Recently in Food Category
I JUST got back from grocery shopping ("la compra") in the neighborhood. I also went to the snack shop (they ONLY sell snacks) for "supplies" for Sunday's NFL Football playoffs. And since it was 6pm I also decided to stop for MERIENDA.
I had "café con leche" - coffee with milk - and toast with olive oil and salt. My favorite. Total tab: 1.80€. It's so incredibly cheap that today I asked the bar guy if it was the correct price. I said something like, "That's for BOTH the coffee and the toast with olive oil?" and he said, "Yes. Why? What's wrong?" and I said, "Nothing. I thought it was more," not wanting to admit that I thought the price was cheap. I would've been happy paying twice that amount!
What is Merienda? According to the Wikipidia page on Merienda:
Children nearly ALWAYS have merienda upon leaving school at 5pm or thereabouts. You see them being led by their parents with one hand while with their other hand they're munching on a small sandwich or drinking from small plastic bottle. Crummy faces they have or liquids dripping off their chins while on their way home.
Older people also have merienda in the late afternoon. You see groups of (mainly) older women in their 70s and 80s walking very (VERY!) slowly down the sidewalks, SIDE-BY-SIDE 5 abreast, on their way to their favorite bar. For these people bars with tables, space to move around, and an accessible toilet is a must.
It's the merienda time when these older Spaniards get together to socialize, have an excuse stretch their legs, and to have a small snack - FOR CHEAP. Sometimes I find myself at a bar at 6pm and I've always seen these older people sitting there with their coffee and churros/porras or toasted bread with olive oil - "pan tostada con aceite". They're absolutely in NO hurry - NOR should they be in a hurry. Sometimes they're sitting there NOT talking to one another, sometimes they knit, sometimes they watch TV. They're there for 1 to 2 hours. Total bar tab: 2 Euros per person. Wow. These bars are cleaning up! hehehe...
It's a charming scene seeing these older women all together, chit-chatting, this possibly being their only opportunity to see their friends or to leave the house each day. These are all retired women, housewives, or widows. Men less commonly go out together for merienda - or possibly because men tend to die younger or are less mobile at this age and are less likely to leave the house.
What you DON'T usually see in bars having merienda is/are...... ummm.. PEOPLE LIKE ME! hehehe.. By that I mean that A) it's less common to see foreigners having merienda. And B) people between the ages of 20 and 70 are too busy at this hour to stop for a casual coffee and snack. They're working or at home watching TV.
I really think, or fear, the merienda custom will no longer exist after this older generation passes on. I can't imagine today's busy 20, 30, 40, 50, and even 60-somethings will be going out with their friends for coffee at the local bar once they reach retirement age. I hope I'm wrong. But particularly with today's 20 and 30-somethings whom are breaking all the rules and customs, those whom are truly transforming the "typical Spanish life" what with all their distractions of television, computer/internet, and videogames to keeping them indoors at home. Imagine how the world will be in 30 or 40 years when these people are "pensionistas"!
Let's enjoy the custom of Merienda while we have it - at least those whom CAN enjoy it. (like me!!)
I had "café con leche" - coffee with milk - and toast with olive oil and salt. My favorite. Total tab: 1.80€. It's so incredibly cheap that today I asked the bar guy if it was the correct price. I said something like, "That's for BOTH the coffee and the toast with olive oil?" and he said, "Yes. Why? What's wrong?" and I said, "Nothing. I thought it was more," not wanting to admit that I thought the price was cheap. I would've been happy paying twice that amount!
What is Merienda? According to the Wikipidia page on Merienda:
Spanish: "La merienda es la comida que se toma antes de la cena, a media tarde. Suele tomarse una pieza de pan con embutido, pastas o bollería, acompañado de alguna bebida, fría o caliente, como café, batido, chocolate caliente o leche, entre otros."Merienda is definitely an acquired custom. But if someone is having lunch at 2pm and dinner at 10pm - like ANY good Spaniard would - a light mid-afternoon snack is a necessity at around 6pm.
English: "Merienda is the mid-afternoon meal taken before dinner. Some eat a peice of bread with hams, sweets or rolls, and often acompanied with a drink, hot or cold, like coffee, milkshake, hot chocolate or milk, among many."
Children nearly ALWAYS have merienda upon leaving school at 5pm or thereabouts. You see them being led by their parents with one hand while with their other hand they're munching on a small sandwich or drinking from small plastic bottle. Crummy faces they have or liquids dripping off their chins while on their way home.
Older people also have merienda in the late afternoon. You see groups of (mainly) older women in their 70s and 80s walking very (VERY!) slowly down the sidewalks, SIDE-BY-SIDE 5 abreast, on their way to their favorite bar. For these people bars with tables, space to move around, and an accessible toilet is a must.
It's the merienda time when these older Spaniards get together to socialize, have an excuse stretch their legs, and to have a small snack - FOR CHEAP. Sometimes I find myself at a bar at 6pm and I've always seen these older people sitting there with their coffee and churros/porras or toasted bread with olive oil - "pan tostada con aceite". They're absolutely in NO hurry - NOR should they be in a hurry. Sometimes they're sitting there NOT talking to one another, sometimes they knit, sometimes they watch TV. They're there for 1 to 2 hours. Total bar tab: 2 Euros per person. Wow. These bars are cleaning up! hehehe...
It's a charming scene seeing these older women all together, chit-chatting, this possibly being their only opportunity to see their friends or to leave the house each day. These are all retired women, housewives, or widows. Men less commonly go out together for merienda - or possibly because men tend to die younger or are less mobile at this age and are less likely to leave the house.
What you DON'T usually see in bars having merienda is/are...... ummm.. PEOPLE LIKE ME! hehehe.. By that I mean that A) it's less common to see foreigners having merienda. And B) people between the ages of 20 and 70 are too busy at this hour to stop for a casual coffee and snack. They're working or at home watching TV.
I really think, or fear, the merienda custom will no longer exist after this older generation passes on. I can't imagine today's busy 20, 30, 40, 50, and even 60-somethings will be going out with their friends for coffee at the local bar once they reach retirement age. I hope I'm wrong. But particularly with today's 20 and 30-somethings whom are breaking all the rules and customs, those whom are truly transforming the "typical Spanish life" what with all their distractions of television, computer/internet, and videogames to keeping them indoors at home. Imagine how the world will be in 30 or 40 years when these people are "pensionistas"!
Let's enjoy the custom of Merienda while we have it - at least those whom CAN enjoy it. (like me!!)
To say I'm a FAN of olives and olive oil would be a gross understatement.
Olives and olive oil are part of a Mediterranean diet - and certainly are part of my daily diet. It's rare if I pass one day here in Spain without eating olives and often have a dish of them with my dinner or lunch or just for an afternoon or evening snack with a can of beer. Being offered a small plate of green olives in bars is always a very welcome free tapa.
Here at home I frequently make pasta or rice dishes and one of the most important ingredients is green olives. For these dishes I'll buy the small, sealed plastic bags of green manzanilla olives "Sin Hueso" - without pitts. These olives are always from the Seville area.
I also always keep a good supply of canned green olives stuffed with anchovies. What?! ANCHOVIES? That's disgusting, right?! RIGHT! They were disgusting the first, second, and even third time I tried them. After that, I was hooked. And I don't even like anchovies! In Spanish, they're called "Aceitunas Rellenas de Anchoa". Mmmmm.... SO delicious. And I can't think of a healthier snack!
Growing up in north central Ohio we usually had cans of California black/ripe olives in the cupboard and jars of green Spanish olives in the refrigerator. The latter were always stuffed with red pimento. Pimento? Yes, it's a kind of sweet red pepper cut, folded, and stuffed into the olive. But why were they always refrigerated after opening? Like so many food items in the USA, I guess, it carried the labeling, "REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING". And like the green olives, the black olives were usually only eaten when added to salads or just on a relish tray for "picking".
Olive Oil. Now I put olive oil into everything including soup broth, pastas and rices, and use it when frying anything like eggs, meats, and broiling chicken and pork steaks. It's always applied to salads along with vinegar - the ONLY way make salad dressing in Spain.
We almost never had olive oil back home in Ohio. We always used vegetable oil for cooking and frying eggs and bottles of Thousand Island or Ranch dressing for our salads. I think we started having olive oil in the cupboard when I was in high school but it was used sparingly as it was so expensive.
It was after my first visit to Spain in 1995 when I began taking on a more Mediterranean Diet. And WHAT are the staples of a good Mediterranean Diet? That's easy. Olives and Olive Oil.
I first started buying olive oil in those little 12 ounce bottles at my local Kroger grocery store in Columbus, Ohio. I remember it was expensive and they only had two brands - and ALL of the brands were of ITALIAN olive oil. The was a default - and still is in the American Olive Oil Market. I guess it doesn't matter to anyone that 60+% of the "Italian" Olive Oil comes from SPANISH olives and then blended with local olive oil in order to put the "ITALIAN" on the label. THAT'S marketable. Imagine if they put bottles of SPANISH olive oil on the shelf next to the ITALIAN olive oil in your local supermarket. NO ONE would buy the Spanish one. Or would they?? Quick answer is NO. Read on, MacDuff!
It's my understanding that one of the reasons why the Spanish olive oil industry doesn't market its olive oil abroad is because of the long-term agreements they have with the Italian olive oil industry. The Italian industry is set throughout the world and, possibly, the Spanish olive oil industry find they make more money in selling directly to the Italians than the possibility/probability of losing money in marketing, unsold olive oil, and the like.
After a few visits to Spain and as I was in my self-prescribed-process of Spanish-izing myself for my hoped-for move to Spain, I found the local Latino Products supermarket was carrying Spanish Olive Oil AND Spanish Olives - both of the GOYA brand. They were expensive but I was just happy to be able to consume products from Spain. The delicious and popular anchovy-stuffed olives were a whopping $2,99 per can. OUCH! I'd buy 4 at a time and save them for a special evening when I'd have my weekly "Spanish Tapas at Home" dinner which usually consisted of cheese, the olives, a poorly made tortilla de patatas, some chorizo, baguette bread, and Spanish wine. I would even make flan for dessert.
Final thoughts: A number of NON-Europeans choose NOT to use olives or olive oil in their diets because they're high in fat. That's totally true. But don't forget that olives and olive oil has healing properties as well!
FYI: Right now I'm eating anchovy-stuffed green olives to inspire me for this blog entry. Mmm...
Olives and olive oil are part of a Mediterranean diet - and certainly are part of my daily diet. It's rare if I pass one day here in Spain without eating olives and often have a dish of them with my dinner or lunch or just for an afternoon or evening snack with a can of beer. Being offered a small plate of green olives in bars is always a very welcome free tapa.
Here at home I frequently make pasta or rice dishes and one of the most important ingredients is green olives. For these dishes I'll buy the small, sealed plastic bags of green manzanilla olives "Sin Hueso" - without pitts. These olives are always from the Seville area.
I also always keep a good supply of canned green olives stuffed with anchovies. What?! ANCHOVIES? That's disgusting, right?! RIGHT! They were disgusting the first, second, and even third time I tried them. After that, I was hooked. And I don't even like anchovies! In Spanish, they're called "Aceitunas Rellenas de Anchoa". Mmmmm.... SO delicious. And I can't think of a healthier snack!
Growing up in north central Ohio we usually had cans of California black/ripe olives in the cupboard and jars of green Spanish olives in the refrigerator. The latter were always stuffed with red pimento. Pimento? Yes, it's a kind of sweet red pepper cut, folded, and stuffed into the olive. But why were they always refrigerated after opening? Like so many food items in the USA, I guess, it carried the labeling, "REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING". And like the green olives, the black olives were usually only eaten when added to salads or just on a relish tray for "picking".
Olive Oil. Now I put olive oil into everything including soup broth, pastas and rices, and use it when frying anything like eggs, meats, and broiling chicken and pork steaks. It's always applied to salads along with vinegar - the ONLY way make salad dressing in Spain.
We almost never had olive oil back home in Ohio. We always used vegetable oil for cooking and frying eggs and bottles of Thousand Island or Ranch dressing for our salads. I think we started having olive oil in the cupboard when I was in high school but it was used sparingly as it was so expensive.
It was after my first visit to Spain in 1995 when I began taking on a more Mediterranean Diet. And WHAT are the staples of a good Mediterranean Diet? That's easy. Olives and Olive Oil.
I first started buying olive oil in those little 12 ounce bottles at my local Kroger grocery store in Columbus, Ohio. I remember it was expensive and they only had two brands - and ALL of the brands were of ITALIAN olive oil. The was a default - and still is in the American Olive Oil Market. I guess it doesn't matter to anyone that 60+% of the "Italian" Olive Oil comes from SPANISH olives and then blended with local olive oil in order to put the "ITALIAN" on the label. THAT'S marketable. Imagine if they put bottles of SPANISH olive oil on the shelf next to the ITALIAN olive oil in your local supermarket. NO ONE would buy the Spanish one. Or would they?? Quick answer is NO. Read on, MacDuff!
It's my understanding that one of the reasons why the Spanish olive oil industry doesn't market its olive oil abroad is because of the long-term agreements they have with the Italian olive oil industry. The Italian industry is set throughout the world and, possibly, the Spanish olive oil industry find they make more money in selling directly to the Italians than the possibility/probability of losing money in marketing, unsold olive oil, and the like.
While Italy enjoys a reputation as the bottler of the world's best olive oils, too few Americans take note of the products' origins, said Jeffrey Shaw, marketing director of Foods From Spain. "Spain is the No. 1 world producer of olive oil ... And Italy is our best customer," Shaw said. About 60 percent of Spanish olive oil is exported to Italy, and much of it is used by Italian brands, he said. (2004 source)Since the Italian olive oil was the only and cheapest olive oil available - and STILL very expensive - and because I was using it in greater and greater quantities I started buying the large CANS of olive oil. It was cheaper to buy it in larger containers, maybe $30 per can, and still Italian. I'd always have to ask one of the clerks to take down one of the cans from on top of the display racks because NO ONE bought those. In my last few years before moving to Spain, my local Kroger supermarket started carrying olive oil from Spain and, unfortunately, the local latino market stopped carrying the Spanish olives. Oh well. Soon was I was to be IN Spain anyway.
After a few visits to Spain and as I was in my self-prescribed-process of Spanish-izing myself for my hoped-for move to Spain, I found the local Latino Products supermarket was carrying Spanish Olive Oil AND Spanish Olives - both of the GOYA brand. They were expensive but I was just happy to be able to consume products from Spain. The delicious and popular anchovy-stuffed olives were a whopping $2,99 per can. OUCH! I'd buy 4 at a time and save them for a special evening when I'd have my weekly "Spanish Tapas at Home" dinner which usually consisted of cheese, the olives, a poorly made tortilla de patatas, some chorizo, baguette bread, and Spanish wine. I would even make flan for dessert.
Final thoughts: A number of NON-Europeans choose NOT to use olives or olive oil in their diets because they're high in fat. That's totally true. But don't forget that olives and olive oil has healing properties as well!
The beneficial health effects of olive oil are due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of antioxidative substances. Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels while raising HDL (the "good" cholesterol) levels. (1-3) No other naturally produced oil has as large an amount of monounsaturated as olive oil -mainly oleic acid.
Olive oil is very well tolerated by the stomach. In fact, olive oil's protective function has a beneficial effect on ulcers and gastritis. Olive oil activates the secretion of bile and pancreatic hormones much more naturally than prescribed drugs. Consequently, it lowers the incidence of gallstone formation. (source: HealingDaily.com)
FYI: Right now I'm eating anchovy-stuffed green olives to inspire me for this blog entry. Mmm...
The following Blog entry includes:
I met my good English buddy Steve at the newsstand kiosk outside the famous and historical Café Comercial (historical: founded 1887) on the Glorieta de Bilbao at roughly 1:30pm. This kiosk is fantastic for finding cheap DVDs of all varieties. They have hundreds arranged by category and cost 4.50€ to about 11€. They also have entire movie sets (like Star Wars, Rocky, or Alien) as well as lots of TV series. The DVDs are brand new, plastic wrapped, and are leftover no-nonsense DVDs usually sold, for example, for 2€ when you buy the Saturday XYZ Newspaper. I bought the following movies: "Halloween", "Scarface", "Hotel Rwanda", and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" All totaled: 22.50€
Done with DVD Shopping so we step into the Café Comercial for a stool at the bar. Coffee for Steve. Non-alcholic beer for me - and a free tapa of a plate of potato chip.
We're talking away in the nearly empty bar. It's nearly lunch hour afterall. Someone enters in the far revolving door and I pay no attention. That person leans over the bar behind me I hear him ask the bartender something. Steve's eyes dart over my shoulder to the person there. I spin my head around just to take a glance, for a moment thinking the person is speaking to me.....And WHO IS IT?????
IT'S FREAKIN' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR NOT 12 INCHES AWAY! I didn't stare. I was nice and respectful, and quickly turned back to Steve, slightly nodding to him without words asking, "Do you see who's over my shoulder?" And he oh-so-casually nodded "Yes. So what?" I say he said "So What?" without words because he had JUST seen Pedro Almodóvar in El Corte Inglés in SOL just the week before!!! So then the bartender answered matter-of-factly to the WORLD FAMOUS DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODÓVAR and he then disappeared through the doors to the dining area...... and returned not 5 minutes later, out the door again he went to the street. Seems he just stopped in for a quick "Pit Stop". hehehe... In fact, he didn't leave the area immediately. He stopped at the SAME newsstand kiosk where Steve and I were just browsing not 15 minutes before. He lingered there, asked the news guy something, looked around, and then left. I, sitting at the bar, then looked around at the other bartenders at their stations who were chatting when Pedro walked in - but they didn't even stop talking, just as if it was ME who had asked that question. NO BIG DEAL! My goodness! The locals don't seem to bother "the stars" much here in Madrid. Steve as telling a story about something or other and I was totally distracted and had to sheepishly ask him to repeat his last 4 sentences or so, not hearing a word, stunned with my "Brush With Fame" - HISTORICAL for me..
Calming down, we headed out of Café Comercial, heading west about 7 blocks and reach the Casa Ananías (Calle de Galileo, 9 in the Barrio de Chamberi) a little early for our 2:30pm reservations. Good thing we had reservations too because the place was FULL by the time we left. We walked in and took a moment to peruse the bullfight photos, BULL HEAD, and bullfighting memorabilia in the bar area. Passing through to the dining area we were seated immediately at a nice, 4-person table in the near-center of the restaurant. Perfect. We could see everything. No bullfight-theme here in the dining room, just wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass windows, and a very comfortable, traditional Spanish decor. HISTORICAL - Founded in 1930!
"Hey Scott! I think we're the ONLY non-Spaniards in this place!" "I do believe you're right! Including the wait staff!"
We
already knew what we were going to order before arriving but hey, let's
look over the menu anyway. They have all the typical Madrid and Spanish dishes here. Steven and I ordered the same thing for the entire meal. For starters we had the Asturian "Fabes con Almejas"
- large white beans with small clams. OH! Man! OH-MAN! DELICIOUS! The
creamy sauce was so tasty that I sopped it up with the wonderful bread
after finishing. The second course was the "Cochinillo Frito de Avila". At first I thought this was cochinillo - and didn't notice the "frito" part on the menu but it was still good. Cochinillo is roasted suckling pig but cochinillo frito - or more commonly called "cochifrito"
- is actually a slightly older pig, but cut and fried in small,
quarter-sized balls of meat and bone. Tasty but not what I was
expecting. I asked the waiter upon serving us if THIS was cochinillo. He paused and then
kindly explained that this IS cochinillo but made in the Ávila way. That is, cut into sections and then fried. I stand corrected.
All this and we'd ordered a half-bottle of the house red wine which turned out to be a Rioja Crianza. Good, basic Spanish red wine and the perfect wine for the hearty meal we were eating.
While we were digging in, I was having quite a bit of trouble getting the meat off the bone with my knife and fork. Noticing this, the waiter passed by and said, with a smile, that it's perfectly acceptable to pick up the smaller pieces and eat them with my fingers. Thank goodness!
For dessert we both chose the Crema Catalana and coffee afterwards. As a nice details - as they do in most nice restaurants at the end of a meal - the waiter offered us a free chupito - a kind of shot glass full of cold liqueur of several varieties. They always claim when they offer it to you, "....in order to aid digestion." Ha! A very handy excuse to drink more alcohol. Does it REALLY aid in digestion?? I'd like to see the scientific studies on that one! Anyway, we were given the standard chupito, the Orujo de Hierbas, which is a yellow-ish green color and slightly sweet. Oh, and it's quite strong and TOO EASY to drink.
As I said before, the place was FULL. The long table next to us were occupied by older Spanish ladies wearing furs and dressed for a special lunch. They were CERTAINLY enjoying themselves, drinking wine, having lunch, singing songs, and speaking quite loudly by the end. Other customers were business people, several tie-wearing men and couples, and even some families. It was obvious to me this was a place KNOWN to local Spaniards as a good place to eat a good meal with good service.
Total price for 2 persons... 71€. Gulp! THAT'S NOT your average, casual lunch tab!! Wow! They DO have a menú del día bit I don't recall what was included nor how much it cost. But for a special lunch in a VERY SPANISH Madrid restaurant slightly outside but still accessible from the tourist center it's a definite MUST try if your pocket book can take it.
We're finally done eating. And we ate EVERYTHING! The bread was really great too. I love good Spanish bread. There's nothing worse than having a good meal in a good restaurant but the bread sucks. HOW can a restaurant skimp on BAD BREAD when they're charging you a lot of money for the meal??!! And with the price of decent bread being next to nothing there's NO excuse for ANY restaurant to go-cheap on the bread. Spaniards know good bread and if they get bad bread - even if the meal is great - they're less likely to return to that restaurant. HAPPILY, in Casa Ananías, this was not the case. Their bread was really first-rate!!!
Steve and I walk back to the historical Café Comercial on the Glorieta de Bilbao because they have comfortable tables in a large space and we want to relax. We take a table against the far wall under the mirror-covered walls. Upon ordering two cerveza sin alcohol (alcohol-free beer - plus free tapa of nuts and crackers), a small group of old ladies in their 70s and 80s came and sat at the two tables next to us. Oddly, they all put themselves side-by-side with their backs against the wall, looking towards the open space. It wasn't quite the hour for "merienda", 4:45pm or thereabouts, but maybe they were getting together now before the early sunset. One woman ordered milk. One woman ordered coffee. And two of the women ordered water. Likely total tab for the waiter: 3.50€ - and probably no tip. Poor waiter. They were there as long as we and presumably simply gathering to talk and have an excuse to leave the house in the afternoon. The woman sitting closest to us took out a bag and began knitting!! How sweet.
We finished our beers and took to the street, walking downhill towards the center on Calle Fuencarral. We stopped here and there and looked in a few windows but Steve finally broke off near Chueca where he gets the metro. I continued on to Gran Vía and on to Puerta del Sol, down Calle Arenal to Opera where I got my bus home. At this hour, now 5:30pm or so, there weren't SO many people on the streets as there were last weekend in the evening but still a good number.
What a day filled with good company, GREAT food, (nearly) rubbing elbows with famous people, and a good long walk through downtown Madrid - a TRULY HISTORICAL city.
- CHEAP DVD shopping
- my brush-with-fame
- a FANTASTIC restaurant review
- a relaxing non-alcoholic beer at a famous café
Today was a HISTORICAL day.
I met my good English buddy Steve at the newsstand kiosk outside the famous and historical Café Comercial (historical: founded 1887) on the Glorieta de Bilbao at roughly 1:30pm. This kiosk is fantastic for finding cheap DVDs of all varieties. They have hundreds arranged by category and cost 4.50€ to about 11€. They also have entire movie sets (like Star Wars, Rocky, or Alien) as well as lots of TV series. The DVDs are brand new, plastic wrapped, and are leftover no-nonsense DVDs usually sold, for example, for 2€ when you buy the Saturday XYZ Newspaper. I bought the following movies: "Halloween", "Scarface", "Hotel Rwanda", and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" All totaled: 22.50€
Done with DVD Shopping so we step into the Café Comercial for a stool at the bar. Coffee for Steve. Non-alcholic beer for me - and a free tapa of a plate of potato chip.
We're talking away in the nearly empty bar. It's nearly lunch hour afterall. Someone enters in the far revolving door and I pay no attention. That person leans over the bar behind me I hear him ask the bartender something. Steve's eyes dart over my shoulder to the person there. I spin my head around just to take a glance, for a moment thinking the person is speaking to me.....And WHO IS IT?????
IT'S FREAKIN' PEDRO ALMODÓVAR NOT 12 INCHES AWAY! I didn't stare. I was nice and respectful, and quickly turned back to Steve, slightly nodding to him without words asking, "Do you see who's over my shoulder?" And he oh-so-casually nodded "Yes. So what?" I say he said "So What?" without words because he had JUST seen Pedro Almodóvar in El Corte Inglés in SOL just the week before!!! So then the bartender answered matter-of-factly to the WORLD FAMOUS DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODÓVAR and he then disappeared through the doors to the dining area...... and returned not 5 minutes later, out the door again he went to the street. Seems he just stopped in for a quick "Pit Stop". hehehe... In fact, he didn't leave the area immediately. He stopped at the SAME newsstand kiosk where Steve and I were just browsing not 15 minutes before. He lingered there, asked the news guy something, looked around, and then left. I, sitting at the bar, then looked around at the other bartenders at their stations who were chatting when Pedro walked in - but they didn't even stop talking, just as if it was ME who had asked that question. NO BIG DEAL! My goodness! The locals don't seem to bother "the stars" much here in Madrid. Steve as telling a story about something or other and I was totally distracted and had to sheepishly ask him to repeat his last 4 sentences or so, not hearing a word, stunned with my "Brush With Fame" - HISTORICAL for me..
Calming down, we headed out of Café Comercial, heading west about 7 blocks and reach the Casa Ananías (Calle de Galileo, 9 in the Barrio de Chamberi) a little early for our 2:30pm reservations. Good thing we had reservations too because the place was FULL by the time we left. We walked in and took a moment to peruse the bullfight photos, BULL HEAD, and bullfighting memorabilia in the bar area. Passing through to the dining area we were seated immediately at a nice, 4-person table in the near-center of the restaurant. Perfect. We could see everything. No bullfight-theme here in the dining room, just wrought iron chandeliers, stained glass windows, and a very comfortable, traditional Spanish decor. HISTORICAL - Founded in 1930!"Hey Scott! I think we're the ONLY non-Spaniards in this place!" "I do believe you're right! Including the wait staff!"
We
already knew what we were going to order before arriving but hey, let's
look over the menu anyway. They have all the typical Madrid and Spanish dishes here. Steven and I ordered the same thing for the entire meal. For starters we had the Asturian "Fabes con Almejas"
- large white beans with small clams. OH! Man! OH-MAN! DELICIOUS! The
creamy sauce was so tasty that I sopped it up with the wonderful bread
after finishing. The second course was the "Cochinillo Frito de Avila". At first I thought this was cochinillo - and didn't notice the "frito" part on the menu but it was still good. Cochinillo is roasted suckling pig but cochinillo frito - or more commonly called "cochifrito"
- is actually a slightly older pig, but cut and fried in small,
quarter-sized balls of meat and bone. Tasty but not what I was
expecting. I asked the waiter upon serving us if THIS was cochinillo. He paused and then kindly explained that this IS cochinillo but made in the Ávila way. That is, cut into sections and then fried. I stand corrected.
All this and we'd ordered a half-bottle of the house red wine which turned out to be a Rioja Crianza. Good, basic Spanish red wine and the perfect wine for the hearty meal we were eating.
While we were digging in, I was having quite a bit of trouble getting the meat off the bone with my knife and fork. Noticing this, the waiter passed by and said, with a smile, that it's perfectly acceptable to pick up the smaller pieces and eat them with my fingers. Thank goodness!
For dessert we both chose the Crema Catalana and coffee afterwards. As a nice details - as they do in most nice restaurants at the end of a meal - the waiter offered us a free chupito - a kind of shot glass full of cold liqueur of several varieties. They always claim when they offer it to you, "....in order to aid digestion." Ha! A very handy excuse to drink more alcohol. Does it REALLY aid in digestion?? I'd like to see the scientific studies on that one! Anyway, we were given the standard chupito, the Orujo de Hierbas, which is a yellow-ish green color and slightly sweet. Oh, and it's quite strong and TOO EASY to drink.
As I said before, the place was FULL. The long table next to us were occupied by older Spanish ladies wearing furs and dressed for a special lunch. They were CERTAINLY enjoying themselves, drinking wine, having lunch, singing songs, and speaking quite loudly by the end. Other customers were business people, several tie-wearing men and couples, and even some families. It was obvious to me this was a place KNOWN to local Spaniards as a good place to eat a good meal with good service.
Total price for 2 persons... 71€. Gulp! THAT'S NOT your average, casual lunch tab!! Wow! They DO have a menú del día bit I don't recall what was included nor how much it cost. But for a special lunch in a VERY SPANISH Madrid restaurant slightly outside but still accessible from the tourist center it's a definite MUST try if your pocket book can take it.
We're finally done eating. And we ate EVERYTHING! The bread was really great too. I love good Spanish bread. There's nothing worse than having a good meal in a good restaurant but the bread sucks. HOW can a restaurant skimp on BAD BREAD when they're charging you a lot of money for the meal??!! And with the price of decent bread being next to nothing there's NO excuse for ANY restaurant to go-cheap on the bread. Spaniards know good bread and if they get bad bread - even if the meal is great - they're less likely to return to that restaurant. HAPPILY, in Casa Ananías, this was not the case. Their bread was really first-rate!!!
Steve and I walk back to the historical Café Comercial on the Glorieta de Bilbao because they have comfortable tables in a large space and we want to relax. We take a table against the far wall under the mirror-covered walls. Upon ordering two cerveza sin alcohol (alcohol-free beer - plus free tapa of nuts and crackers), a small group of old ladies in their 70s and 80s came and sat at the two tables next to us. Oddly, they all put themselves side-by-side with their backs against the wall, looking towards the open space. It wasn't quite the hour for "merienda", 4:45pm or thereabouts, but maybe they were getting together now before the early sunset. One woman ordered milk. One woman ordered coffee. And two of the women ordered water. Likely total tab for the waiter: 3.50€ - and probably no tip. Poor waiter. They were there as long as we and presumably simply gathering to talk and have an excuse to leave the house in the afternoon. The woman sitting closest to us took out a bag and began knitting!! How sweet.We finished our beers and took to the street, walking downhill towards the center on Calle Fuencarral. We stopped here and there and looked in a few windows but Steve finally broke off near Chueca where he gets the metro. I continued on to Gran Vía and on to Puerta del Sol, down Calle Arenal to Opera where I got my bus home. At this hour, now 5:30pm or so, there weren't SO many people on the streets as there were last weekend in the evening but still a good number.
What a day filled with good company, GREAT food, (nearly) rubbing elbows with famous people, and a good long walk through downtown Madrid - a TRULY HISTORICAL city.
Last Friday, El Día de la Almudena, we had 1:30pm reservations for Madrid's Taberna La Bola to eat Cocido Madrileño - their signature dish. The 'long-form-term' of this dish is "Cocido a la Madrileña", if interested.
Background: El Día de la Almudena is Madrid's female patron saint day and is a city-wide holiday. Banks, schools, and most businesses are closed on this day which begins at roughly 10am with a mass in Madrid's Plaza Mayor. That lasts until about noon and then begins the procession, carrying the patron from the Plaza Mayor, down Calle Arenal, through Plaza Santa Isabel II, and to the Almudena Cathedral. Leading the saint are a number of groups in religious and or period dress and often representing different churches and church groups.
We arrived by taxi as close to the city center as we could - right next to La Catedral de la Almudena - because all the streets were closed. We paid, got out, and walked briskly to OPERA where we were meeting more people. Our timing was great because we arrived there JUST as the procession was passing through this plaza, formerly known as the Plaza de Isabel II but many people simple call it Plaza de Opera.
We arrived at 1pm exactly, stepped up to about 4th in line behind the crowds, and took a number of photos while waiting to leave to be ontime for our reservation at nearby La Bola. What an entertaining yet solemn procession it was.
It
was reaching 1:30pm and turned to leave when an 80-year old man fell
off the curb behind us, cracking his head, and starting to bleed
profusely - as head wounds often do. We helped him to his feet, put a
number of handkerchiefs to his wound, and helped him to the bench at
the bus stop. I was impressed that about 6 other witnesses joined in to
help too. While applying pressure and loosening his tie someone called
the police and an officer arrived in about 1 minute. He checked out
the man and called for the medical team - which also amazingly arrived
in about 4 minutes and attended to the well-dressed gentleman who was
starting to feel a little less dizzy, although the medical guys put him
on his back on the bench. Since he was now in good hands, we left
somewhat stunned by the experience to get to the restaurant just a
little late.
Arriving at Taberna La Bola we gave our name, they checked their reservations list, and took us to THE BACK ROOM of the restaurant. Disappointed, I was. This was my SECOND visit to La Bola and the first time we dined in the very nice, rustic, old dining room. But this time it was THE BACK ROOM for us. It too was nice enough but not nearly as rustic and spacious as the main dining room. Hmph. Fine.
We order that which you HAVE to order here - el Cocido Madrileño - the dish for which La Bola is famous. Along with that we ordered a bottle red wine, a Rioja.
First came the fine noodles in a dish. Then they pour the cocido broth over top of that. We eat the noodle soup, dipping our bread into it (NOT something you would usually do at a nice restaurant - which this is), and chatting away.
After finishing the soup and the waiters removed our dishes, came the garbanzo beans (a.k.a. Chick Peas), chorizo, potato, pork, chicken, and a healthy slice of pork fat - which I never eat and made no exception this time around. There's something really disgusting to me about sinking your teeth into pure, translucent, 100% fat which makes my skin crawl. They offered the standard cabbage but I passed on that. Not a cabbage fan.
The cocido madrileño is good here. But as everyone usually says, the cocido madrileño made at home is equally as good - and about 5% the price. But like LHARDY in Madrid, whose also famous for their cocido madrileño and at which I've eaten just once, you pay more for the place and the service and not so much for the food. But the food is good. It's fine. It's basic and enjoyable. It's just that Cocido madrileño is really cheap to make at home. Garbanzo beans are cheap. Pork is pretty cheap. Chorizo is cheap. Potatoes are dirt cheap. And chicken is cheap. These are the ingredients for cocido madrileño.
The price per person for the cocido was about 18 Euros. All totaled, with the bread, wine, 2 bottles of water, and dessert, the price was 112.90€ for four persons. Oh, and by the way, an important detail - THEY DON'T ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. This is odd for such a mid-range restaurant. You really have to make reservations for this popular place too. Possibly we got the table we did in the back room because I made the reservations only the day before - in the evening.
After lunch we were all full and in search of coffee to liven us up a bit so we walked to Plaza de Oriente and Los Jardines de Oriente (the gardens between the Opera House and the Royal Palace) and chose a table on the terraza of the Café de Oriente. It was a bit cool but they'd put a number of those tall, propane heater pole in the middle of each 4-table cluster so we were warm enough. There, we had our coffee and those who smoked smoked with the view of the gardens, Madrid's Palacio Real, and the Opera House. How nice. There, we chatted for another hour or so and enjoyed ourselves - but probably not as much as the large group of English girls sitting at the table next to ours, drinking, eating sandwiches and pizzas, and giggling loudly. It was apparent to me they were in Madrid for a "Hen Party" - which is a kind of bachelorette party getaway. I only assume this from their numbers - and the fact that one of the English women sported a purple sequined hat with small-yet-numerous purple phallic symbols hanging from its brim. Nothing but class.
After the much-needed eye-opening cup of coffee we went to a movie at one of the many Version Original cinemas near the Plaza de España. We went to see the Viggo Mortensen movie Eastern Promises - complete with Spanish subtitles. A good enough movie.
After the movie we walked back past the Palacio Real and stopped to marvel at the spectacular sunset. Hundreds of people must have been doing the same. Many were taking photos.
We walked on after awhile to the Almudena Cathedral. Being just after sunset, the cathedral was nicely illuminated with thousands of people waiting in long lines to enter La Catedral de la Almudena - today being her Saint's Day.
Today was my very first Fiesta de la Almudena in Madrid and I felt fortunate to witness part of it. Earlier in the day I watched much of the Mass on TeleMadrid which took place in the Plaza Mayor. That is to say, I had the Mass on TV behind my head while working on the computer but I enjoyed watching and listening to the interviews and street scenes before and after the mass.
It was a pleasant play with people I care about; good food, good conversation, a religious procession, a good movie, good scenery, a bloody injury, and bloody bachelorettes. What more could you ask for on a holiday?
Background: El Día de la Almudena is Madrid's female patron saint day and is a city-wide holiday. Banks, schools, and most businesses are closed on this day which begins at roughly 10am with a mass in Madrid's Plaza Mayor. That lasts until about noon and then begins the procession, carrying the patron from the Plaza Mayor, down Calle Arenal, through Plaza Santa Isabel II, and to the Almudena Cathedral. Leading the saint are a number of groups in religious and or period dress and often representing different churches and church groups.
We arrived by taxi as close to the city center as we could - right next to La Catedral de la Almudena - because all the streets were closed. We paid, got out, and walked briskly to OPERA where we were meeting more people. Our timing was great because we arrived there JUST as the procession was passing through this plaza, formerly known as the Plaza de Isabel II but many people simple call it Plaza de Opera.We arrived at 1pm exactly, stepped up to about 4th in line behind the crowds, and took a number of photos while waiting to leave to be ontime for our reservation at nearby La Bola. What an entertaining yet solemn procession it was.
It
was reaching 1:30pm and turned to leave when an 80-year old man fell
off the curb behind us, cracking his head, and starting to bleed
profusely - as head wounds often do. We helped him to his feet, put a
number of handkerchiefs to his wound, and helped him to the bench at
the bus stop. I was impressed that about 6 other witnesses joined in to
help too. While applying pressure and loosening his tie someone called
the police and an officer arrived in about 1 minute. He checked out
the man and called for the medical team - which also amazingly arrived
in about 4 minutes and attended to the well-dressed gentleman who was
starting to feel a little less dizzy, although the medical guys put him
on his back on the bench. Since he was now in good hands, we left
somewhat stunned by the experience to get to the restaurant just a
little late.Arriving at Taberna La Bola we gave our name, they checked their reservations list, and took us to THE BACK ROOM of the restaurant. Disappointed, I was. This was my SECOND visit to La Bola and the first time we dined in the very nice, rustic, old dining room. But this time it was THE BACK ROOM for us. It too was nice enough but not nearly as rustic and spacious as the main dining room. Hmph. Fine.
We order that which you HAVE to order here - el Cocido Madrileño - the dish for which La Bola is famous. Along with that we ordered a bottle red wine, a Rioja.
First came the fine noodles in a dish. Then they pour the cocido broth over top of that. We eat the noodle soup, dipping our bread into it (NOT something you would usually do at a nice restaurant - which this is), and chatting away.
After finishing the soup and the waiters removed our dishes, came the garbanzo beans (a.k.a. Chick Peas), chorizo, potato, pork, chicken, and a healthy slice of pork fat - which I never eat and made no exception this time around. There's something really disgusting to me about sinking your teeth into pure, translucent, 100% fat which makes my skin crawl. They offered the standard cabbage but I passed on that. Not a cabbage fan.
The cocido madrileño is good here. But as everyone usually says, the cocido madrileño made at home is equally as good - and about 5% the price. But like LHARDY in Madrid, whose also famous for their cocido madrileño and at which I've eaten just once, you pay more for the place and the service and not so much for the food. But the food is good. It's fine. It's basic and enjoyable. It's just that Cocido madrileño is really cheap to make at home. Garbanzo beans are cheap. Pork is pretty cheap. Chorizo is cheap. Potatoes are dirt cheap. And chicken is cheap. These are the ingredients for cocido madrileño.
The price per person for the cocido was about 18 Euros. All totaled, with the bread, wine, 2 bottles of water, and dessert, the price was 112.90€ for four persons. Oh, and by the way, an important detail - THEY DON'T ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. This is odd for such a mid-range restaurant. You really have to make reservations for this popular place too. Possibly we got the table we did in the back room because I made the reservations only the day before - in the evening.
After lunch we were all full and in search of coffee to liven us up a bit so we walked to Plaza de Oriente and Los Jardines de Oriente (the gardens between the Opera House and the Royal Palace) and chose a table on the terraza of the Café de Oriente. It was a bit cool but they'd put a number of those tall, propane heater pole in the middle of each 4-table cluster so we were warm enough. There, we had our coffee and those who smoked smoked with the view of the gardens, Madrid's Palacio Real, and the Opera House. How nice. There, we chatted for another hour or so and enjoyed ourselves - but probably not as much as the large group of English girls sitting at the table next to ours, drinking, eating sandwiches and pizzas, and giggling loudly. It was apparent to me they were in Madrid for a "Hen Party" - which is a kind of bachelorette party getaway. I only assume this from their numbers - and the fact that one of the English women sported a purple sequined hat with small-yet-numerous purple phallic symbols hanging from its brim. Nothing but class.
After the much-needed eye-opening cup of coffee we went to a movie at one of the many Version Original cinemas near the Plaza de España. We went to see the Viggo Mortensen movie Eastern Promises - complete with Spanish subtitles. A good enough movie.
After the movie we walked back past the Palacio Real and stopped to marvel at the spectacular sunset. Hundreds of people must have been doing the same. Many were taking photos.
We walked on after awhile to the Almudena Cathedral. Being just after sunset, the cathedral was nicely illuminated with thousands of people waiting in long lines to enter La Catedral de la Almudena - today being her Saint's Day.
Today was my very first Fiesta de la Almudena in Madrid and I felt fortunate to witness part of it. Earlier in the day I watched much of the Mass on TeleMadrid which took place in the Plaza Mayor. That is to say, I had the Mass on TV behind my head while working on the computer but I enjoyed watching and listening to the interviews and street scenes before and after the mass.
It was a pleasant play with people I care about; good food, good conversation, a religious procession, a good movie, good scenery, a bloody injury, and bloody bachelorettes. What more could you ask for on a holiday?
Sometimes I'm "enlisted" to buy the lunchtime bread at the local panadería and I do it more than willingly. There's almost nothing better than walking into that bread bakery, waiting in line, and ordering a barra de bandeja and they give it to you with a smile, charge you 60 or 65 centimos, and it's still hot from the oven. There's something so basic about the whole process, the whole custom. It smells SO good in this moment that I can't help but raise it to my nose while I transport it in its paper bread bag to the lunch table. I'm usually the one who's "in charge" of cutting the bread but when I do so, since the bread is still hot and moist, it crushes under the weight of the cutting knife. What a wonderful smell it emits.
Here in my neighborhood, if I happen to awake at 4am for whatever reason, from a bad dream or a need to go to the bathroom, I often smell the baking bread at the bakery on my same block. No matter if it's summer or winter I must open the window of the kitchen or balcony and take several deep breaths of that wonderful smell. It's better than perfume, better than springtime flowers, and better than the smell of that special someone's hair after a shower. Fresh baked bread is the best perfume there is.
Here in my neighborhood, if I happen to awake at 4am for whatever reason, from a bad dream or a need to go to the bathroom, I often smell the baking bread at the bakery on my same block. No matter if it's summer or winter I must open the window of the kitchen or balcony and take several deep breaths of that wonderful smell. It's better than perfume, better than springtime flowers, and better than the smell of that special someone's hair after a shower. Fresh baked bread is the best perfume there is.
Wow! Another incredible weekend in Madrid. Question: "Am I Spanish Yet?!" When do I get my Merit Badge?
It all started Friday afternoon when I met my good Valencian friend Damián for a paella lunch at La Buganvilla. La Buganvilla is an "Arrocería"
- a restaurant which specializes in rice dishes. AND DO THEY
SPECIALIZE! Wow, what a great meal we had. VERY complete from beginning
to end.
It's located just off the Plaza Alonso Martinez (metro: Alonso Martinez) in a nice, clean, somewhat upscale neighborhood in an elegant building. We had reservations to try this place as it was purported to have "The Best Paella in Madrid". So I just had to try it!
We arrived and were first toured the restaurant and its many small rooms - each with about 5 tables - when we were seated. The restaurant had a mariner's "theme" and was exceptionally clean top to bottom. Many nicely-dressed people eating their rice dishes around us.
I'm so happy Damián went with me to this place because everyone knows that Valenciano's - as Damián is - are connoisseurs of rice dishes, paellas, and the like. Who better to advise me on the ins-and-outs of rice and to judge the quality of such? Damián was the right man for the job. Not only is he great company, intelligent, and a conversationalist (in both English and Spanish) but he also really knows his rice, something his mother makes very well, as he described in mouth-watering detail.
We started with croquetas de marisco (seafood croquets) on a bed of lettuce. Very good, hot, tasty. At the waiters suggestion, we ordered the "Arroz Mixta" served in a paella pan. This has rabbit, chicken, clams, shrimp, squid (I think) and rice cooked to near perfection. Damián said it was the best rice he'd had in Madrid so far. So there you go! If HE says it was good - it's good. The bread was very good as was the bottle of red wine, a Rioja which was suggested by the waiter - something we felt was odd with a paella meal as it's usually more appropriate to choose a white or rosé wine with rice dishes.
After the meal, I chose a berry sorbet and Damián had an elegantly "sculpted" chocolate affair with swirls of this and that across the plate. To top it all off we were offered "chupitos" (selection of liqueurs) to..."help aid digestion". I love this reason/excuse. We tried all 4 of the liquers; crema de orujo, liquer de hierbas, orujo, and another one I can't remember. Wow. That's some hard-yet-tasty alcohol! Sure warmed the digesting contents in my stomach!
After the delicious meal, we spoke at length with our host, Miguel Ángel, who had come to our table several times throughout the meal to see if everything was to our liking - IT WAS! Damián made some comments and observations of the likenesses and differences in this paella and the paellas he's had in Valencia.
What a positive experience. What a good meal. And what good company! Damián and I said our goodbyes, I got on the metro and went home for a few hours of work.
A little later I took the bus BACK downtown and met some friends who were going to a play in the Teatro Albéniz. We had a few beers at the "El Anciano rey de los vinos", a VERY old bar across the street from the theater on Calle de La Paz, 4. This place is small and SPANISH SPANISH. It was in this bar where I saw well-known veteran flamenco dancer "El Guito" just before watching him dance at the same Teatro Albéniz last spring. He was sitting right next to me with his flamenco colleagues.
The friends went to the play and I was on my way back home and decided to stop in the Plaza Mayor to have a "caña" (small glass of beer). I started in the corner bar of the Plaza Mayor nearest the Arco de Cuchilleros and had one beer in each of those three bars while making my way "left", each place giving a free tapa with the drink order. Two places gave a plate of olives and one place gave a kind of salad mixture of onion-octopus for the free tapa.
After the third place, I walked around the gallery of the Plaza Mayor to the far side where I stopped in at the "Bar La Torre del Oro". This place has bullfight memorabilia, framed photos, and STUFFED BULL'S HEADS adorning (??) the walls. This too is a VERY Spanish bar for its bartenders but the clientèle is mostly tourists but there are always a few Spaniards peppering this bar. They too ALWAYS give a free tapa with each drink. (a dish of white beans + small cup of gazpacho for me) The bartenders are always cheerful and friendly too. I had one beer and started talking to the traveling Australians to my left as they commented on the bullfight stuff surrounding them. The conversation was good so I ordered another beer - my last - before heading to my bus stop in the Plaza de Isabel Segundo and got home at about 11:30pm - STRAIGHT TO BED with a heavy head.
Saturday. Slept late. Wow. Whoaaa... Rollll slowly out of bed, have breakfast, and get to work until lunchtime. At about 4pm I leave the house for a bus+metro trip to meet my English buddy Steve at Plaza de Toros Las Ventas for the 5:30pm bullfights. This was a bullfight with younger bullfighters so the price was cheap (13€) for decent seats. After the "event" we made our way to the same nearby bullfight-themed bar we found at which we found ourselves the previous weekend after the bullfights; the Restaurante Los Clarines, just off the Calle de Alcalá as heading into the city.
This time we did not go for the Rabo de Toro but instead went all seafood, ordering a ración of the Gambas al Ajillo (olive-oil-cooked shrimp and garlic) AND, again, the lemon-juice-showered Chopitos (small, lightly breaded, fried squid) along with good bread ("¡para mojar!"). This time they served us 30% more chopitos than the last time! All this great food and we ordered a bottle of cold white Rueda wine. Wow, that goes down easily with seafood. Mmmm... The 50-something Spanish bartender now seemed to remember us from the previous weekend and give us a free tapas to start off, later another free tapa of salchichón (a kind of sliced sausage), AND FINALLY, a free glass of sorbete de cava for dessert. The all-Spanish wait-staff is always very nice with us, we, the ONLY NON SPANIARDS IN THE PLACE. We felt privileged to be there, in their company.
Full, heavy headed, and happy, Steve and I say our goodbyes and I make my way to the nearby metro station. Arrive home. Alka-Seltzer. A big glass of water with a couple aspirins just-in-case. Bed.
Sunday, today, is mostly uneventful, just doing some work by morning, had Chinese food for lunch (I know, NOT very "Spanish" - but give me a break once in awhile, eh?! hehehe...), and reading about yesterday's/Saturday's United States university football games. My Ohio State Buckeyes beat University of Minnesota and going UP in the POLLS!
So today is DEFINITELY "a day of rest" for me. I've been in Spanish-Overdrive for the last two days. Tomorrow begins a new week in Madrid! Autumn's here, it's obvious. Skies are more often cloudy, cooler temperatures, and the sunsets are earlier and further to the southern horizon. I'd rather be nowhere else in the world.
It all started Friday afternoon when I met my good Valencian friend Damián for a paella lunch at La Buganvilla. La Buganvilla is an "Arrocería"
- a restaurant which specializes in rice dishes. AND DO THEY
SPECIALIZE! Wow, what a great meal we had. VERY complete from beginning
to end.It's located just off the Plaza Alonso Martinez (metro: Alonso Martinez) in a nice, clean, somewhat upscale neighborhood in an elegant building. We had reservations to try this place as it was purported to have "The Best Paella in Madrid". So I just had to try it!
We arrived and were first toured the restaurant and its many small rooms - each with about 5 tables - when we were seated. The restaurant had a mariner's "theme" and was exceptionally clean top to bottom. Many nicely-dressed people eating their rice dishes around us.
I'm so happy Damián went with me to this place because everyone knows that Valenciano's - as Damián is - are connoisseurs of rice dishes, paellas, and the like. Who better to advise me on the ins-and-outs of rice and to judge the quality of such? Damián was the right man for the job. Not only is he great company, intelligent, and a conversationalist (in both English and Spanish) but he also really knows his rice, something his mother makes very well, as he described in mouth-watering detail.
We started with croquetas de marisco (seafood croquets) on a bed of lettuce. Very good, hot, tasty. At the waiters suggestion, we ordered the "Arroz Mixta" served in a paella pan. This has rabbit, chicken, clams, shrimp, squid (I think) and rice cooked to near perfection. Damián said it was the best rice he'd had in Madrid so far. So there you go! If HE says it was good - it's good. The bread was very good as was the bottle of red wine, a Rioja which was suggested by the waiter - something we felt was odd with a paella meal as it's usually more appropriate to choose a white or rosé wine with rice dishes.
After the meal, I chose a berry sorbet and Damián had an elegantly "sculpted" chocolate affair with swirls of this and that across the plate. To top it all off we were offered "chupitos" (selection of liqueurs) to..."help aid digestion". I love this reason/excuse. We tried all 4 of the liquers; crema de orujo, liquer de hierbas, orujo, and another one I can't remember. Wow. That's some hard-yet-tasty alcohol! Sure warmed the digesting contents in my stomach!
After the delicious meal, we spoke at length with our host, Miguel Ángel, who had come to our table several times throughout the meal to see if everything was to our liking - IT WAS! Damián made some comments and observations of the likenesses and differences in this paella and the paellas he's had in Valencia.
What a positive experience. What a good meal. And what good company! Damián and I said our goodbyes, I got on the metro and went home for a few hours of work.
A little later I took the bus BACK downtown and met some friends who were going to a play in the Teatro Albéniz. We had a few beers at the "El Anciano rey de los vinos", a VERY old bar across the street from the theater on Calle de La Paz, 4. This place is small and SPANISH SPANISH. It was in this bar where I saw well-known veteran flamenco dancer "El Guito" just before watching him dance at the same Teatro Albéniz last spring. He was sitting right next to me with his flamenco colleagues.
The friends went to the play and I was on my way back home and decided to stop in the Plaza Mayor to have a "caña" (small glass of beer). I started in the corner bar of the Plaza Mayor nearest the Arco de Cuchilleros and had one beer in each of those three bars while making my way "left", each place giving a free tapa with the drink order. Two places gave a plate of olives and one place gave a kind of salad mixture of onion-octopus for the free tapa.
After the third place, I walked around the gallery of the Plaza Mayor to the far side where I stopped in at the "Bar La Torre del Oro". This place has bullfight memorabilia, framed photos, and STUFFED BULL'S HEADS adorning (??) the walls. This too is a VERY Spanish bar for its bartenders but the clientèle is mostly tourists but there are always a few Spaniards peppering this bar. They too ALWAYS give a free tapa with each drink. (a dish of white beans + small cup of gazpacho for me) The bartenders are always cheerful and friendly too. I had one beer and started talking to the traveling Australians to my left as they commented on the bullfight stuff surrounding them. The conversation was good so I ordered another beer - my last - before heading to my bus stop in the Plaza de Isabel Segundo and got home at about 11:30pm - STRAIGHT TO BED with a heavy head.Saturday. Slept late. Wow. Whoaaa... Rollll slowly out of bed, have breakfast, and get to work until lunchtime. At about 4pm I leave the house for a bus+metro trip to meet my English buddy Steve at Plaza de Toros Las Ventas for the 5:30pm bullfights. This was a bullfight with younger bullfighters so the price was cheap (13€) for decent seats. After the "event" we made our way to the same nearby bullfight-themed bar we found at which we found ourselves the previous weekend after the bullfights; the Restaurante Los Clarines, just off the Calle de Alcalá as heading into the city.
This time we did not go for the Rabo de Toro but instead went all seafood, ordering a ración of the Gambas al Ajillo (olive-oil-cooked shrimp and garlic) AND, again, the lemon-juice-showered Chopitos (small, lightly breaded, fried squid) along with good bread ("¡para mojar!"). This time they served us 30% more chopitos than the last time! All this great food and we ordered a bottle of cold white Rueda wine. Wow, that goes down easily with seafood. Mmmm... The 50-something Spanish bartender now seemed to remember us from the previous weekend and give us a free tapas to start off, later another free tapa of salchichón (a kind of sliced sausage), AND FINALLY, a free glass of sorbete de cava for dessert. The all-Spanish wait-staff is always very nice with us, we, the ONLY NON SPANIARDS IN THE PLACE. We felt privileged to be there, in their company.
Full, heavy headed, and happy, Steve and I say our goodbyes and I make my way to the nearby metro station. Arrive home. Alka-Seltzer. A big glass of water with a couple aspirins just-in-case. Bed.
Sunday, today, is mostly uneventful, just doing some work by morning, had Chinese food for lunch (I know, NOT very "Spanish" - but give me a break once in awhile, eh?! hehehe...), and reading about yesterday's/Saturday's United States university football games. My Ohio State Buckeyes beat University of Minnesota and going UP in the POLLS!
So today is DEFINITELY "a day of rest" for me. I've been in Spanish-Overdrive for the last two days. Tomorrow begins a new week in Madrid! Autumn's here, it's obvious. Skies are more often cloudy, cooler temperatures, and the sunsets are earlier and further to the southern horizon. I'd rather be nowhere else in the world.
Supermarkets, or "grocery stores" as we call them often in the United States, are found in every Madrid neighborhood and also outside the city in the "Centros Comerciales". You have your Dia (cheap), PLUS (cheap), Lidl (cheap), Maxcoop (average), Carrefour (average), Alcampo (average), Mercadona (average), Caprabo (average), Champion (average), El Corte Inglés Supermarket (expensive), and a number of others. Here in my immediate neighborhood we have Dia and Maxcoop and a Caprabo farther away.
LOCAL SHOPPING:
First, you have WALK. The walking TO the supermarket doesn't bother me - it's the returning with heavy bags and then climbing 4 flights of stairs which bothers me. This is particularly difficult and uncomfortable in summertime when it's hot. Second, the lines in the supermarkets are often very long and few cash registers open to accommodate the public. Third, with all the people waiting behind you in line you STILL have to bag your own groceries. And fourth, neighborhood grocery stores in Madrid are small and so the selection is very limited.
OUT-OF-TOWN SHOPPING:
Going to the "Centros Comerciales" outside of the city, like to a Carrefour, is a different experience altogether. First, you need a car to get there - something I don't have - and traffic in these areas can be crazy. Second, on busy days/hours there can be long lines and difficulty parking in the underground parking garages. Third, these places are HUGE and so the lines at the cash registers can be SUPER LONG. Fourth, at busy times there's lots of shopping cart traffic with lots of left-or-right-looking drivers. They never look forward. Fifth, the selection IS GREAT and the prices are usually very good too. This is really the only positive to going to places like these. Six, on busy days there can be a shortage of shopping carts, causing you to wait for one to be returned - or go searching on different floors. And you'd better have the proper coin for the security lock. And seven, AFTER going back home, I have to carry up a dozen or so bags up four flights of stairs. Exhausting.
ON the UP-side, at Carrefour, customers have the option of requesting a "pedido", having the food sent to your home either the same day or the next day. There's a charge for this but when filling a shopping cart with food and spending 150€, the extra 5€ delivery charge doesn't bother me in the least. Luckily I work at home so this is very convenient - WHEN I can find someone to drive me to the shopping center in the first place. But UNluckily, almost without exception, I leave places like Carrefour with a throbbing headache from all the stress. These excursions can take up to 4 hours. A royal pain in the ARSE. Traffic, long lines, crashing carts, long lines, heavy carts with 4-wheel-independent-movement. ARGH! I really dislike shopping in supermarkets in Madrid as well as in places like El Corte Inglés for the same reasons - with the exception of the shopping carts.
What I DO like about shopping in the neighborhood are the individual, specialized stores - also found in markets. Specialized stores might sell ONLY meats, ONLY chicken products, ONLY fruits and vegetables, ONLY bread, or ONLY potato chips! Shopping like this takes more time but the quality of products is usually better and fresher than when bought in supermarkets. And the products aside, it's always a nice way to meet your neighborhood store owners, exchange some casual conversation about vacations, family, or weather. These store owners always recognize you, can sometimes guess your order, are quick to send a smile your way, and if you're short on cash they'll often allow you to pay the balance on your next visit. You can't get THAT kind of treatment at a supermarket.
I really dislike going to the supermarket for a number of reasons:
LOCAL SHOPPING:
First, you have WALK. The walking TO the supermarket doesn't bother me - it's the returning with heavy bags and then climbing 4 flights of stairs which bothers me. This is particularly difficult and uncomfortable in summertime when it's hot. Second, the lines in the supermarkets are often very long and few cash registers open to accommodate the public. Third, with all the people waiting behind you in line you STILL have to bag your own groceries. And fourth, neighborhood grocery stores in Madrid are small and so the selection is very limited.
OUT-OF-TOWN SHOPPING:
Going to the "Centros Comerciales" outside of the city, like to a Carrefour, is a different experience altogether. First, you need a car to get there - something I don't have - and traffic in these areas can be crazy. Second, on busy days/hours there can be long lines and difficulty parking in the underground parking garages. Third, these places are HUGE and so the lines at the cash registers can be SUPER LONG. Fourth, at busy times there's lots of shopping cart traffic with lots of left-or-right-looking drivers. They never look forward. Fifth, the selection IS GREAT and the prices are usually very good too. This is really the only positive to going to places like these. Six, on busy days there can be a shortage of shopping carts, causing you to wait for one to be returned - or go searching on different floors. And you'd better have the proper coin for the security lock. And seven, AFTER going back home, I have to carry up a dozen or so bags up four flights of stairs. Exhausting.
ON the UP-side, at Carrefour, customers have the option of requesting a "pedido", having the food sent to your home either the same day or the next day. There's a charge for this but when filling a shopping cart with food and spending 150€, the extra 5€ delivery charge doesn't bother me in the least. Luckily I work at home so this is very convenient - WHEN I can find someone to drive me to the shopping center in the first place. But UNluckily, almost without exception, I leave places like Carrefour with a throbbing headache from all the stress. These excursions can take up to 4 hours. A royal pain in the ARSE. Traffic, long lines, crashing carts, long lines, heavy carts with 4-wheel-independent-movement. ARGH! I really dislike shopping in supermarkets in Madrid as well as in places like El Corte Inglés for the same reasons - with the exception of the shopping carts.
What I DO like about shopping in the neighborhood are the individual, specialized stores - also found in markets. Specialized stores might sell ONLY meats, ONLY chicken products, ONLY fruits and vegetables, ONLY bread, or ONLY potato chips! Shopping like this takes more time but the quality of products is usually better and fresher than when bought in supermarkets. And the products aside, it's always a nice way to meet your neighborhood store owners, exchange some casual conversation about vacations, family, or weather. These store owners always recognize you, can sometimes guess your order, are quick to send a smile your way, and if you're short on cash they'll often allow you to pay the balance on your next visit. You can't get THAT kind of treatment at a supermarket.
Two weekends ago I went to a flamenco show at Corral de la Pacheca and last Saturday night I went to one at Las Tablas. Both were very different shows in very different places.
Corral de la Pacheca is obviously built for visitors (i.e. tourist), has a very large indoor space, and houses overhanging second-level above. The views are great from up there, easy to see the very large stage. It's all located near the Plaza Castilla and in a very nice neighborhood. Meals are served but we were there for just the show and the free-drink included. The show was good and included a large "cast". One of the dancers really impressed us and imagine she'll be famous someday soon - certainly she's well known already. I also heard this place, Corral de la Pacheca, was the location for a weekly 1980s program on Madrid television where they hosted different flamenco singers, many of already famous - or would-be famous. The clientèle was totally non-Spanish.
Las Tablas is well-located near the Plaza España on the second level of the building facing the Cuesta de San Vicente. To enter you must go around the back and up the stairs. The owners, Antonia (left in photo) y Marisol (right in photo), were also the dancers when the show started. They were both very obviously technicians in their art and we enjoyed watching the show. The stage is smaller, lower, and a bit more difficult to see the feet of the dancers. We were also very impressed with the singers. No smoking was allowed during the performance and no flash was allowed for photos either - making photo-taking nearly impossible. Still, the show was good and the price was cheaper (22€) than any flamenco tablao I'd visited. The place is smaller than most and does not have the typical rustic "tablao" look but I was told by one of the owners that the space is also used for theater, photo expositions, and other artistic events so this is why they decided to go with a more neutral decor. There's no kitchen so food cannot be ordered - which is probably why the entry prices are cheaper - but one drink is included in the entry price. The clientèle was mainly Spanish.
What a last week it's been for me. The more things like this I do the more I feel I'm becoming SPANISH! But surely no Spaniards live like me!
So first I go to Corral de la Pacheca on a Friday night (14 Sept.). Monday (17 Sept.) I go for a good Paella Valenciana lunch at Restaurante La Paella de la Reina (see photo at right), then after-lunch drinks in the Plaza de Chueca. Wednesday I get together with the guys for the movie, drinks on a terraza afterwards, and then dinner on the Plaza Mayor! Friday I'm downtown again taking late-afternoon and evening photos of the city, later getting together with friends for a tapas dinner near Puerta del Sol. Last Saturday night I'm having jamón serrano, lomo, y queso at a nearby bar before the flamenco show at Las Tablas. Sunday I'm at the bullfights in Las Ventas. After that we have rabo de toro (bull's tail stew) and chopitos (very small, fried squid) at a nearby bar/restaurant while watching a Real Madrid game on TV, getting home at 1am.
Is this the true "Spanish Life"? Doubt it. But I'm enjoying it nonetheless.
Corral de la Pacheca is obviously built for visitors (i.e. tourist), has a very large indoor space, and houses overhanging second-level above. The views are great from up there, easy to see the very large stage. It's all located near the Plaza Castilla and in a very nice neighborhood. Meals are served but we were there for just the show and the free-drink included. The show was good and included a large "cast". One of the dancers really impressed us and imagine she'll be famous someday soon - certainly she's well known already. I also heard this place, Corral de la Pacheca, was the location for a weekly 1980s program on Madrid television where they hosted different flamenco singers, many of already famous - or would-be famous. The clientèle was totally non-Spanish.Las Tablas is well-located near the Plaza España on the second level of the building facing the Cuesta de San Vicente. To enter you must go around the back and up the stairs. The owners, Antonia (left in photo) y Marisol (right in photo), were also the dancers when the show started. They were both very obviously technicians in their art and we enjoyed watching the show. The stage is smaller, lower, and a bit more difficult to see the feet of the dancers. We were also very impressed with the singers. No smoking was allowed during the performance and no flash was allowed for photos either - making photo-taking nearly impossible. Still, the show was good and the price was cheaper (22€) than any flamenco tablao I'd visited. The place is smaller than most and does not have the typical rustic "tablao" look but I was told by one of the owners that the space is also used for theater, photo expositions, and other artistic events so this is why they decided to go with a more neutral decor. There's no kitchen so food cannot be ordered - which is probably why the entry prices are cheaper - but one drink is included in the entry price. The clientèle was mainly Spanish.What a last week it's been for me. The more things like this I do the more I feel I'm becoming SPANISH! But surely no Spaniards live like me!
So first I go to Corral de la Pacheca on a Friday night (14 Sept.). Monday (17 Sept.) I go for a good Paella Valenciana lunch at Restaurante La Paella de la Reina (see photo at right), then after-lunch drinks in the Plaza de Chueca. Wednesday I get together with the guys for the movie, drinks on a terraza afterwards, and then dinner on the Plaza Mayor! Friday I'm downtown again taking late-afternoon and evening photos of the city, later getting together with friends for a tapas dinner near Puerta del Sol. Last Saturday night I'm having jamón serrano, lomo, y queso at a nearby bar before the flamenco show at Las Tablas. Sunday I'm at the bullfights in Las Ventas. After that we have rabo de toro (bull's tail stew) and chopitos (very small, fried squid) at a nearby bar/restaurant while watching a Real Madrid game on TV, getting home at 1am.
Is this the true "Spanish Life"? Doubt it. But I'm enjoying it nonetheless.
Bread. Milk. Eggs. These are definitely the staples of an average diet in the United States. But here in Spain it's bread.
"Si no hay pan, no hay comida" is a famous saying in Spain. It means, "Without bread it's not a meal." THAT'S how important bread is to the Spanish diet. There's something so basic, so natural, so necessary about going to buy the daily bread. Bread, which goes without saying, is required everyday.
Panaderías are bread bakeries and can usually be found on every street corner. In the USA you can find places which sell bread but the same places sell cakes, pies, pastries, and other baked goods. Here, pastelerías (pastry shops) also usually sell bread as well but not always.
Panaderías really only sell breads. But how can they stay open selling bread so cheaply? A long, average bar of bread costs about 60 eurocents - although the price has recently gone up due to the increase in the price of grains. So how can they stay open? VOLUME. VOLUME. VOLUME. Just about EVERYONE buys bread daily even though many actors, singers, and sports people have said they don't eat bread because it's generally fattening.
I know people who eat an entire bar of bread DAILY. When I first came to Spain I tried to adapt to this custom, going downstairs to the local bread shop to buy my bread and chit-chat with the owners. For me it was more of a social custom than the need for bread. Finally, about 9 months later I gave it up. I just couldn't eat so much bread and always ended up throwing away half or two-thirds of the bread so it wasn't worth it. I was wasting more than I was eating. Plus, it's fattening - and I don't need any help in this regard. Not that I'm fat (yet) but I'm certainly not doing myself any favors by eating bread!
What is enchanting is seeing people in the street with their bar of bread under their arm. Sometimes the bar in a brown paper bag or white plastic bag. Other times it's wrapped in a single sheet of brown paper, wrapped only around the middle so the top and bottom points of bread are exposed. Almost without fail you see people picking off the ends and eating the bread while walking home, crumbs falling to the ground. To me, for me, this is such a quaint scene. BREAD (and wine) is SO European! Seeing someone walking the streets of Columbus, Ohio USA with a bar of bread under his arm would look so...... STRANGE!
Although I rarely have it, my favorite breakfast is toasted bread with garlic and olive oil - and sometimes a tomato spread ontop of all that. Mmmm.. SO tasty and such a common breakfast meal in Spain. The same exists for "merienda" - which is the 6pm, midday snack with coffee. I mainly have this breakfast while traveling in Spain. And it's so easy to find in most all bars. It's easy to order, eat, digest, and oh-so-Spanish! What a better way to start each Spanish day?
"Si no hay pan, no hay comida" is a famous saying in Spain. It means, "Without bread it's not a meal." THAT'S how important bread is to the Spanish diet. There's something so basic, so natural, so necessary about going to buy the daily bread. Bread, which goes without saying, is required everyday.
Panaderías are bread bakeries and can usually be found on every street corner. In the USA you can find places which sell bread but the same places sell cakes, pies, pastries, and other baked goods. Here, pastelerías (pastry shops) also usually sell bread as well but not always.
Panaderías really only sell breads. But how can they stay open selling bread so cheaply? A long, average bar of bread costs about 60 eurocents - although the price has recently gone up due to the increase in the price of grains. So how can they stay open? VOLUME. VOLUME. VOLUME. Just about EVERYONE buys bread daily even though many actors, singers, and sports people have said they don't eat bread because it's generally fattening.
I know people who eat an entire bar of bread DAILY. When I first came to Spain I tried to adapt to this custom, going downstairs to the local bread shop to buy my bread and chit-chat with the owners. For me it was more of a social custom than the need for bread. Finally, about 9 months later I gave it up. I just couldn't eat so much bread and always ended up throwing away half or two-thirds of the bread so it wasn't worth it. I was wasting more than I was eating. Plus, it's fattening - and I don't need any help in this regard. Not that I'm fat (yet) but I'm certainly not doing myself any favors by eating bread!
What is enchanting is seeing people in the street with their bar of bread under their arm. Sometimes the bar in a brown paper bag or white plastic bag. Other times it's wrapped in a single sheet of brown paper, wrapped only around the middle so the top and bottom points of bread are exposed. Almost without fail you see people picking off the ends and eating the bread while walking home, crumbs falling to the ground. To me, for me, this is such a quaint scene. BREAD (and wine) is SO European! Seeing someone walking the streets of Columbus, Ohio USA with a bar of bread under his arm would look so...... STRANGE!
Although I rarely have it, my favorite breakfast is toasted bread with garlic and olive oil - and sometimes a tomato spread ontop of all that. Mmmm.. SO tasty and such a common breakfast meal in Spain. The same exists for "merienda" - which is the 6pm, midday snack with coffee. I mainly have this breakfast while traveling in Spain. And it's so easy to find in most all bars. It's easy to order, eat, digest, and oh-so-Spanish! What a better way to start each Spanish day?
Sometimes it's so nice to go down a local bar for breakfast - just as I did this morning. I really missed them during their one-month absence for August vacation.
The place was established in 1952 just as the neighborhood was being constructed. The bar itself doesn't appear to have changed - outside or inside - since then and that's just the way I like it.
It's a street-corner-bar on a not-so-busy one-way street and, luckily, I can see its green-glowing neon lights from my balcony. This line-of-sight has saved me many trips down/up down 5-flights of stairs, dejected, hungry, & morning-grumpy.
You walk into this place and are immediately greeted by the 70-something original owner and his 50-something son whom are CLEARLY a father-son team. The constantly wiped stainless steel bar follows the L-shape of its street-corner orientation.
I'm somewhat of a "regular" of this bar but only for morning porras and coffee. So when I walk in the owner asks somewhat gruffly and without smile, "¿Cuantas?" or "How many?" The answer is alway the same [3] and he assumes my "café con leche" order.
So what are porras? Since there's nothing like them in the USA I can only describe them as 10-inch long, 1-inch diameter, air-pocket-filled, deep fried dough. They don't have much flavor and are not sweet at all. They don't sound very appetizing, do they? No they don't. Churros, the more popular cousin to the porra, are smaller, rope-like strands of fried dough, usually with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Generally speaking, I don't care much for sweet things so I prefer the blander porras.
Porras were first introduced to me for breakfast immediately upon arriving to the neighborhood, my first visit to Spain/Madrid in 1995. Upon seeing them I said, "I'm not eating that!" but was convinced to open-my-mind and try them. So after the first couple I felt like I had a brick in my stomach. BLAH! I though, "NEVER AGAIN!" Ha! Now I have them only once a month.
Here, about 40 meters away, the bar down the street is PURE, TYPICAL Spanish. There are always people having their coffee for breakfast, including the Spanish police, neighborhood people, and workers before starting their day. When I pay and leave the bartender gives me a smile. I say to them and to the rest of the bar with my voice raised a bit, "¡Hasta Luego!". The bartender, now with his back to me, replies with the same as do just a few of the coffee-drinkers. The rest of them, however, simply give me curious, cautious stares with eyes open wide. Hahaha... I can always imagine what they're thinking..., "Who's that? He doesn't belong here! And why's he wearing shorts and sandals in the morning??!" But I'm not offended in the least. This is how it is.
I don't KNOW the bartender or his son but they always greet me with a wave of the hand and a shout of "¡Hasta Luego!" when they see me passing by the bar on my way to who-knows-where. Little details like this always make a person feel at-home in the neighborhood. I get the same in-passing greetings from the "Chicken Lady" at the neighborhood Pollería, butchery, fruit-store, and convenience store owners.
This is MY neighborhood now. I feel AT HOME and sleep well at night.
Saludos, MadridMan
The place was established in 1952 just as the neighborhood was being constructed. The bar itself doesn't appear to have changed - outside or inside - since then and that's just the way I like it.
It's a street-corner-bar on a not-so-busy one-way street and, luckily, I can see its green-glowing neon lights from my balcony. This line-of-sight has saved me many trips down/up down 5-flights of stairs, dejected, hungry, & morning-grumpy.
You walk into this place and are immediately greeted by the 70-something original owner and his 50-something son whom are CLEARLY a father-son team. The constantly wiped stainless steel bar follows the L-shape of its street-corner orientation.
I'm somewhat of a "regular" of this bar but only for morning porras and coffee. So when I walk in the owner asks somewhat gruffly and without smile, "¿Cuantas?" or "How many?" The answer is alway the same [3] and he assumes my "café con leche" order.
So what are porras? Since there's nothing like them in the USA I can only describe them as 10-inch long, 1-inch diameter, air-pocket-filled, deep fried dough. They don't have much flavor and are not sweet at all. They don't sound very appetizing, do they? No they don't. Churros, the more popular cousin to the porra, are smaller, rope-like strands of fried dough, usually with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Generally speaking, I don't care much for sweet things so I prefer the blander porras.
Porras were first introduced to me for breakfast immediately upon arriving to the neighborhood, my first visit to Spain/Madrid in 1995. Upon seeing them I said, "I'm not eating that!" but was convinced to open-my-mind and try them. So after the first couple I felt like I had a brick in my stomach. BLAH! I though, "NEVER AGAIN!" Ha! Now I have them only once a month.
Here, about 40 meters away, the bar down the street is PURE, TYPICAL Spanish. There are always people having their coffee for breakfast, including the Spanish police, neighborhood people, and workers before starting their day. When I pay and leave the bartender gives me a smile. I say to them and to the rest of the bar with my voice raised a bit, "¡Hasta Luego!". The bartender, now with his back to me, replies with the same as do just a few of the coffee-drinkers. The rest of them, however, simply give me curious, cautious stares with eyes open wide. Hahaha... I can always imagine what they're thinking..., "Who's that? He doesn't belong here! And why's he wearing shorts and sandals in the morning??!" But I'm not offended in the least. This is how it is.
I don't KNOW the bartender or his son but they always greet me with a wave of the hand and a shout of "¡Hasta Luego!" when they see me passing by the bar on my way to who-knows-where. Little details like this always make a person feel at-home in the neighborhood. I get the same in-passing greetings from the "Chicken Lady" at the neighborhood Pollería, butchery, fruit-store, and convenience store owners.
This is MY neighborhood now. I feel AT HOME and sleep well at night.
Saludos, MadridMan
Blogarama