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Croquetas

A foodie guide to Madrid

18 December 2015 By Charlotte Pike Leave a Comment

El Retiro

El Retiro

Madrid is one of my favourite European cities and so I was thrilled to return last month to put together a list of foodie recommendations for a trip for you.

I lived in Madrid a decade ago, which was an extremely happy time for me. I have very fond memories of Madrid, but I was interested to return and see if it lived up to expectations, no longer having a direct connection to the city.

We headed off to Madrid at the end of last month for a long weekend and left very reluctantly. Madrid was even better than I remember, with many interesting developments on the food scene. It’s not a capital city that offers a long list of landmark attractions, but it’s relaxed atmosphere, elegant buildings and rich culture make it a wonderful weekend destination.

Madrid is a great year-round destination for a city break. The winters are cold (comparatively), as Madrid is a high-altitude city surrounded by mountains, but it enjoys glorious sunshine and blue skies, even if it’s cold outside. We found this greatly uplifting, and even sat in short sleeves in the sunshine to have an alfresco picnic in the park on 1st December. Summers are hot – I recall August being unbearable – so I’d suggest avoiding July and August for a visit, as it will probably be 45 degrees Celsius plus.

The food scene in Madrid has improved greatly over the last decade. The best of Spanish food is celebrated, and the opening of new, sophisticated food markets has made a great addition to the city. Whilst there is a great range of cuisines on offer in Madrid’s restaurant scene, we found ourselves returning to Spanish food. I really like traditional Spanish food. When the ingredients are first-rate, it really is excellent. Gastronomically, it’s not the most varied or refined cuisine, but when it’s good, it’s very good indeed, and as it is so difficult to find really good Spanish food out of Spain, I never miss the opportunity to make the most of it when I’m there.

El mercado San Miguel

El mercado San Miguel

Where to eat

One of the most famous restaurants in Madrid is Casa Lucio. It’s a celebrity favourite and has been visited by anyone who’s anyone in Madrid. We sat next to some very famous diners on the next table. This is a traditional Spanish restaurant, both in terms of menu and experience. A very discreet entrance leads to a bar, above which rows of seriously amazing quality hams hang. You need to book well in advance to get a table, and your name is carefully checked against the list before leading you round to the dining room. 

Casa Lucio

Casa Lucio

The house speciality is huevos rotos to start – a plate of chips topped with fried eggs. Order some jamón on the side for the most authentic accompaniment. I had never tried egg and chips before – it was never something I would have eaten at home or have made, but it was delectable. It’s a must-try. Moving on to the main course, the suckling pig is a house speciality. It’s sweet and tender with thick, crispy skin. Expensive, but a lovely experience. A great wine list, too.

El Ñeru is an Asturian restaurant just a few steps away from the Plaza Major and the Opera House. I first visited a decade ago, on the recommendation of a family friend based in Madrid. It’s a very traditional restaurant again, serving super traditional dishes, but the food is delicious and the service is lovely. You must try the Asturian cider to drink. The tortilla and chorizo en sidra make a gorgeous starter. For the main, the fabada is a must; a bean and pork stew, served with crusty white bread to dip into the flavourful sauce. The fish is also lovely. I chose the merluza a la plancha, or grilled hake and it was superb.

La Dolores

La Dolores

For a traditional and delicious tapas, great wines and beer, then try La Dolores on Plaza de Jesús. I first visited with my parents years ago, and it was just as good when we returned on this trip. The bar is packed out, and there are a small number of cosy tables at the back. The tapas are lovely, especially the crisps (yes, crisps), jamón, and queso, which is an aged manchego. We spent an excellent evening sat in the window, nibbling away on delicious tapas and enjoying an excellent Ribera del Duero 2010.

The Mercado San Miguel is a fairly newly where to buy sildenafil in canada restored wrought iron and class market just next to the Plaza Mayor. It’s full of interesting stands selling wines, beers and a very wide range of Spanish food, from meat to seafood, to bocadillos, tapas, croquetas and montaditos. It is an absolute must visit for any foodie, even for a look. It gets very busy at weekends, but do try and stop for a drink and something to eat. The cava and croquetas de jamón are to die for.

La Mallorquina

La Mallorquina

Madrileños have a sweet tooth. The most traditional cake shop in town is La Mallorquina in the Puerta del Sol. I first visited with Spanish friends around 12 years ago, and this was my first visit back. It’s a traditional family owned cake shop, selling takeaway Spanish cakes and sweets, with a bar downstairs and tables and waiter service upstairs. I imagine it’s hardly changed since the 1950s but in terms of Spanish cakes, this is as good as it gets. Try a coffee – which has to be a café con leche (always made with hot, UHT milk – you get used to it) and a napoletana de crema, which is a sort of pain au chocolat type pastry, filled with custard. Spanish cakes lack the refinement of French pâtisserie, but some are very nice indeed, and a stop off here gives you a glimpse of real life Madrid, which you don’t get at San Ginés, the famous chocolate con churros establishment nearby.

And to drink, try typical Spanish drinks, such as some excellent Spanish cava, red wines which are most commonly Rioja or Ribera del Duero, a lager, such as Mahou, or a tinto de verano, which is a light drink made from red wine and Fanta limon. It sounds atrocious, but it’s actually really rather good.

NH Paseo del Prado

NH Paseo del Prado

Where to stay

Our hotel was the NH Paseo del Prado. NH is an upmarket hotel chain, which has very recently refurbished this 5* hotel. The location is absolutely amazing, right on the Paseo del Prado, and very close to all the superb museums and galleries in Madrid. It’s also in walking distance of the city centre. We walked for miles, but the Royal Palace, which is probably the furthest point in the city centre from here is only about 30 minutes walk from the hotel. We only took public transport to and from the airport, as we were able walk everywhere we wanted to go comfortably.

The service in the NH Paseo del Prado was really excellent. The welcome was incredibly warm and staff couldn’t do enough to help us, especially Raul on Reception, who willingly rang round and made restaurant reservations for me each night. Rooms are on the small side, as is the way with city centre hotels, but very comfortable and clean. The marble bathrooms were nice, too. Breakfast was a highlight. The choice was just amazing, the quality of items on offer was really excellent, and the staff, charming and helpful. An excellent base, and one I’d wholeheartedly recommend.

El Prado

El Prado

What to do

Madrid really is a capital city to be explored on foot. Whilst walking around, you can really appreciate the lovely squares and shady streets in the heart of the city. You’ll find many sunny spots along the way to stop for coffee or a beer in the sunshine. Plaza Santa Ana, Plaza Mayor and El Palacio Real are all must-see places.

El Palacio Real

El Palacio Real

Art and culture are real highlights in Madrid. The Prado Museum is simply world class. Half a day is enough to touch the surface there, for me. The Spanish Old Master collection is exquisite. The Thyssen Museum is also very, very interesting and contains a really broad collection of pieces.

The Retiro park is an absolutely lovely spot for a walk, a coffee in the sunshine, or even a row around the lake. The Crystal Palace often houses temporary art exhibitions. 

How to get there

Madrid is reasonably well-served by airlines operating from all over the UK. We flew from Gatwick with Easyjet, which was a fairly miserable experience, but the flights are quite regular and we paid around £80 per head for a return. 

Once you arrive in Madrid, you can take the Metro into the city centre very easily and inexpensively, at 5 EUR per adult. It should take around 30-45 minutes, depending on your destination. Trains are every 5-6 minutes. There are plenty of taxis available too, which cost around 35 EUR for a single journey into the city centre.

Filed Under: Foodie Guides Tagged With: Casa Lucio, Croquetas, Croquetas recipe, Cuisine, Easyjet, El NEru, Florence where to eat, food, Foodie guide, Holiday, Jamon, Madrid, Madrid restaurants, Menus, Merdado San Miguel, NH Hotels, Prado, restaurants, Rioja, Sangria, Spain, Spanish food, Tapas, Tapas Madrid, Tortilla, Where to stay Madrid

Tapas

9 February 2015 By Charlotte Pike Leave a Comment

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We’ve all come across tapas. Widely available in all manner of establishments (authentic and no so authentic), they have become an incredibly popular and have spiked people’s interest in enjoying food served in small dishes, to share.

Tapas, and Spanish food, is up there with my very favourite things to eat. Part of this is down to my deep love of all things Spanish and Latin American. I studied Spanish and French at University and lived in Madrid for a happy time where I worked for a world-famous auction house in the day and spent my evenings with some of my very best friends in the world, with whom I lived in a quirky top floor apartment on Calle Príncipe. 

Over the years and numerous trips to Spain, I have learnt to cook food the traditional way, often through staying with families and learning how to make a proper tortilla with my friend’s granny and how to make torta de santiago with a top baker in Madrid. 

 Tapas are widely available in Spain. They get their name from the verb tapear,  which means to eat from smaller dishes, which many people will enjoy in the early evening, often with a drink, such as a cerveza, clara, tinto de verano or even better, a sherry – perhaps a fino or amontillado.

 In the south of Spain, tapas are often served free of charge with a drink, but can be fairly mediocre. Like anything, the quality of ingredients is key, and buying the most delicious ingredients you can find will ensure successful cooking. This is particularly the case with tapas, as you won’t need to do too much to make a delicious table of food to share with family and friends. This is easy, straightforward cooking, producing delicious results. In fact, by choosing such good ingredients, you will end up with a better end result at home than you can find in many tapas bars in Spain.

Fortunately, there are some excellent ingredients out there, which I urge you to try for an authentic taste of Spain. The good news is with that internet shopping (Ocado), you can get hold of these delicious morsels without having to trek to specialist shops in London.

I should add that I teach a Spanish masterclass at the Harborne Food School in Birmingham, both whole day and evening classes, where we cook some seriously delicious, authentic food. 

Here are some suggestions for a selection of tapas:

– Good quality olives. Always with the stone in.

– Marcona almonds. Perhaps roasted and salted.

– Chorizo. This must (I’m sorry, I insist on this) be fresh, cooking chorizo. Brindisa make an excellent one in a spicy or less spicy version. Please, please do not buy anything from the supermarket that calls itself fresh chorizo, or chorizo style sausages. The flavours are horrible and they buy soma compound with codeine really do not resemble the real thing. Fry in a non-stick pan for around 20 minutes until browned and heated through. Slice in half lengthways to serve.

– Manchego cheese. Buy a block and cut it into slices, which can be served with some membrillo (quince paste).

– Padrón peppers are always so popular. Fry them in a really hot pan with a dash of olive oil for a couple of minutes until slightly softened and browned (see the photo). Sprinkle with some flakes of sea salt and serve immediately. 

– Homemade jamón croquetas (croquettes) are exceptionally delicious and addictive, but take time and care to make. My recipe is below. I’m not sure where it came from originally, but it was passed on to me by a Spanish friend, and I’m so pleased to pass it on to you below. Let me know if you make them!

 

Croquetas de jamón

Makes 50

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, very finely chopped

100g of plain flour

1 litre milk

300g of ham – such as jamón serrano, chopped into small pieces 

A pinch of nutmeg

100g grated cheddar cheese

To coat and fry the croquetas:

Plain flour

2 large eggs, beaten

300g breadcrumbs

Olive oil

Method 

Heat the olive oil in a deep heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add the leek, turn down the heat and cook until it turns translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for five minutes, stirring constantly.

Meanwhile, warm the milk and add it to the pan. Take the mixture off the heat and blend with a handheld blender. 

Add the ham and the nutmeg to the pan. Put the mixture back on the heat andkeep stirring it until you have a thick béchamel sauce (another four to five minutes). As you take the pan off the heat, add the cheese. Stir and pour into a shallow dish. Cool for at least an hour or overnight if you prefer. 

To coat and fry the croquetas put three dishes in a row: one with the flour, another one with beaten egg and milk, and the last one with breadcrumbs. Pick up a spoonful of the mixture (it should not be wet) and with your hands mould it into a cylinder shape. Keep doing this until you’ve used up all of the mixture.

Roll the cylinders of croqueta mix into the flour, then into the beaten egg, and finally into the breadcrumbs. Put the croquetas in the fridge for an hour so that they become firm before frying them. They are even better if you freeze them – they last up to three months in the freezer.

Fry them in small batches with lots of olive oil in a small deep frying pan until they are golden. Take them out and drain them on kitchen paper before serving.

 

Finally, here are my top recommendations for tapas restaurants:

In Madrid, Mallorca

In London, Barrafina and Boquería

Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, Recipes Tagged With: Barrafina, Best tapas London, Best tapas Madrid, Boqueria, Brindisa, Croquetas, Croquetas recipe, How to cook tapas, how to make butter at home, Mallorca

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About Charlotte

Charlotte Pike, award-winning cookbook author, cookery teacher and chef.

Author of five bestselling cookery books, leading independent cookery teacher and private chef, running Charlotte's Kitchen catering company. Charlotte is also the current Chair of the Guild of Food Writers.

Charlotte is known for her recipes that really work, and as a professionally trained chef who writes about food.

Charlotte lives in the English countryside and is passionate about great home cooking using the best seasonal ingredients.

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