Few people will ever have the privilege of living with a Picasso, but thanks to _Vogue’_s “Second Fame” food columnist Ninette Lyon, it’s possible to eat like him. In 1964, the pioneering Spanish painter gave two of his favorite recipes to Lyon, for eel stew and omelette tortilla Niçoise, which we are sharing here, on the eve of the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibition on Cubism. “Picasso is as sober and frugal as a goat,” his wife Jacqueline told Lyon at the time. “One day I made him a stew of eels, a masterwork. He decided to paint it, rather than eat it. Afterwards he dedicated the painting to me. There, that’s a good subject for your article, isn’t it?”

Picasso Recipes from Vogue Photo: Courtesy of the Vogue Archive

Picasso’s Omelette Tortilla Niçoise for Four People 6 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion

4 peppers, red and green

3 tomatoes

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

8 eggs

Salt and pepper

In a flat-bottomed frying pan, heat oil gently, adding the onion, sliced and separated into rings. After 5 minutes, add the peppers, seeded and diced. Mix and cook gently for a few minutes, then slip in the tomatoes, seeded, peeled, and cubed. After mixing and seasoning, cover pan and let simmer over a low flame for 1 hour. Vegetables should not stick. Uncover the pan, pour in the wine vinegar, and let cook until liquid is reduced.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Pour them over the vegetables, mix well, and let the omelette cook gently without touching it. When it is well set, put a big plate over the pan and reverse the omelette onto it, then slide it back into the pan on the other side. Finish over a higher flame until golden underneath. Cut the omelette tortilla like a pie, and serve with a bowl of garlic-mayonnaise seasoned with saffron.