by: Cassandra DesVergers
A Foundation Rooted in Food
Like so many places around the globe, food is at the heart of Spanish culture. Eating is one of the most important social rituals in Spain, with meals lasting three or more hours. Not only is food being shared, but the enjoyment and pleasure of living as well.
As an international hub with about 1 million foreign residents and over 6 million people visiting a year, Madrid presents an ever-so-flourishing food culture. For foodies and picky eaters alike, the traditional taverns and modern marvels of Spain’s capital have become a stronghold for varied and abundant cuisine.
Whether craving a bite from home or looking to diversify your palette, Madrid’s food scene has a lot to offer.
Dishing Up the Goods: Regional Delicacies
Coffee
For more than 100 years, the San Miguel market has been one of Madrid’s most gastronomic locations, allowing visitors to tour and taste flavors from all corners of Spain. Often jam-packed with both locals and tourists, the market highlights more than 20 different stalls.
Snugly situated next to the Iberian ham counter is the temporary coffee shop, Café Negro. This café boasts a wide assortment of innovative espressos and specialty coffee blends. Coffee lovers can enjoy a steaming cup of 100% Arabica coffee, a frothy nitrogen cold brew or a foamy chilled frappé.
Shaken or blended to produce a frothy texture, a frappé is often served with whipped cream or other toppings.
While the baristas at Café Negro can easily whip up a a cold drink, “café con hielo” is quite atypical in the Spanish coffee culture. A request for iced coffee often results in a mug of boiling hot brew with a few ice cubes on the side.
For a culture centered around persnickety coffee orders – I’ll have a triple shot espresso with soy milk, half sweet, nonfat caramel macchiato! – the lack of cold brew coffee has left me, an avid coffee drinker, in disdain.
“Cold coffee is very new to us in Spain,” Café Negro barista Stefanie Hernandez said. “Our coffee customs haven’t changed in decades.”
Spain’s love for hot coffee can be traced back to the post-Spanish Civil War era. In 1764, the first café was opened in Madrid by the Italian Gippini brothers. Shortly after, more cafés began to spring up and take root in other parts of the country.
Since then, Spaniards have developed a specific roasting method using beans grown in Angola or Mozambique. It includes forcing hot water through finely ground coffee beans, resulting in a much stronger and bitter flavor.
Coffee is an important part of Spanish culture. Beginning in the morning, Spaniards will typically have a cup of coffee known as “café con leche.” This popular breakfast drink is usually accompanied by hot milk. Coffee is also often consumed at lunchtime and after dinner.
Churros
With two floors of white marble tables, the San Gines Chocolate Shop has been Madrid’s most popular churreria since its establishment way back in 1894.
Day after day, visitors will line the street hoping to get a taste of the shop’s crisp, fried-to-perfection churros. Lightly dusted with sugar and dipped in a thick, piping hot chocolate, these tasty churros earned a chef’s kiss.
Churros, or the “Spanish donut,” is a popular breakfast and snack time item in Spain.
Churros and chocolate owe its fame to the Spanish Inquisition of the 1500s. Nicknamed after nomadic shepherds’ flocks of “churra” sheep, Spanish explorers introduced this sweet treat to South America. It was also during this time that the explorers returned to Europe with cacao, allowing for this sainted combination to gain its popularity.
Tapas
Step after winding step transports the ravenous eater deep into the basement of the Mediterranean bar Tabernita. With floors coated in rich white sand, this Toledo bar and restaurants generates a peaceful atmosphere of eating and drinking on a sunny beach.
While Tabernita offers an extensive selection of notable Spanish dishes, this bar is most known for its “tapas.” Small appetizers or snacks like ventresca salad, Spanish omelets, croquettes, fried green tomatoes and stuffed mushrooms are another integral part of Spanish culture.
Multiple tapas (both cold and hot) can be combined to make a full meal.
The word “tapas” comes from pre-19th century Spain. As the story goes, Spanish King Alfonso X was seriously ill and only able to consume small portions of food and wine. After he made a full recovery, the king decreed that no wine should be served unless it was with food.
However, tapas aren’t customary in all areas of Spain. They’re mostly dominant in the Southern regions of the country.
Hungry for Home: International Palates
Italian
Inconspicuously placed on Regueros Street in Madrid, Trattoria Pulcinella seems anything but appetizing. Contrary to its appearances, this quaint standby for traditional Italian pizza and pasta is renowned for its intimate atmosphere and welcoming staff.
Burrata (left) and ravioli (right) are both traditional Italian cheese-based dishes.
Founded in 1993, Trattoria Pulcinella is an extension of the affinity between Italian and Spanish cuisine. While both cultures evidently have their own cultural distinctions, their shared continent, sea and linguistic origins has influenced their carb-filled diets.
“There is a lot of sameness between Italian and Spanish foods,” Trattoria Pulcinella waiter Alex Rodriguez said. “I mean, we both do love wine!”
Another age-old Italian delicacy that has found roots in Madrid is gelato. Whether during a hot or cold season, the consumption of gelato has become a major part of Spanish cuisine.
The word “gelato” comes from the Italian word “congelato” which means “frozen.”
Australian
Crunchy brown rye bread topped with sliced avocado, an over-easy egg, pink beet sauce and walnuts dons the famed blue plates associated with La Rollerie. While this café is considered a novel and very different take on the Spanish cafe culture, it brings a modern and stylish take on healthy dishes and vegan recipes from around the globe.
Although originating from Australia, avocado toast was made into an Instagrammable phenomenon by American restaurants.
“We know we are very different from the ‘typical’ restaurants from Madrid,” La Rollerie waitress Eda Carrillo said. “But, we value bringing new dishes into the area.”
French
Also at La Rollerie is a mixed selection of desserts and pastries. Inspired by French cuisine, Spain developed its own version of this thin pancake. “Frisuelos” contain a thicker composition than crepes and are typically coated with a layer of sugary syrup.
Bathed in a Nutella cream and topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, La Rollerie’s chocolate crepe offers a bite into the impact of the original French dessert.
Japanese
Darkened walls illuminated with neon signage define the hip sushi joint Saint Kuro. Although filled with predominantly Spanish-speaking personnel, this restaurant stems from Japan.
There are six different types of sushi: scattered, tofu, rolled, matured, hand-pressed and boxed. Pictured is a hand-pressed spicy tuna roll.
Despite being located on opposite ends of the globe, Japan and Spain share cuisines rich in variety. The relationship between them dates to the trade routes of the 15th century. Goods and foods flowed between the two countries, leaving behind traces of their cultures.
“Even though I am from Spain, I still enjoy eating foods from other places,” restaurant patron Lucia Barbero said. “It’s fun getting to try new things.”
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