Celebrated gastronomic alchemist Ferran Adria may be closing the doors of his three-star Michelin restaurant, El Bulli, temporarily in two years, but Spain will always be a great gourmet destination.
Madrid is a perennial hot spot for rising Michelin-quality chefs, premier food conventions and international gourmet summits. Typical Madrid cuisine fuses the country's different cooking styles, and may showcase Andalucian tapas beside Galician-style fish. The city serves as a tasty starter to the diverse culinary adventures to be had in Spain.
To better appreciate the experience, try to follow local eating habits. Breakfast is often a milky coffee and sweet roll, with a late morning snack of churros con chocolate, which is scrumptious golden curls of fried doughnut-like batter slowly savoured with thick, melted chocolate. The beverage makes for a perfect post bar-hopping indulgence.
Try it at the perpetually packed Chocolateria San Gines at Pasadizio de San Gines, which has been serving churros and chocolate since 1894. A plate of churros and cup of chocolate cost about $10.
Lunch in the city is served between 1pm and 4pm, and many restaurants offer an affordable three-course meal. The locals eat dinner after 9pm, especially on weekends. Lunch is usually the main meal of the day while dinner is a lighter affair, often featuring traditional tapas.
A typical tapas bar, be it a tiled old tavern or a more contemporary bar set up, offers between 8 and 12 different kinds of savoury, bite-sized morsels, laid out on white plates or warming trays, and flavoured with paprika, cumin, salt, and often copious amounts of olive oil. Much of the offerings are seafood like anchovies, sardines and squid in assorted seasonings. They are best downed with beer, at the counter. Expect to pay about $20 for a meal.
Try tapas bar hopping around the lively Plaza de Santa Ana. If you go on a tapas tour, try not to eat more than two tapas per stop, otherwise you will be full quickly. Some popular options include tortilla de patatas (thick omelet of eggs, onion and potatoes), huevos rotos (eggs fried over a bed of potato slices) and calamares fritos (fried squid).
Other Madrid staples are the invigorating stews and hotpots, like the succulent cocido madrileno, a substantial and hearty meal by itself. This classic chickpea stew with vegetables is cooked slowly with chicken, beef shank and pork.
Vegetable lovers will find fresh produce translated into perennial favourites like coles de bruselas salteados (sauteed brussel sprouts) and coliflor al ajo arriero (cauliflower in garlic and paprika sauce).
The locals have a great appetite for fish, with popular dishes like bacalao al ajoarriero (cod stew with tomatoes, garlic and pepper). Madrid is often called "the best port in Spain" for good reason. Its Mercamadrid Fish Market - spanning some 42,000sqm and with annual sales of over 130 million kg - is the biggest in Europe and offers all types of seafood products.
Those with a sweet tooth can indulge in bartolillos con crema (small pie filled with custard) and of course, churros con chocolate. Jafri M
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