Madrid is gringa: welcome new Americans
That we love the culture of the United States is nothing new. We celebrate Halloween like every neighbor's son, we eat hamburgers day in and day out; we have even adopted the traditional Thanksgiving and We revere everything that is made in the USA.
We have enjoyed Gumbo and its New Orleans dishes , we have gobbled up all the hamburgers and grilled meats at New York Burger and Jimbo Smoke House , and we have emulated the tastes of Barack Obama himself with Five Guys .
And if this seemed little to us, new airs continue to arrive from the other side of the pond. We turn the tables and introduce you the pinsas, the lobster roll, the mac & cheese and an authentic 100% American pastry in which to 'sin' without feeling guilty. Like Berlanga in Welcome, Mister Marshall, we can only say: "Americans, we welcome you with joy!"
The 'lobster roll' and the 'casual sea food', your roadmap
We start with the delicious lobster roll. Some time ago we told you how ** Lobsterie ** was a pioneer with the opening of its first restaurant focused on lobster rolls and lobsters or how in bocavante they put the best of the sea between two loaves.
One of the last to arrive has been The Lobstar (Carranza, 4. Tel. 91.214.70.57). Its creators had always wanted to have a restaurant in Madrid and they went around with the idea of bringing something genuinely American to the capital. This is how they found the place they now occupy in the middle of Carranza Street, curiously surrounded by a ** Miami Meat ** -hamburgers- and a few steps from ** El Canadiense **.
They detected that we like American concepts more and more and believed that the lobster roll (a hot dog stuffed with lobster) and the casual sea food were going to be his personal panacea.
If we rewind in time, we have to tell you that this dish is originally from Maine where, having a large surplus of locusts, they decided put them between bread and democratize their cost. “In Spain, whenever you talk about seafood, people throw their hands up. With The Lobster we want it to be accessible to everyone” , tells us one of its creators.
“The idea is that here you transport yourself to the United States through the food, the place, the music, the beers and the treatment” he concludes. And it is precisely that even the space has been inspired by the restaurants you will find in the ports of New England, where lobster is fished
Man does not live by lobster roll alone...
To start with, you have to do it with clams au gratin with butter and bacon _(casino clams) _ or crab bites served with a typical US herbal sauce . Now that the temperatures have dropped, they are going to include a lobster bisque on the menu.
The star of the house is, of course, the lobster roll that they make with grilled brioche bread, stuffed with cooked shellfish and a spicy mayonnaise sauce. All of this is accompanied by some crispy homemade racket-type fries _(waffle fries) _ or some addictive fried sweet potato sticks, sweet pickles and homemade tomato sauce with a touch of Buffalo. One of those dishes that will make you exclaim an Oh my God!
Eye, there is still more. We really liked the shrimp roll with fresh prawns and cocktail sauce and the spicy tempura prawn roll, the only hot one on the roll menu and made with tempura prawns, bathed in spicy sauce. The crab roll with shredded soft-shell crab meat and spice sauce and the lobstar mac & cheese, a twist on the classic yankee mac and cheese dish topped with lobster.
And, being an American concept, you might think that on their dessert menu you will find the well-known brownie. But nothing is further from reality, because in this section they have also innovated and brought less-seen recipes. Finish off with your key lime pie or the cider donut (cider donut with apple glaze and vanilla sauce) is almost a must.
Cookies, the queens of the place
Still in sweet heaven, how do cookies, cinnamon rolls or carrot cake sound? Good, really? What if we told you that the first homemade American pastry shop in Madrid has just opened? Is named The Cookie Lab _(Serrano, 149. Tel. 91.411.46.42) _ and it is the project of one of the people who has best imported culture from the United States to our country. She is Dana Knowles , founder of Taste of America stores.
It is precisely next to one of the most mythical for being one of the first, that of Serrano, where she opens her own homemade American candy bakery. The idea arose from a need, to make a dream come true. I had the best products there, why not create happy moments with them? And when the place next door was empty, it was clear to him.
The mere fact of arriving at the store makes us enter a universe of warmth and nourishing aromas. They have some tables to have a drink right there and with a workshop in view of the client, where its artisans do not stop. You can see them kneading dough, peeling carrots to prepare a delicious carrot cake or putting the glaze on their cinnamon rolls.
Its spectacular cheese cake
Authentic American cookies are the protagonists . They are made daily with Km. 0 milk, top quality flour, chocolate from the American firm Guittard, vanilla from Madagascar or cinnamon from Vietnam.
They are all different. And you will be surprised precisely that, that there is no equal to the other, since they are baked and prepared by hand.
And there is still more. They complete their offer with New York style cheese cake, banana bread, red velvet cake, cinnamon rolls... All fresh and without additives.
They have also left a place for savory pleasures with its menu of bagels with cream cheese, pulled pork or gratin cheese. What about drinking? Coffees and teas, smoothies from Nu, pineapple, melon or apple Fanta, vanilla Dr. Pepper or Yellow Cab beer.
We end with another revolutionary concept: you pin them They say that this was the recipe that gave rise to pizza and to try them first-hand you have to go to S!RACUSA _(Doctor Fleming, 23. Tel. 650.53.79.49) _.
We are in front of the first American pinsería in Madrid and it has come to entertain us with this dish halfway between a focaccia and a pizza , at that point where New York and Sicily meet.
Pinsa di Parma
But first, let's see what a pinsa is. Is about an oval dough prepared with vegetable flours (soy, rice and wheat) and olive oil, which ferments for 72 hours, which makes it more digestible, light and crunchy.
Now, what is really interesting are the ingredients that are served on top of it. In S!RACUSA they have opted to offer them with Italian sausages such as coppa, Parma ham, guanciale or bresaola and meats such as porchetta or the very American pastrami. They have also included local winks with the black and white bull (sausage) or some vegetable pinsas.
The best thing is that they can be ordered two flavors in the same pinsa, for that of trying more things, and in two sizes: silver (medium) or sidereal (family).
As man does not live on pinsas alone, here they wanted to give us a taste of the section 'From Sicily to New York'. Hence they stand out boneless chicken wings seasoned with parmesan, arugula, dried tomato, green mojo and romescu sauce -they are in a scandal- or the classics spaghetti meatballs with beef meatballs, mushrooms and cardamom bechamel.
Sobrassada panino
They don't forget about the typical panini, the Italian version sandwich with crispy ciabatta bread and fillings such as mortadella or sobrassada; either the club sandwich , a reinterpretation of the classic based on bolognese, cottage cheese, egg, basil, mint and sweet chili mayonnaise. To get your hands dirty and enjoy like a dwarf.
The liquid menu goes from Italian and Californian wines very interesting and the option to order a bottle of your own blend of wine , prepared especially for the restaurant.
Spaghetti meatballs with beef meatballs