You may not think of Spain as one of the best places in the world to eat meat, but it is. Spaniards are carnivorous at heart, eating all parts of the local domesticated animals with enthusiasm and in various preparations. There’s one kind of meat cooking that stands above all others in Spain, however: fire cooking.
Madrid is a global cosmopolitan city with a diverse food scene to match, but the city retains a love of traditional eateries of the type lost to time in many cities.
Spain’s greatest contribution to the world’s food may be jamón ibérico, the salted, cured ham made from the Iberian pig. This is the delicacy par excellence of Spanish cuisine, beloved in Spain and abroad, sliced razor-thin by hand and presented on fractal platters, meltingly tender. Many consider Iberian ham to be the world’s greatest ham. But Iberian ham differs from other ham.
Mussels, razor clams, cockles, barnacles, baby sardines, squid, octopus, tuna belly, anchovies. Packed in olive oil, preserved in escabeche sauce or simply canned in brine. Some people claim that the conservas can surpass fresh seafood in concentrated flavor. And they say that the seafood ages in the can and improves over time, much like fine wines.
You may not think of Spain as one of the best places in the world to eat meat, but it is. Spaniards are carnivorous at heart, eating all parts of the local domesticated animals with enthusiasm and in various preparations. There’s one kind of meat cooking that stands above all others in Spain, however: fire cooking.
Spain’s greatest contribution to the world’s food may be jamón ibérico, the salted, cured ham made from the Iberian pig. This is the delicacy par excellence of Spanish cuisine, beloved in Spain and abroad, sliced razor-thin by hand and presented on fractal platters, meltingly tender. Many consider Iberian ham to be the world’s greatest ham. But Iberian ham differs from other ham.
Mussels, razor clams, cockles, barnacles, baby sardines, squid, octopus, tuna belly, anchovies. Packed in olive oil, preserved in escabeche sauce or simply canned in brine. Some people claim that the conservas can surpass fresh seafood in concentrated flavor. And they say that the seafood ages in the can and improves over time, much like fine wines.
The two most important things when visiting wine country are good wine and good food. In Rioja the confluence of local and regional ingredients and refined cooking techniques trickling in from the nearby Basque Country has created a culinary landscape that matches the depth of the local wine culture.
Barcelona’s casual ethos and market cuisine have birthed a new version of haute cuisine. For years, some of Catalonia’s best chefs have been serving diners at the bar, no tablecloth, and by now names like Gresca and Dos Palillos are legendary in Spain. It’s now the most exciting time to eat in the Ciudad Condal (City of the Counts) in years.
With so much variety to choose from, navigating Madrid’s restaurant scene can seem like a daunting task. Before you even set sail, it’s worth taking stock of the city’s idiosyncratic dining customs. Most notoriously, the timetable. Madrid eats late: lunch is commonly taken between 2pm and 4pm while dinner is not much earlier than 9pm and often (especially in summer) as late as 11pm.
A new generation of Rioja winemakers is bringing vineyard, varietal and terroir focus to the region. What these innovators in Rioja have in common is a focus on single vineyards, some planted with old vines. Young winemakers are searching for an expression of terroir–the essence of the vineyard, soil and climate. Vignerons, grower-producers, artisan winemakers or terroiristas are commonly used terms for these new producers.
Priorat may be the star of Cataluña’s wine lineup. International grape varieties have happily been pushed into the back seat by local Garnacha and Cariñena. Producers new and old have sought to make lighter, fresher wines that don’t need years to calm down. The result? Priorat is here to stay as one of the best wine regions in the world.
