A CHANCE NOT TAPAS UP
SANJEETA BAINS gets a true taste of Madrid on a food and culture tour
ERNEST HEMINGWAY nailed it. “Yet when you get to know it, it is the most Spanish of all cities, the best to live in, the finest people, month in and month out the finest climate,” he wrote in his 1932 novel Death In The Afternoon.
On a mini-break to Madrid, it was easy to see why the famous writer was so enamoured with the city. Although it has a typical busy centre, it also has a wonderful small town charm. There are cobbled streets everywhere, lined by tabernas serving excellent tapas.
To make the most of our time in Madrid, we booked on two food and culture tours through the awardwinning Devour company.
Founded in Madrid in 2011, Devour tours operate in five other Spanish cities, connecting visitors to the best local food experiences. As part of our first tour we visited what is said to be one of the city’s finest tabernas, Casa de Alberto in Calle Huertas.
Built in 1827 and situated in Madrid’s famed Literary Quarter, it has a suitably atmospheric interior. Upon entering through the building’s bright red doors, I felt I had been transported back in time. Besides, Casa de Alberto serves up the best vermouth in town – on tap.
Vermouth, a herbal, sweet, and spicy fortified wine, is Spain’s favourite aperitif. Usually served neat with an orange wedge and lots of ice,
Madrileños drink it to “wake up” the appetite. It’s a key part of the traditional Madrid lifestyle.
Our knowledgeable tour guide explained, that despite its Coca-cola like colour, all vermouth starts out as white wine. It gains its darker colour by being infused with caramel and a range of spices and botanicals.
It has a significantly high alcohol content – around 15% – so certainly has a buzzy effect on body and mind!
All tabernas and bars in Madrid have a specialist tapas dish provided free with your drink. We enjoyed our aperitifs with Casa Alberto’s specialist olives. Our vermouth and olives, revved up the appetite for the main event – lunch at the oldest-known restaurant in the world.
Botin, located on a tiny street behind Plaza Mayor, was founded in 1725 and is the oldest restaurant continuously operating in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. Tourists flock here and getting a table can be tricky but the Devour group of guides are friends of the restaurant – a cool ‘VIP’ benefit of signing up for their tour.
When we arrived, there were crowds of people with reservations (many had booked months in advance) waiting outside for lunch seating to begin.
Our VIP status meant our group was whisked inside, where we were given a full private tour. As it finished, diners waiting outside were ushered in.
My group was seated on the second floor opposite the tiny corner table where Hemingway apparently wrote his 1926 book The Sun Also Rises. The final scene in the novel takes place in Botin.
“We lunched upstairs at Botin’s,” he wrote. “It is one of the best restaurants in the world. I ate a very big meal and drank three bottles of rioja alta.”
Botin is famous for decadent roasted suckling pig and during our tour I spotted trays of baby pigs ready for the oven. Ours was served with potatoes and artichokes with jamon.
For our evening, Devour combined two great Spanish loves: food and flamenco. Before enjoying front row seats for a show at Cardamomo Flamenca, an intimate 100-seat venue in the centre of Madrid, we stopped off at Los Gatos, a cool and quirky tapas bar. The speciality is jamon and tostas, open-faced toasted bread with mouthwatering toppings such as baby eels, alioli shrimps and roquefort with smoked salmon.
Then it was time for flamenco. Cardamomo offers a breathtaking show full of intensity. The impassioned performances from the musicians, dancers and singers were truly electrifying.
You cannot leave Madrid without eating churros. Chocolatería San Ginés’, near the Plaza Mayor which opened in 1894, is the place to enjoy these freshly made hot fried donut straws, served tossed in cinnamon sugar with hot dipping chocolate. It is open 24 hours a day and we squeezed in a morning visit before our afternoon flight back home.
A whirlwind short, but definitely very sweet, trip.