Breakfast in the Balearics

In the Balearics one of the specialities is Pa Amb Oli, which essentially means 'bread and oil'. In its simplest form, the islanders take a slice of sourdough bread, rub it with a little garlic and a very ripe spanish tomato, and drizzle it in oil, and eat it as a starter, tapa, or for breakfast.

I have an approximation of this  simple dish every morning while I'm out here, going easy on the garlic. I also use a little more tomato than is authentic. I use a Mezzeluna (a curved Italian chopping knife) to pulverize my tomato and spread it across the bread, with a little sea salt and olive oil, plenty of pepper and occasionally some crumbled dried chillies (I am a chilli fiend at the best of times). Then I cover it with maybe a slice of jamon, a piece of  Mallorcean cheese, or, like this morning, an egg boiled 5 minutes, so the yolk is still a little fudgy and not bullet-hard. Instead of the usual sourdough, I use the Vollkornbrot (rye bread) that is so readily available in the supermarkets here thanks to the prolific amount of German tourists who come to the island. Rye or spelt bread is always a lighter option for me than the wheatbread - whilst i am not technically 'intolerant' to wheat I do feel a little bloated after a Pret sandwich and usually have to go for a little lie-down after a heavy pasta meal.

I also had half a chopped up avocado on the side. The avos here are perfect: deep green round the edge, ripe, creamy and clay-like with mottled black skins. I am obsessed with them, as are the rest of my family. If there aren't at least two in the fruit bowl at any one time, a small climate of panic builds until stocks are replenished. Avocados are wonderfully health-giving - the fats they contain are among the best you can eat. Parsley, which I sprinkle liberally over everything, to the distinct annoyance of my sister and father, who choke at the sight of it, is also an amazing source of vitamins and minerals, particularly potassium. Potassium helps us flush out the salt in our body, so I take care to eat plenty of bananas and lots of potassium-rich vegetables while I'm out here, to combat the salty Spanish diet of cheese, smoked, cured meats and seafood.