Toast California: How Avocado Became Our Best-Selling Breakfast
Guacamole, roasted tomato and poached eggs on toasted sourdough. The story behind Toast California, the most-ordered vegetarian breakfast at Marigo on the Hvar Riva.
We didn't expect it to be the most popular item on the breakfast menu. We were wrong.
The dish
Toast California is guacamole, roasted cherry tomato, and two poached eggs on thick toasted sourdough. Add bacon for €1.50. The guacamole is made fresh each morning: avocado, lime juice, salt, a little garlic. No filler, no dairy, no shortcuts. The tomatoes are roasted until they collapse. The eggs are poached, not fried, not scrambled.
Why avocado on a Croatian island makes sense
People sometimes raise an eyebrow at avocado toast in Dalmatia. Fair enough: it's not local produce. But Hvar in summer is 35 degrees and everyone's been swimming since 9am. Cold, fatty, light-coloured food is exactly what you want. Avocado does that job better than almost anything. We pair it with ingredients that are local: olive oil, tomatoes, salt from the Adriatic coast.
The vegetarian default
Toast California is listed as vegetarian. Most people who order it eat it that way. A few add bacon, which is also good. The base dish works without it because the egg provides the protein and the guacamole provides the fat; you don't need the meat to feel fed.
When to order it
Any time between 08:00 and 14:00. Best eaten outside, best with something cold to drink, best when you're not in a rush.
Written from the kitchen at Marigo Grill & Chill, Hvar.
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