There were two international graduate students who became close friends and made a pact to go around Spain together one day. That was 2005 and the trip happened 17 years later. Madrid was just a short stop and our destinations were Toledo, Cordoba, and Granada. However, we had enough time to stop by Calle del León and its great Spanish restaurants. It feels wrong to start the Spain stories with food, but I was so impressed with Iberian food that I can forgive my minor misstep. It was not my first time in Spain, I have had very close friends from Spain, and have been exposed to the food for at least 15 years – whether through paella and sangria gatherings with friends or Jose Andres. However, this trip changed my view of Spanish food significantly. I started dabbling in gourmet cooking with the start of COVID and the ability of Spanish chefs to so gorgeously change the taste by adding common ingredients such as olive oil, tomatoes, and a little bit of spices absolutely amazed me. The burrata salad that I had and the jarrete de cordero (lamb shank) were out of this world. Note that burrata is an Italian cheese but the added spices had changed it into an unbelievable salad. There are various cook books focused on Spanish cooking and they will be my fun side book for the next couple of years.
The breakfast equally amazed me. It was my first introduction to jamón serrano and the traditional Spanish breakfast of toast, chopped tomatoes, and jamon. One fact about Spain that was true about all the cities I visited, was the abundance of small breakfast places that gave you the traditional breakfast along with cafe con leche and orange juice for a very reasonable price.
The next stop in Madrid was the Santiago Bernabéu soccer stadium and seeing the museum put together for the Galácticos. Real Madrid has had this old tradition of hiring world class superstars. While the term Galáctico was coined for these stars in 2000, the tradition starts with Alfredo Di Stéfano, Francisco Gento, and Ferenc Puskás in the 50s. It was a personal visit as my father repeated these names to himself as a teenage soccer player in the making in the 50s, and this is the main reason that even though there were more historical Galácticos, I kept the names to the three I have noted here. With this policy, the club won six European championships in the 50s and 60s, and seven more in the past 25 years, making them the most successful European club. In addition to the trophies, the club has kept some of the ballon d’ors and personal shoes of the players, which was nice to see.
After the visit to Santiago Bernabéu, we left for Toledo, but of course, we had to stop for some more food. I will not praise the Iberian food more than I did above, but the photo is self-explanatory.
