# Fawlty Towers: Spanish Omelettes and Cheese Salads **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292 "2015-03-05T17:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/21 "2015-03-06T00:50:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Dad used to make peas-and-cheese salad: Chunks of cheddar cheese (mild), peas (canned), and Miracle Whip mixed together. > > Not that he was English. But when I read ‘cheese salad’ I got an image of chunks of cheese mixed with a dressing. But if that were what he meant, it would have the frozen peas in it. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/22 "2015-03-06T02:37:25Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > I wonder, have you by any chance ever tried a Ritz salad? I’m sorry, we’re all out of Ritzs. How about a Waldorf salad? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/23 "2015-03-06T03:16:48Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I’m sorry, we’re all out of Ritzs. How about a Waldorf salad? No, but the Duck Surprise sounds good. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/24 "2015-03-06T03:39:49Z")
So, that’s two egg mayonnaise, a prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering, and four Colditz salads. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/25 "2015-03-06T03:54:58Z")
Just don’t put any basil in the ratatouille. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/26 "2015-03-06T04:12:07Z")
I haven’t \*\*\*made \*\*\*any bleeding ratatouille! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/27 "2015-03-06T05:37:00Z")
I skimmed a bit so someone else may have covered this already, but I don’t think a British “cheese salad” describes what we’d consider a salad in the US. When I visited England (about 12 years ago) I encountered “cheese salad sandwich” on a hotel room service menu. My traveling companion said “What the heck is a cheese salad sandwich?” While we didn’t order one to find out, my best guess was that this referred to a cheese sandwich with lettuce and possibly tomato. I’d heard previously that lettuce is sometimes referred to as “salad” in the UK even when it’s not being served in a bowl with dressing. I don’t remember if this was before or after we read the room service menu, but during the same trip I got a burger from a takeaway shop and was asked if I wanted salad with it. I wasn’t being offered a side dish, they wanted to know if I wanted lettuce on the burger. The same room service menu had “tuna mayonnaise” and “egg mayonnaise” sandwiches, presumably what we’d call “tuna salad” and “egg salad” in the US. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/28 "2015-03-06T06:56:46Z")
I’m Irish not English, but I suspect in the 70s a cheese salad would have meant the same thing either side of the Irish Sea. A “salad” wouldn’t have been any relation of potato salad, or even what we’d call a salad nowadays, with a variety of green salads and a dressing. A salad generically would typically have consisted of something like lettuce, tomato, radish, a sliced hard boiled egg. picked beetroot and sliced cucumber. There might have been a blob of salad cream on the side of the plate. and if the chef had pretensions he’d sprinkle some chopped spring onion over the top. Add a few slices of ham, and you’ve got a ham salad. Add a few slices of cheese, and you’ve got a cheese salad. The 70s were not a good era, gastronomically. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/29 "2015-03-06T13:15:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > According to Wiki, there is a variation that is called _tortilla paisana_ that has red peppers and peas in it. Probably native to Barcelona. 😉 Yep, that’s what I thought of when the OP mentioned a spanish omelet with peas. a Spanish tortilla isn’t exactly an omelet, I’d describe it more as a like a frittatta or crustless quiche that’s heavy on the potatoes. It’s also not so much a breakfast thing, it’s more often served as an appetizer or tapas. But yeah, peas are a very traditional addition to it. Funny, I just made one this weekend to bring to a party. Traditional potatoes, peas, and roasted red peppers, served cut into squares with a sweet onion/curry mayo. It went over really, really well. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/30 "2015-03-06T13:30:07Z")
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a pretentious spoon salesman. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/31 "2015-03-06T13:37:34Z")
By the way, it’s not easy to see the omelette served on the show but what I could tell, it didn’t look like an actual Spanish omelette but rather a regular folded omelette. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/32 "2015-03-06T14:42:39Z")
Around these parts, a Spanish Omelette is a folded egg item covered with a pepper and onion sauce. Quite good, actually. I always had assumed that the British version just had peas added to it, like they added mushy peas to everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/33 "2015-03-06T14:44:42Z")
The whole cheese salad thing is down to a very British, and pretty seventies, use of the word salad. A _something_ salad would be a specific item accompanied by “salad”, usually lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spring onion, maybe red pepper. So you would get a “chicken salad”, which would be a cold, roast chicken leg accompanied by the above. Or a “ham salad”, which would be some slices of ham, plus the salad. And in this case, a “cheese salad”, would be a mound of grated cheddar, with the aforementioned salad accompaniment. It used to be a bit of a running gag that a cheese salad would often be the only thing available to vegetarians. So, in the scenario in Fawlty Towers, it would represent a very safe choice for the gentleman in question. Also in the seventies, there was an advertising campaign encouraging people to eat eggs with the suggestion of a “Spanish Omelette”, which showed a housewife throwing various leftovers into an omelette mix, and definitely included peas. It was a long time before I discovered what a Spanish Omelette really is. The “hotel inspectors” were likely from the tourist board, awarding this kind of rating: [Visit England Star Ratings](https://www.visitengland.com/visitengland-star-ratings#/) ---
**Author:** ![littleAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@littleAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littleAl)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/34 "2015-03-06T15:10:41Z")
I just wanted to add that the ingredients of the salad wouldn’t be chopped or mixed in anyway. You would get a few whole leaves of whatever lettuce, with spring onions, tomatoes, sliced cucumber etc, laid to the side of it,and then slices of cold meat or cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/35 "2015-03-06T15:41:42Z")
Yup, littleAl has it perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/36 "2015-03-06T15:44:59Z")
Sounds a bit like the “salad” you get at a kabab house. It’s a very sad-looking couple of bits of lettuce, tomato, and onion. Around here, when you get your kabab, they often ask you “salad?” I say “no,” but what I want to say is “Why would anyone want that?” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/37 "2015-03-06T15:50:17Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > And in this case, a “cheese salad”, would be a mound of grated cheddar, with the aforementioned salad accompaniment. It used to be a bit of a running gag that a cheese salad would often be the only thing available to vegetarians. So, in the scenario in Fawlty Towers, it would represent a very safe choice for the gentleman in question. > > Also in the seventies, there was an advertising campaign encouraging people to eat eggs with the suggestion of a “Spanish Omelette”, which showed a housewife throwing various leftovers into an omelette mix, and definitely included peas. It was a long time before I discovered what a Spanish Omelette really is. > [@littleAl](#): > > I just wanted to add that the ingredients of the salad wouldn’t be chopped or mixed in anyway. You would get a few whole leaves of whatever lettuce, with spring onions, tomatoes, sliced cucumber etc, laid to the side of it,and then slices of cold meat or cheese. This is fascinating. I’m really glad I asked this question. I guess all those hoary jokes about English food had some justification! I’m sitting here imagining being served a little pile of shredded cheese with a bit of lettuce and cucumber on the side and giggling. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/38 "2015-03-06T16:22:31Z")
> [@williambaskerville](#): > > There might have been a blob of salad cream on the side of the plate. Oh yeah, that reminds me, what is salad cream? Just thinking the name makes me hear that whiny little shit demanding it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/39 "2015-03-06T16:27:10Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > Oh yeah, that reminds me, what is salad cream? > > Just thinking the name makes me hear that whiny little shit demanding it. [Apparently, it’s something akin to Miracle Whip](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=632691) ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/40 "2015-03-06T16:31:02Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > Oh yeah, that reminds me, what is salad cream? > > Just thinking the name makes me hear that whiny little shit demanding it. That’s a tricky one. I’ve never tasted Miracle Whip, but I imagine it’s possibly similar. It’s a salad dressing which is kind of distantly related to mayonnaise, but sweeter, and runnier. I preferred it to mayonnaise as a child, but my adult palate can’t stand it. [Salad Cream](http://www.heinz.co.uk/Products/Salad-Cream/Products/Heinz-Salad-Cream) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292.md?page=3)