A Taste of Madrid

gazpacho with a glass of tinto de verano

The easiest way to dive into Madrid, and probably any city, is to start eating! Find out what's good and go after it, right?! Across the country, Spain is known for many things: ham, olives, wine, gazpacho, seafood, and of course, tapas-style meals. I've had all these things, plus some unexpected other gems, but one thing in particular has surprised me more than anything: BREAD. Did I not do my homework, or is this carb obsession suspiciously missing from general information about Spanish cuisine? Seriously -- my lunch today, which was (shamefully) french fry based, was served with this basket of bread and teeny crunchy breadsticks.

wee little breads snuggled up next to big bread

Last week I received an appetizer of potato salad scooped onto a slice of bread. It's like nothing leaves the kitchen before passing the "Can this be put on bread?" test. Carbs on carbs on carbs, y'all.

Beyond this revelation, I've had some great meals and am developing some favorites. And like a good Millennial, I've taken pics of most of them. Below is a quick food tour thus far. ¡Buen provecho!

it's not a meal if olive oil isn't on the table

 A traditional Spanish breakfast is very light - café con leche and pan con tomate - a small baguette lightly toasted and served with tomato puree. Olive oil and salt to taste, and this is a tasty breakfast!

seafood tostadas

Mercado de San Miguel....Man, this place will spoil you! Everything I had here was delicious from pulpo (octopus) and bacalao on toast... to some sort of vermouth beverage (not sure what - I was ordering by picture) served with bright green olives... to a heavenly pastry called crunis - like a huge, amazing cream puff sandwich of bliss.

crunis

vermut de grifo

montaditos for days

At least two people in the States RAVED about eating at 100 Montaditos. Turns out that this is a fast-food chain with a menu of you guessed it, 100 small sandwiches (plus a couple salads and some fried side dishes). I was underwhelmed to say the least - this is kinda like the Cici's Pizza of Spanish sandwiches...not much character or taste, but a lot of bread. That's not to say I might not return when they're 2 for 1, though! Best montadito? Top left - an Oreo sandwich. Yes, you heard me. One little cookie wrapped in chocolate bread, served with whipped cream. A sandwich within a sandwich. It's existential.

raciones FTW

Now THIS is how you tapear (go eat tapas)! Ok, not really. These are raciones - large portions! And notice the empty bread bowl at the top of the picture...assimilation you can taste! Moving clockwise, we had gambas al ajillo, patatas bravas, orejas a la plancha and sepia a la plancha. Oh, what's all that? Shrimp in garlic oil, fried potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce (kills the Cafe BaBeReeBa version!), grilled ears and grilled cuttlefish. Did you catch that? Yep, the plate at the bottom of the pic is ears! A mountain of chewy, kinda gooey pig ear pieces...definitely an experience, and also very rich. My orientation roommate was an adventurous eater like me, so we enjoyed trying out a few new things! When in Spain, right?

eSpanish pizza

Pizza in Spain? Yeah, it happens. It's not always the best, though you'd think proximity to Italy might give folks a leg up. When you find a girlfriend who asks if you want to order half the pizza with anchovies, you say "yes, with garlic" and keep her!

never too much ham

 Curiosity killed the cat. I had to buy these chips to see how they tasted. In short, like ham. Like a mouthful of hickory-smoked, country, salty ham. I'm not sure why I was so shocked at the overwhelming hamminess of it all. Do you think these would stand a chance in the States? For the record, the cat died of hypertension. So salty. So hammy.

churros...they aight

Ah, the classic: chocolate con churros (and café con leche, duh). As much as you'll hear about churros being a common post-club snack or breakfast bite, I can't say I'll be having them again. The star is really the chocolate - even though it's made by the cup from a powder, it's thick, lightly sweet and generally yummy. Without it, the churro is just a greasy, salty dough stick. I'm not a big chocolate fan anyway, so I def don't need a fried vehicle to help me increase my consumption.



 
There you have it! That's a sample of my dining so far. I'm growing a little too fond of tinto de verano (red wine with a Sprite-ish soda) and as a result, am suffering from a touch of dehydration - I've hardly had water at meals since wine is always either cheap or included! You may have also noticed that vegetables are scarce. I'm working on it! I'm not sure where they're hiding on the menu, but I'm looking forward to cooking at home...now that I have one!! I'll fill you in on my new digs soon :)

Hasta!