84 IBERICO: chorizo, tortilla española, piquillo pepper and ali oli

You won't catch me refusing this montadito. Let's see: Take No. 7, starring two of 100 Montaditos' very best main ingredients, add two top-notch condiments, and put it all on a bigger canvas.

When I tried No. 7 (and No. 57), I did have a nagging thought that maybe the combination was overkill, that maybe one should get a chorizo sandwich if one wants a chorizo sandwich and a tortilla sandwich if one wants a tortilla sandwich. But no: This is a great combination.

Montaditos down: 84
Montaditos to go: 16
Next: 85 LERELE: goat cheese, arugula, piquillo pepper with olive oil

57 Chorizo, tortilla española and green pepper*

There I was sitting at the bar at lunchtime nursing my Estrella Damm draft (it was a Friday, and Friday-Saturday is my weekend), and I looked at Stacy, my server, quizzically, and asked her, "Did they change this menu?"

She didn't think so, but I was pretty darn sure there was a "chorizo and tortilla española" offering. I was all ready, when the time came, to poke fun at 100 Montaditos for this montadito, because I was all ready to poke fun at montadito No. 57, because I was served the same montadito 50 montaditos ago. Which would make the name of this blog kind of prescient.

I kept scratching my head as I awaited my order, and finally I picked up my Samsung Galaxy S5 and called up the menu on the Web site. And I was right. See:

Sure enough, some sort of menu editor had stepped in and corrected this oversight ...

... by tossing in some green pepper. (The typographical error -- a lowercase opening word, when the rest of the menu caps them -- is a clue to the hasty edit.)

The revised sandwich is a good one. Chorizo and tortilla española are all-star ingredients, and the green pepper doesn't hurt anything. And, all kidding aside, the old No. 57 probably was different from No. 7, in just the way you'd expect: The tortilla was the star in No. 7, while the chorizo steps to the forefront this time.

I don't see any other ingredient changes on the new menu, but there are a couple of big structural changes. The original five are joined by Nos. 6 through 20, which used to be "Classic," to form an original 20. And, in what I suppose amounts to a subtle price increase, Nos. 21 through 40, formerly "special," join the "premium" category.

Montaditos down: 57
Montaditos to go: 43
Next: 58 Chorizo, manchego cheese, fresh tomato and arugula

09 Tortilla española, fresh tomato, green pepper and mayo

I was curious as I got to this point in the menu, where the ingredient "green pepper" first shows up. What does 100 Montaditos mean by green pepper? Is this the straightforward American usage, meaning green bell pepper? I was hoping it wasn't, because I'm not a big fan of that ingredient beyond a few applications.

But it was -- raw green bell pepper -- and it was fine. This was also the first appearance of fresh tomato on the menu, and the overall effect was very "veggie." (As it happens, this is the first sandwich in the Veggie Collection.)

This just in: My colleagues at The Post are trying to upstage me. If you want to read about all 100 sandwiches right now (spoiler alert!), here you go. 

Montaditos down: 09

Montaditos to go: 91

Next: 10 Meatballs, crispy onion and marinara sauce

08 Tortilla española, manchego cheese and piparra

This sandwich was a sleeper.

The tortilla was much smaller and much more crumbled than my previous tortillas. I'd guess this is because some investment is going into the cheese, but the manchego is barely noticeable -- more of a background note. And then, those peppers.

The peppers loom large, because this is a bland-bland-BOOM sandwich. Bland egg, bland cheese, BOOM pepper, and it works extraordinarily well together. The combined effect, oddly, is like tasting a really nice egg-salad sandwich.

Montaditos down: 8
Montaditos to go: 92
Next: 09 Tortilla española, fresh tomato, green pepper and mayo

07 Tortilla española and chorizo

This review will be particularly bite-size. I liked the tortilla española. I loved the chorizo. What could go wrong? Not much. The combination could be discordant or it could be overkill, I suppose, but neither problem presents itself here. This is very good.

Oh, I told you I'd discuss quantum theory, didn't I? Well, we're already at that point. I'm making my way through the 100 montaditos at 100 Montaditos three at a time (carry the 1), and I'd rather not eat, say, three chorizo-based sandwiches in one sitting. But the way the menu is set up, after the original five montaditos, the numbers start to go in clusters by main ingredient. No. 6 through No. 9 feature the tortilla española, No. 10 through No. 14 feature meatballs, and so on.

Hence the quantum numbers. The first two rows fill in horizontally . . .

1	2	3
4	5	6

. . . but then 7, 8 and 9 need to be separate, and so we need to go vertical ...

1	2	3
4	5	6
7
8
9

. . . with the next numbers filling in where they can, subject to their own limitations . . .

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	10
8	11
9	12

. . . such as the fact that 13 and 14 don't play well with 10, 11 or 12 . . . 

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	10
8	11
9	12
13
14

. . . and so on.

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	10	15
8	11	16
9	12	17
13	18	21
14	19	22

What this means for you is, well, pretty much nothing, unless you're really into 99 Montaditos blog trivia (and if you are, I'm very concerned). The next review you see will be of sandwich No. 8, but the next sandwich I actually 8 ate was No. 10. Fascinating, huh?

Montaditos down: 7

Montaditos to go: 93

Next: 08 Tortilla española, manchego cheese and piparra (mild pepper from Spain)

06 Tortilla española with ali oil

I'm a big fan of the tortilla espanola. For the uninitiated, it's nothing like the tortillas we know from Mexican food -- it's a scrambled-egg concoction, like a very thick omelet, usually with sliced potatoes. I even have a pet peeve regarding the tortilla espanola: I want mine at room temperature or even cold, not warm and certainly not hot.

Anyway, I was a little skeptical about the sandwich version, but my fears were unfounded. This is good. The aioli (garlic mayonnaise, basically) that's customarily served with the tortilla is put to good use, though 100 Montaditos calls it "ali oil," which makes me think of Luis Sarria.

Montaditos down: 6

Montaditos to go: 94

Next: 07 Tortilla española and chorizo