.
One of those stops is **Cerveriz, one of the best places in Madrid to eat and represent the reign of the potato omelette,** located right across from Mercado de San Miguel, the heart of the city.
It will not be the best – it has good competition with Sylkar, Casa Dani or Ocafú -, but yes the favorite of many who do not stop approaching his bar so that Carlos gives them a piece of the dish that has made his bar famous.
It all started in 1969, when Baldomero Gonzales , of Cerveriz (Asturias), moved to Madrid to open a bar. "So my mother and my father already made the tortilla," says her daughter, María Ángeles, who took over the reins of the premises with her husband Carlos in 1989.
“In Madrid they always took the tortilla and back then they already did it well. What happens is that I have improved it a little later”, says Carlos with a laugh. And the truth is that he did with a hand that many already wanted.
"I give the recipe to everyone who asks for it and they always tell me: 'I'm almost there, Carlos, I have little left to reach the level of yours.' But they never arrive. People come into the kitchen, I explain and show them how I do it, but they don't make it”, has humility . "I definitely think it's the hand."
Without any experience in the kitchen, he started making it right here. Between books and experimenting with recipes. “I was a bartender all my life, I never cooked and when I came here I had no choice but to get my act together. I worked at the Casa Gallega –formerly located next to Cerveriz–, so I stopped by and asked them kitchen tricks to my former colleagues. Thanks to them I learned enough to be able to have a base and move on”, he tells Traveler.es.
Carlos's recipe is built with potato, eggs, onion – although Carlos hates that it can be chewed, so it is never found in his - and Mona Lisa potato. "Right now I'm mixing it. When it is not in its optimal state, I look for alternatives so that its flavor is not altered. so today I mix it with the Caesar and a more sour , but usually I am faithful to the Mona Lisa”, reveals the secret of his success without fear.
Although it is debatable that it is only his tortilla that keeps this bar going, because it has something else that deserves a wave, and that is that knows how to stay true to its origins and tradition. They do it respecting the customer, making sure they are comfortable, cooking slowly and with great care. And everything always with a smile, the hook that makes you want to go say hello to Carlos and Maria Angeles.
Address: Plaza de San Miguel, 2 See map
Schedule: From Monday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Half price: €3.50 skewer. Whole omelette €22.