One of the platos típicos from the city and region is the cocido madrileño which is a type of carne, verduras and garbanzo stew cooked in a tasty caldo.
The origins of cocido madrileño date back to la edad media, when it was considered a poor man’s meal.
Back then, the stew was made with whatever cheap and readily available ingredients could be found, such as chickpeas, vegetables, and offal meats.
Today, cocido madrileño is still a beloved dish in Madrid and can be found in many restaurants throughout the city and region.
Many places serve cocido madrileño as a menú often on fines de semana when it is more traditional to eat this filling dish.
To make this dish, the first step is to remojar the chickpeas overnight.
The next day, you must escurrir and cocer them in a large pot with agua and a variety of carnes, such as ternera, pancetta, cerdo, morcilla, chorizo and sometimes pollo.
Lots of verduras are also added like zanahorias, cebolla, repollo and patatas.
It’s common to add seasoning like pimentón, hoja de laurel and obviously sal for extra flavour.
With all those ingredients sitting in a large olla, the whole cocido is left to cocerse a fuego lento for several hours until all the meats and vegetables are tender and the sabores have all mixed together nicely.
Once you’re ready to serve, you need to poner la mesa and get ready to use a lot of platos and cuencos as a proper cocido madrileño is served in three sittings.
Each of these is called un vuelco as different parts of the cocido are removed from the olla and served separately.
The first vuelco consists of the caldo and often fideos are served in a bowl and drunk/eaten like un primer plato.
Clearly, you need to colar the broth first so that only the liquid remains and no trozos of vegetables or meat come out too.
Next, for the segundo vuelco diners are given the verduras y garbanzos.
To make this part even tastier, it’s fairly common to sofreír the vegetables before serving them and to add some sort of salsa de tomate.
Finally, for the tercer vuelco you get to eat all of those delicious, tender trozos de carne that were cooking away in the caldo earlier.
After all this, you’re probably extremely lleno and will be in need of a siesta afterwards.
Cocido madrileño is a delicious and satisfying meal that is perfect for a cold winter day.
Its rich and flavourful broth, combined with the tender meats and vegetables, make it a satisfying dish that is sure to warm you up from the inside out.
So, while you’re studying Spanish on one of our face-to-face or online courses at Hablamos, you’ve got to find the time to spend an afternoon eating a full cocido and enjoying one of the most traditional dishes this city has to offer.
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