The best way to get to the heart of Madrid is through its food and drink!
Some food is designed to fill a hole, to stop those pangs of hunger, to give you a boost of energy and to help you feel human again. It doesn’t really matter what it is, as long as it tastes OK. It is the effect that you are after. The rapid satiation of starvation, the feel of something substantial in your stomach. The ideal mix of proteins and carbohydrates that will restore you to life and set you up for the next few hours. It might be a burger, a hot dog, or in Spain a bocadillo de calamares. It is more scientific than gastronomic.
Other food is designed to challenge your tastebuds, to titillate your papillae, to cause wonder as the flavours bombard your tongue and your senses, to take you on a rollercoaster discovery of textures, flavours, scents. Here the food is the protagonist. Your whole being focusses on what is going on in your mouth. The room and the company fade into the background. People turn into connoisseurs, the presentation is admired, the quality inspected, the artistry appreciated… but flavour is everything.
Then there is food that tells a story. It creates an atmosphere, it accompanies you on your culinary celebration, but it doesn’t try to be a prima donna. It unites, complements, enhances, interweaves itself into the conversation, the companionship, the humour. It forms the basis for the entire dining experience without taking importance away from the other reasons we meet up with friends to share a meal.
The city has all of this in abundance, but I think it is this last type that really makes Madrid, Madrid.
The heart of Madrid
The visible attractions of Madrid may be its world-famous art galleries, its prominent landmarks, its green parks, its busy shopping streets, its mixed architecture, but its essence is something completely different.
Its essence is only something you experience after the shops have closed and the daily rush has slowed. It is something you find in the atmosphere of the bars where locals come together to rub shoulders and share a bit of food and drink, stories of their days, or lives, and general camaraderie. It is in the discarded serviettes on the floor, the sometimes-deafening chatter of people talking over each other, the moving from one bar to another to discover another gem, the little beers, the velvety wines, the ritual sharing of food. This is what Spanish socialising is about, and this is what puts Madrid’s people, history and society into perspective.
Madrid is unpretentious. Its architecture is an eclectic mix of old and new; its people dress well but not in purely high fashion brands. Maybe it is a throwback to the dictatorship when people couldn’t be themselves, but now Madrid is very down to earth and very real. It is not hedonistic, but it is certainly a place where quality of life is valued and appreciated, and even demanded. It’s a world of live (and really live!) and let live.
Madrid’s gastronomy
And this is reflected in its cuisine. One of the secrets to the city’s great food and drink is not elaborate sauces or condiments. It’s not in the artistic places where everything looks amazing, tastes delicious but often leaves you half-hungry and half-broke… It goes a lot further than the standard croquetas, patatas bravas and tortilla, which, whilst they do have their place in Spanish cuisine, are more of a gap fill. It is down to great quality product cooked in a simple and tasty way…
The city hasn’t forgotten its times of paucity when you ate what you had and made use of every part of an animal, and this lives on in the prevalence of dishes containing organs – tripe and sweetbreads are common and delicious dishes that have gone out of fashion in many other places.
Vegetables taste of vegetables and are widely available, though they may not be high on the list of your Madrileño’s priorities when eating out. Chicken and vegetables are seen as cheap and boring and something you eat at home, when out you should be getting stuck into meat and seafood.
The most common way of cooking seafood or fish is simply a la plancha (on the grill). Strangely for a land-locked city, Madrid has one of the biggest seafood markets in the world, so everything is fresh.
Platos de Cuchara (dishes you eat with a spoon) are very popular, particularly in the winter, providing good hearty fare in the form of stews with rustic ingredients such as lentils and chickpeas.
But while simple is good, why have only one dish when you could enjoy a whole host of them?
This is where tapassing comes in. Yes, there are the practical and historical origins of covering your drink so the flies and the dust don’t get in, or having a tidbit to stop the alcohol going to your head…, but in the modern day what could be better than simply sharing a whole heap of different delicious dishes with your friends.
The concept of sharing is everything in the Spanish eating culture. There is none of that proprietary guarding of your dish because that’s what you ordered, it’s all about sharing – sharing food, sharing drink, sharing stories, sharing life…
Madrid’s whole persona is intrinsically interlaced with its gastronomy. It is exciting yet understated. It is vibrant but intimate. It is varied yet simple. It has depth but with few frills. It likes to feel international but is quintessentially Spanish… It’s all about living life to the full.
I hope that gives you a bit of an idea… It’s very hard to explain… You can’t really learn about it, you have to feel it…
Adventurous Appetites has spent 22 years creating an experience where food and drink is a lynchpin for an entire night of history, culture, social interaction, stories and fun. So if you fancy experiencing Madrid the way it was meant to be tasted, join us for a night out exploring the city through its food and drink.