06 NOV 2017: We were in Madrid when the vote for Catalan independence and subsequent demonstrations began this fall. However as is often the case with turmoil, no matter how big or consequential, the only danger to us tourists was getting to our reservations late due to road blocks. Sleepless nights were a more substantial risk as we adjusted to Madrid eating hours.
Dining times in Madrid have resisted the march of modernization. What we call lunch (and they call la comida) is normally at around 2:30 to 3:30 pm and is often the main meal, while dinner (la cena) starts around 10pm. Between breakfast (generally a coffee and something light) is “el almuerzo” a mid-morning snack around eleven, and as the sun sets Spaniards head to the tapas bars for aperitifs served with small snacks such as chorizo or manchego cheese. If hungry heartier sized sharing dishes can be ordered such as pimientos de padrón (fried green padrón peppers from Galicia) and gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp).
For the evening meal the better restaurants just don’t open until 9:30pm so in order to enjoy them, we had to get used to late nights. It was worth it.
We started our stay in Spain’s capital at The Principal Madrid, a hotel in the centre of the action overlooking Gran Via, probably the city’s most famous street for its huge array of entertainment, dining and shopping options. The hotel’s rooftop bar and lounge area had stunning 360-degree panoramic vistas of the city. Their restaurant Ático featured a more casual version of the avant-garde cuisine of two-star Michelin Chef Ramón Freixa. His smoked green salad and octopus with hot potato were winner dishes.
From the hotel we had an easy walk to the Mercado de San Miguel, a lively market full of food and wine stalls as well as a place to buy fresh produce. The nearby Plaza Mayor built during Philip III’s reign (1598–1621) and the surrounding streets were packed with restaurants that offered outdoor seating and typical Spanish cuisine. We sat down at one and gorged on fried sardines, padrón peppers and jamón ibérico (Iberian ham).
Behind our hotel was the barrio Chueca, which is one of the best-known gay neighbourhoods in the city. It was chock-a-block with bars strung out on a rabbit’s warren of narrow cobblestone streets. We walked into one called El Angel Azul (Blue Angel) and asked for a sherry – after all Spain is home to that lovely fortified wine. The bar had nothing but the ubiquitous Tío Pepe or a very sweet Pedro Jimenez. Then I remember that the Spanish have developed a mania for gin and tonic.
I asked about gins and the bartender gave a broad smile and indicated he had 62 different gin brands. We picked a Spanish Nordés Gin from Galicia and he matched this with a green tea Schweppes tonic (the gins here are each matched to a specific flavour of tonic) and then added fresh rosemary, juniper berry and bay leaf to the large ice filled balloon glass.
Next using an eye dropper, he added a special tonic which he claimed would grow hair like Donald Trump’s on my husband’s bald head – whereupon he showed as a cartoon sketch of the man. As the finale he brought out a perfume bottle in which he said the liquid was based on the perfume Marilyn Monroe wore when she had sex with President Kennedy. He sprayed the drink and pointed to my husband’s groin and then pointed up.
The gin got added last. In Spain there is no predetermined pour. They pour, you sip and if you want more, they pour increasingly more until you tell them to stop. This much encouraged us to order another drink, this time the Spanish Gin Mare, made in the small Spanish fishing town of Vilanova, just outside the city of Barcelona, matched with a cardamom and ginger tonic. Needless to say, we were treated to another bartender performance.
The next day we went to the country’s famous white wine region Rueda. Madrid is surprisingly close to this part of Spanish wine country: just an hour away by fast train to Valladolid (it cruised at 300 kilometres an hour). From there it was just a half hour taxi to La Seca, the cradle of the region.
There are 25 bodegas open to visitors on the Rueda Wine Route. Verdejo is the native and dominant grape variety in the D.O. Rueda. Other varieties for white wines include sauvignon blanc and viura and since 2008 grape varieties for the production of red and rosé wines such as tempranillo have been allowed. www.rutadelvinoderueda.com
We met up with Mathilde Bazin de Caix, manager of Francois Lurton’s Spanish estates headquartered at Campo Eliseo in La Seca, the former mayor’s house built in the 1700’s with a centuries old cellar below ground. Lurton has been in this area since 1992 and it was the potential of the verdejo grape that got him excited.
The tradition here had been to bake the wine solera style under the sun in large glass jugs called demijohns. There are still some who keep this tradition of oxidative, baked wine but Lurton and most others now choose to vinify in a modern style. Hermanos Lurton Rueda Verdejo is very fresh and fruity. Campo Eliseo, fermented and aged in barrels, is more buttery and oaky yet still fresh on the palate. Campo Alegre, a blend of grapes fermented and aged using a combo of methods is very fruity, juicy and rounded. https://www.francoislurton.es/
Campo Eliseo works with travel agents to provide specialized tours of their winery and area. They will bring in a cook to do a meal at their historic winery or arrange for dishes from the one-star Michelin restaurant Le Botica. La Botica is located in an old farmhouse built in 1876 in the nearby town of Matapozuelos, known for its gastronomy.
We went there with Mathilde for an amazing multi-course tasting menu ‘lunch’ created by Chef Miguel de la Cruz with wines served by his sommelier brother Alberto. Chef, who is part of the Slow Food movement uses local products such as pine nuts, suckling lamb, cock’s combs and heritage tomatoes to create beautiful ‘Trompe-l’œil’ dishes of great flavour. For example, “The Plum” looks like a perfect purple plum but is actually baby lamb liver covered with reduced red wine and quince jam. http://laboticadematapozuelos.com/el-restaurante
Mathilde also arranged a meeting with Javier Sanz Winery, which has been making wine since 1863 and has 150-year-old pre-phylloxera vines among its 104 hectares of vineyards. Their wines were spectacular, particularly the malcorta, a rare clone of verdejo. www.bodegajaviersanz.com
To be continued in my next column. There’s so much more to say about Madrid and this area of Spain.