And that search for emulsion brings us to the undisputed king of sauce on the Iberian peninsula. Unless you hide out in your room and shun the company of humanity entirely, you are going to see mayonnaise every day that you are in Spain. Gobs of it.

You will see tapas seemingly made of it. You will see potatoes smoth­ered in it. You will see what at first glance appear to be cakes covered in white frosting, replete with florets and garlands. Do not be fooled. It’s mayo. That ‘cake’ is layers of fish and potato, with mayo deposited thick­ly between the strata. Order a paella de mariscos (seafood paella) and you will get mayonnaise on the side with which to further enrich the dish. Not a little plastic packet of mayonnaise. Not a dollop or a teaspoon. You will get an ice-cream scoop of mayonnaise! If you see anything on the menu ‘con dos salsas’ it means two ice-cream scoops of mayonnaise, one of which was coloured with paprika. We can’t tell you the way to a Spaniard’s heart, but we can tell you that once you get there you’ll find a lot of mayonnaise.