Madrid winter food

Fall is coming and Native Spanish Tapas wants to encourage joining us for a  Madrid tapas tour, although the cold weather is coming, we can always enjoy some the best Spanish tapas in Madrid our authentic local  Madrid tapas tours. When the cold weather arrives to Madrid (we are at 650 meters above sea-level, it gets pretty cold up here) we substitute some of our good weather plates for Madrid winter food, Madrid is famous for its cocido, a very delicious Madrid winter food stew, with chick-peas, a variety of meats and vegetables. Today we are going to talk about the history of this delicious Madrid winter food stew.

Cocido is one of Madrid’s most typical gastronomical plates. This stew is a must for Madrileños when the cold winter approaches. Sometimes, walking down a Madrid street, the sound of kitchen pressure-cookers can be heard along with that delicious smell of cocido.

Cocido is of medieval origins, historians all agree that it can only come from that period, because before Madrid was even the capital city, other cities like Burgos were already mixing a variety of ingredients and preparing hot stews for the cold Winters (Burgos is 850 meters above sea-level, pretty cold…) Burgos still makes its own stew, but it has a different name and different ingredients like lima-beans instead of chick-peas.

It wasn’t until the XVII that historians can confirm that chick-peas were added in stews, and yes Madrid was one of the first to do it.

Cocido is considered to be a working-class plate, but in the last years, it is starting to get the recognition it deserves, in fact, the Ritz Hotel of Madrid, offers a cocido day everyday Thursday.

Join us for one of our many Madrid tapas tours.