Eat the world in the markets of Madrid
We love to travel, and if there is something that we love even more, is traveling to eat . Luckily, living in a city like Madrid , there are occasions in which it is not necessary to take a plane to take that exotic fruit that they sell in the Colombian streets , or that freshly made fresh sushi , as served in Tokyo.
But where can we get it? In the Madrid markets, infallible allies to give us a gourmet treat, from time to time, with an international accent: from authentic wagyu beef, quality Italian pasta and a pastrami sandwich just like the ones made in New York, even Mexican tacos with ants and grasshoppers . And you who thought that in the markets you could only make the purchase of the week...
Now, the streets of the center of Madrid echo this gastronomic richness with the exhibition 'Travel to the flavors of the world, stay in the Madrid Markets' that Condé Nast Traveler launches in collaboration with the Madrid City Council, and that you can enjoy until April 15.
Thus, we propose a trip through the five continents without leaving the capital. And here, a sample, bite by bite.
RAMEN IN YOKALOKA ( ANTON MARTIN MARKET )
If you are lovers of Japanese cuisine and you love the tavern , surely you already know this stall in the Antón Martín Market, a benchmark in sushi and street dishes with a marked Japanese accent (chirasi, tako yaki, futomaki, nigiri…).
Although if you have to choose one, that is their ramen, on the list of the best in Madrid. It offers two versions: tonkotsu ramen -made with pork bone broth by cooking very, very slowly (that's why it only offers it two days a week, Tuesday and Wednesday) - and wafu ramen , with fish broth, roasted eggplant, egg and pork belly, although you can also add homemade white fish meatballs, prawns, shiitake mushrooms...
It depends on the day and what you find in the market, that is, in the neighboring stalls. And the best price, more than adjusted. yuka kamada , the owner, she was a pioneer in opening a food stall in a market, and she is still there. More than a decade has passed since this… It must be for a reason.
Ramen in Yokaloka
AUTHENTIC OAXACA CHEESE TO TAKE AWAY, IN DOCE CHILES (MARKET OF LA PAZ)
Anyone who has walked the streets of Mexico City will know that there is a very popular ingredient that can hardly be found on this side of the Atlantic. And we don't even talk about the jalapeños, neither the beans nor the genuine tortilla chips , but something as common there as it is impossible to get here: Oaxaca cheese a -so called because this is the first city that saw him born-.
It is a type of extra melting cheese , and that gives that characteristic touch to tacos and quesadillas. Well, if you miss it, there is a place in the Peace Market that sells it to take away -the real one, formed by a strand of soft cheese rolled up on itself until it forms a ball-.
Or, to take in one of the delicious quesadillas that Blanquita cooks daily at Doce Chiles, a street stall identical to the Mexican ones, so much so that it even has a comal in sight.
The combination of authenticity in concept and sincere recipes with the Mexican tradition, the real one, not the tex-mex - squash flower quesadillas, poblano pepper strips or huitlacoche, and chicken tinga tacos, cochinita pibil, Oaxacan mole with chicken, al pastor meat …- it is such that their tacos are already on the list of the best that can be eaten in Madrid.
Beautiful Mexico (and with authentic Oaxaca cheese)
NIKKEI CUISINE IN TRIPEA (VALLEHERMOSO MARKET)
There are not many market stalls in Madrid that can boast of having a Bib Gourmand , the recognition given by the Michelin Guide to those restaurants with excellent cuisine at reasonable prices.
Well Tripea just got it , with a very Peruvian and traveling menu, highly influenced by the Asian world. But don't expect too many formalities, that's why we're in a neighborhood market: a communal table for no more than 16 diners and a short menu , with dishes that have already become hits in the cuisine of Robert Martinez , his chef, faithful to Nikkei gastronomy, the one that fuses the best of Peru with Japan.
One of the dishes that cannot be missed is the shiitake mushrooms and portobello mushrooms, sautéed with garlic and ginger and fried egg.
Plus? The best thing is to try everything, because if you like this cuisine, this is one of those places that does not disappoint.
Tamale of the day in Tripea
REUBEN PASTRAMI SANDWICH LIKE IN NEW YORK ( **** VALLEHERMOSO MARKET ** ) **
We do not shake our hands when we say that **Craft 19** is **one of the best pastrami sandwiches** -identical to the genuine 'reuben sandwiches' made in New York- that can be had in Madrid .
And it is inside a market, that of Vallehermoso, converted into a hot spot for the most street gastronomy for manual gourmands.
They do it in the most Yankee style possible: meat macerated for hours in Craig Kollegger's workshop (its founding New Yorker), Dijon mustard, cheese, homemade pickles, sauerkraut and Russian sauce.
The sandwich is finished on the grill and the result is as melting as it is addictive. Impossible to take just one. And to top it off, it is accompanied by craft beers, the perfect pairing for a simply irresistible proposal.
Pastrami Reuben Snack by Craft19
GREEK MUSACA IN EXARGY ( SAN FERNANDO MARKET )
How many dishes of traditional Greek cuisine do you know? Well, some of the most typical are in this position of the San Fernando Market, in Lavapiés , where there is almost never a lack of moussaka, the best known of Greek cuisine and the most requested by the parishioners of this market.
Emmanouil Choreftakis , its owner, makes it in the traditional style, based on aubergines and layers of minced lamb, tomato, covered in bechamel sauce and baked.
An irresistible Mediterranean delicacy, to eat at the market or to take home. And the same goes for the rest of the culinary options: from rice dolmades to fresh feta cheese and kalamata olives. All very authentic, as the name of the place says, Exargia, which means 'from the beginning'. They couldn't have chosen better.
Here is the best pastrami sandwich in Madrid? Spain? of the world?
MAMMA'S PASTA (PEACE MARKET)
Italy is closer to the palate than it seems thanks to proposals such as ** Matteo Cucina Italiana **, one of those names that leaves no doubt about what they offer.
What began as a small home cooking stall to eat at a bar inside the market -originally it was called Chef Matteo's La Cocin.ita-, has become over the years a renowned informal restaurant to eat great pasta artisan, made in the workshop that the chef Matteo de Filippo has within the Mercado de la Paz itself.
Carbonara, putanesca spagghetti, gnocchi with bolognese ragu sauce or baked pumpkin sauce ravioli are some of those essential dishes that you cannot miss.
Tomato, onion, guanciale, pecorino... Spaghetti alla Amatriciana!
FLAVORS OF THE SOUTHERN CONE AND ASIA (MOSTENSES MARKET)
Mostenses is the opposite of what one might imagine for a gourmet market . Unlike other neighborhood markets, which have been converting some of their stalls into stations for lovers of good food with an aesthetic that is meticulous in detail, this still maintains its vintage soul , with its image of yesteryear, those signs of origin and with the fair comforts.
But if it stands out for something, it is for the multiculturalism of products from different countries of the world, from Bolivia to the Philippines. Wow, if you want corn, recloto or even a banana leaf, you can find it in many of their stalls. You just have to walk around to check it out.
**CHINESE CUISINE AT LILY CAFETERIA** ( MOSTENSES MARKET )
Migratory movements have many good things, and one of them is the culinary exchange and gastronomic loans. happened with Chinese immigrants to Peru since the mid-19th century, which gave rise to a specific type of cuisine with its own personality within Peruvian gastronomy: It's Chifa cuisine.
A combination as explosive as it is tasty. And it is the one they prepare in the Lily Cafe -cafeteria, not gastro bar-, where the menu is able to offer, at the same time, wonton soup and chaufa rice, with salted chicken loin, ceviche, anticucho or fish rinds either. The menu of the day is only 7.50 euros.
Mostenses Market
**COLOMBIAN LULO IN THE MARKET OF SANTA MARÍA DE LA CABEZA **
The good thing about traveling is that it allows you to discover places and flavors of those that catch the palate by surprise in the least unexpected corner.
The worst thing is having to return home and miss all those culinary discoveries that we will not be able to relive, no matter how many photos we have uploaded to our Instagram. **It happens when one returns from Colombia **.
And those who have had the pleasure of trying a lulo juice more than a fruit a marvel of Colombian gastronomic culture -and with so many properties that one day it will occupy a position in the ranking of super foods-.
Well, thanks to a fruit stand at the Mercado de Santa María de la Cabeza, ** Mundifruit ,** we can also savor it here in Madrid. Of course, they do not have lulo throughout the year, only at special times such as Christmas, because it is the time when their consumption increases the most. But think that better than nothing.
Mundifruit, the tropical fruit stall at the Santa María de la Cabeza Market
ANTS AND CHAPULINES IN THE ****** VALLEHERMOSO MARKET ******
**Cuisine chingona is what they practice at Güey ** -Vallehermoso market stall- and we must understand by that name that it is the most daring version of Mexico.
What does that mean? That in its menu, centered on dishes from street and popular Mexican cuisine, there is even ants and grasshoppers , which they frequently bring from Mexico and even France , where the insect market is more evolved than in Spain.
They do it with the idea of "promoting the culture of insects in gastronomy", they tell us from Güey. And so much that they do.
At your post we can give them a bite in taco or portion format , accompanied by a base of guacamole and tortilla chips. Those who have tried them say that their flavor, especially that of the ants, "is quite intense, similar to that of the ham bone," they tell us from Güey.
While grasshoppers are less tasty, but they are crunchy and salty. For this reason, whoever wants to start with something soft, should choose chapulín. And if he dares, let him raise the level. The surprise is guaranteed.
Order your grasshoppers in Güey
KOBE WAGYU BEEF (CHAMARTIN MARKET)
Okay, we know, it's very hard to find real wagyu beef, the kind that comes from the Japanese city of Kobe , coming from oxen that they are massaged, bathed in sake and fed on beer , among other comforts of high society in which they live surrounded.
Well, in the Chamartín Market they say they have it, at the ** Raza Nostra ** stand, considered one of the few importers of this type of meat; It comes from the only three slaughterhouses that exist in Kobe and that can certify it, according to what they say.
Although they also bring wagyú meat from Chile, somewhat cheaper, and surely with fewer luxuries. But thanks to that, this stall offers wagyu meat all year round.
The best meats from the best Waygu bovine breed