# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/41 "2015-03-06T16:50:07Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > That’s a tricky one. I’ve never tasted Miracle Whip, but I imagine it’s possibly similar. Miracle Whip is more like commercial mayonnaise, just not as eggy. It isn’t runny, it has to be spooned out of the jar. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/42 "2015-03-06T18:36:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Miracle Whip is more like commercial mayonnaise, just not as eggy. It isn’t runny, it has to be spooned out of the jar. I wouldn’t use the word “runny” either, but you can get Miracle Whip in squeeze bottles, rather similar to the picture of salad cream that **Scougs** linked to. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/43 "2015-03-06T18:55:23Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I wouldn’t use the word “runny” either, but you can get Miracle Whip in squeeze bottles, rather similar to the picture of salad cream that **Scougs** linked to. Squeeze, yes. Pour, no. Salad cream is about as viscous as Ranch dressing or Green Goddess (remember _that_?). You can literally pour it out of the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/44 "2015-03-06T18:58:58Z")
> [@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. As an American, I would imagine a base of some leaves of lettuce, a scoop of cottage cheese, and something like half of a peach that had been preserved in syrup, or half a pear that had been preserved in syrup. Oddly enough frequently called a ‘diet plate’. [Here](https://reflectingonmonroe.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/cottage-cheese-with-pineapple-ring_medium.jpg) it is with a pineapple ring. Now I am having a bit of a craving for some cottage cheese - though I like it with a dab of horseradish and paprika, and rye wasa crisp bread. ---
**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, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/45 "2015-03-06T19:48:30Z")
Cottage cheese as diet food. Man, they really didn’t know anything in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/46 "2015-03-07T05:39:57Z")
> [@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. 😉 I know you had a winky, but _tortilla paisana_ refers to any _tortilla_ that’s made with multiple vegetables as well as potatoes (if it only has potatoes and onion it’s still considered _tortilla de patatas_, albeit _con cebolla_). It’s one of those generic names whose details vary by location and individual cook. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/47 "2015-03-07T05:46:42Z")
The wink is because Fawlty’s waiter, Manuel, was from Barcelona, which Basil would mention whenever something went wrong that he could blame on Manuel’s shaky grasp of English. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/48 "2015-03-07T05:52:01Z")
That particular _paisana_ **silenus** mentioned actually has a high probability to be found in Barcelona, specially with the red peppers cut in four long stripes to form a senyera (four red stripes, five yellow ones; peas optional). The joke runs back on itself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an _estelada_ on a _paisana_, but it would be possible… (the independentist flag, it’s similar to the flags of Cuba or Puerto Rico, with five yellow stripes, four red ones, and a red star on a yellow triangle). ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/49 "2015-03-07T17:08:02Z")
> [@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. That sounds more like a ‘Ploughman’s Lunch’ to me - though I’m not quite old enough to have eaten out in 70s Britain. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/50 "2015-03-07T18:50:57Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > That sounds more like a ‘Ploughman’s Lunch’ to me - though I’m not quite old enough to have eaten out in 70s Britain. Primary ingredients of a Ploughman’s are beer, bread, cheese, and pickled vegetables (e.g., Branston’s brand). Anything else is an embellishment. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/51 "2015-03-07T19:32:00Z")
Somewhat related note: On _ **Mystery Diners** _ this afternoon, an English chippie offered “Fawlty sauce,” which I gather is curry-based. Anybody have a recipe for Fawlty sauce? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/52 "2015-03-07T19:57:23Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Cottage cheese as diet food. Man, they really didn’t know anything in the '70s. Huh? Highest source of protein, one of anyway. ---
**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 7, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/53 "2015-03-07T20:13:59Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Huh? Highest source of protein, one of anyway. And soft cheese is also a major source of fat and cholesterol and an ice cream scoop full of it is pretty high in calories. (Low fat or fat-free cottage cheese wasn’t common in supermarkets until the 1990s, in my experience. And low-fat foods can still be high in other kinds of calories.) You can’t just look at a single statistic like “high protein” or “low carbs.” That’s how people get fooled. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/54 "2015-03-07T20:22:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I found a [recipe](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/russian-cheese-salad/) for cheese salad that’s analogous to tuna salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, chicken salad, etc - chopped up cheese with mayonnaise mixed in. The recipe identifies this as a Russian food item. I lived in Moscow in 1977, and I wish I’d been served this. I was served every type of nastiness you can imagine. They pickle everything. They pickle meat. I had fried potatoes that had previously been pickled. I was once served pickled eggs, and apples. I was 10, and grew two inches that year, but didn’t gain any weight. In high school, when diet books were the rage, I thought of writing a diet book that was directions to Russia. (NOTE: when we went to places like Uzbekistan and Georgia, the food was great.) > [@Acsenray](#): > > Well … This might be close, but isn’t on the nose. Hutchinson asked whether the peas were fresh before the cook made the omelette. I thought it had something to do with him thinking Basil was lying to him, ie: “Are the [vegetable that doesn’t exist in the recipe] fresh?” “Yes.” _Aha, he’s lying._ “They are an essential part of the flavor.” _No protest._ _He’s definitely lying._ “Not frozen?” > [@terentii](#): > > Primary ingredients of a Ploughman’s are beer, bread, cheese, and pickled vegetables (e.g., Branston’s brand). Anything else is an embellishment. Substitute vodka for beer, and caviar for cheese, and that’s dinner in Moscow. Hard-boiled eggs that give you food poisoning and make you miss a birthday party the next day are optional. > [@grude](#): > > Huh? Highest source of protein, one of anyway. Really depends on whether you serve 4% fat, 2% fat, or fat-free. I don’t remember if fat-free existed yet in the 70s, but I think low-fat cottage cheese was a new thing, and a dieter’s dream, because it had the same amount of protein as meat for about half the calories (they hadn’t really figured out lean meat yet, either). Leafy green salad on the side with lo-cal dressing to make up for the iron not in the cottage cheese. This is when people started eating spinach as a salad item, and not boiled to death on the dinner plate, if I’m correct. My mother never ate that stuff, but she kept it on hand because she always had friends ask for it, and I remember them specifying “lo-cal” or “diet” cottage cheese, because I was a little kid, and she kept the good stuff around for me. ---
**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 7, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/55 "2015-03-07T20:44:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Primary ingredients of a Ploughman’s are beer, bread, cheese, and pickled vegetables (e.g., Branston’s brand). Anything else is an embellishment. If I recall correctly, if you order a ploughman’s lunch at the Elephant and Castle—a North American chain of English-style pubs—what you essentially get is the ingredients of a ham-and-cheese sandwich served on a plank of wood that you assemble yourself. Everything—the bread, the meat, the vegetables—are already portioned and sliced. My understanding of a ploughman’s lunch previously is that you just get hunks of bread, cheese, onion, meat, etc.—not pre-sliced and ready to assemble into a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/56 "2015-03-07T21:19:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And soft cheese is also a major source of fat and cholesterol and an ice cream scoop full of it is pretty high in calories. (Low fat or fat-free cottage cheese wasn’t common in supermarkets until the 1990s, in my experience. And low-fat foods can still be high in other kinds of calories.) You can’t just look at a single statistic like “high protein” or “low carbs.” That’s how people get fooled. Had an old tub around here being used as a bowl, it is full fat and nutrition info as follows: 300 or so calories for 50 something grams of protein, 15 grams of fat, 90mg of cholesterol(which has back and forth info on whether it is harmful or harmless). That certainly isn’t a diet killer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292/57 "2015-03-08T00:14:22Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Substitute vodka for beer, and caviar for cheese, and that’s dinner in Moscow. Hard-boiled eggs that give you food poisoning and make you miss a birthday party the next day are optional. Caviar, you don’t get much nowadays, not even the red stuff. It’s ridiculously expensive in supermarkets. You can find other kinds of roe though, somtimes mixed into a paste with butter or margarine. I’ve had things like pickled mushrooms and pickled garlic in Russia, but don’t think I’ve ever encountered pickled meat. (Cold boiled tongue is popular though, sliced very thin and eaten with horseradish.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fawlty-towers-spanish-omelettes-and-cheese-salads/714292.md?page=2)