Spain's Jamon, churros & new discoveries
MILLIE: Karla and I happened to be in Madrid during Holy Week and it was providential, as Catholicism abounds and we were able to visit many beautiful churches, including the majestic Catedral de Almudena, where we went for Holy Mass on Easter Sunday.
I did not anticipate that the city would be bustling during that time, with many shops open and bars and restaurants open even past midnight.
I had a list of “Must Try Places to Eat” and on top of my list was the Museo del Jamon, which my friend Alicia Cuartero refused to take me to, as it was a touristy place and she said we deserved better! Hahaha! After constant pleading with her, though, she finally took us to Museo del Jamon, and I was overwhelmed with not just the countless ham legs hanging overhead on display, but also the throng of hungry ham enthusiasts like us! We were lucky to have instantly found a table but there were large numbers eating while standing and others waiting to be seated!
The menu was extensive and mouthwatering, and we ordered Jamon Iberico de Bellota, which was so delightful!
KARLA: Museo del Jamon is a deli, tapas bar and restaurant. It offers a wide variety of jamons and dried and cured meats from all over. We ordered more classics such as chistorra, tortilla Espanola and croquetas de pollo. Walking into a corner store full of hams on the wall and other charcuterie was pretty close to Disneyland for mom and me. For dessert, we walked over to San Gines for churros. It was founded in 1894 and is open every day. It is a very small shop, so as you enter there is a queue, pay as you order and wait till you are seated. The churros or deep fried choux pastry was freshly made and served hot, while the chocolate consistency is both dippable and drinkable. It was perfect! We also were able to try porras. It is thicker and a more airy and chewy dough, which reminded me of bicho-bicho but dipped into the chocolate.
Outside the churreria is another corner shop selling San Gines ice cream and chocolate truffles. I would have loved to try all the truffles and maybe a chocolate ice cream if I hadn’t been so full. They had special flavors of truffle such as truffle cheesecake, coffee truffle, lemon truffle, and of course, San Gines Churros truffle, a chocolate ball filled with San Gines churros praline and batter in cocoa powder.
After Easter Sunday mass, tita Alice brought us to one of her favorite restaurants called El Urugallo. El Urugallo is a family-owned and -run restaurant group with five unique establishments around Madrid.
Since we couldn’t make up our minds on what to order, we tried a bunch of appetizers. To start with, we had the deep-fried eggplants with honey, Asturian fabada, and calamares. We also had patatas revolconas con torreznos y huevos fritos, which was basically garlicky mashed potatoes with smokey pimenton. The addition of pimenton gives it that orange hue, topped with torreznos or deep-fried, cured pork belly and sunny side-up eggs.
Churros con chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines
Patatas revolconas con torreznos y huevos fritos, garlicky mashed potatoes with smoky pimenton, which gives it that orange hue, topped with torreznos or deep-fried, cured pork belly and sunny side-up eggs
Rabo de cebon, stewed oxtail in a rich sauce and fries on the side
Cachopo Asturiano, veal fillet stuffed with Iberian ham and Vidiago cheese, breaded and deep-fried, served with French fries and padron peppers
Churros con chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines
Patatas revolconas con torreznos y huevos fritos, garlicky mashed potatoes with smoky pimenton, which gives it that orange hue, topped with torreznos or deep-fried, cured pork belly and sunny side-up eggs
Rabo de cebon, stewed oxtail in a rich sauce and fries on the side
Cachopo Asturiano, veal fillet stuffed with Iberian ham and Vidiago cheese, breaded and deep-fried, served with French fries and padron peppers
CLOSE
We then had the artichokes with jamon Iberico and rabo de cebon, stewed oxtail in a rich sauce and fries on the side. Something new to try was the traditional Asturian Cachopo, or Cachopo Asturiano. It consists of veal fillet stuffed with Iberian ham and Vidiago cheese, breaded and deep-fried, served with French fries on the side and padron peppers. Padron peppers are from Galicia and become spicier as they mature. They are typically eaten when they are unripe and still green. We washed all this down with a couple of glasses of tinto de verano, a cocktail with red wine and soda or lemonade over ice. It was a perfect ender to our meal!