Page 185 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023 DISCOVERING TURKEY

in front of La Viña to try the Burnt Cheese-
cake.
As our team watched, Chef Saul added or-
ange-yoked eggs to a large metal bowl, fol-
lowed by cream cheese, heavy cream, small
chunks of Idiazabal goat’s milk cheese, sugar,
and cornstarch. Manchego is an excellent sub-
stitute for the Idiazabal cheese.
What followed proved that cooking, even for
pros, can be like a live animal act–you never
know what will happen. Chef Saul plunged an
immersion blender so big that it could have
powered a boat into the bowl. When he turned
it on, the batter erupted, showering bits on
him and his student helper.
All were amused except the chef. After fine-
tuning his blending technique, the mixture
was ready to ladle into individual serving
bowls lined with parchment for baking.
While it cooked and cooled, we moved on to
the rest of our menu. At the end of the
evening, we capped our meal with cheesecake,
paired with a Basque-country-made honey-
sweet cider. It may look like a dessert gone
terribly wrong, but it tasted superb, rich but
not too sweet. No wonder it can be can found
in restaurants all over the world. And soon, on
the dinner tables of our team.
Our first savory dish, Spanish Tortilla, was
one familiar to anyone who has traveled to
Spain. Although we have sampled the potato-
egg dish several times, we’ve never made it at
home as part of Spanish-night paella feasts. As
we quickly learned in class, to the amusement
of all, doing it right can be challenging, espe-
cially if you’re not particularly coordinated.
The origin of the Spanish tortilla is a bit of a
mystery, but likely followed Spain’s New
World explorations that introduced potatoes
to Europe. Carlos speculates it became popular
in Basque country among working-class people
struggling to stretch their food budgets. Eggs
went further when combined with the less ex-
pensive and plentiful potatoes. Today, the
Spanish tortilla is a popular pintxos, and the
measure of a restaurant, Carlos believes. An
eatery that doesn’t do tortilla right probably

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