Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in Denver for the last 23 years, but over the last 5 1/2 months, I’ve really missed the brightness and spice I’m used to in Denver’s Tex-Mex influenced cuisine. I’ve found it in Spanish sofritos and my palate couldn’t be happier.
A sofrito is the base of many Spanish foods like paella, empanadas, soups, stews, and many tapas recipes. At its simplest, sofrito is a combination of tomato, pepper, garlic, and onion that adds an acidic punch and dimension to any dish. In the case of Spanish food, smoked paprika is also added. Our very first meal in Madrid included ropa vieja (yes, it started in Spain), padrone peppers, and pork tenderloin served with potato medallions. Accompanied by amazing cocktails with a Spanish twist, (Marla’s had spicy chili/lime on the rim), this meal was excellent from start to finish and an elevated echo of the food at home.
As much as I loved eating in Italy, after awhile all the pizza and pasta became very similar. Don’t get me wrong: I had the best pizza of my life in Naples, and the fresh pasta across all 10 cities we visited in Italy was consistently awesome, but after awhile it started to blend together. If the snugness of my waistband is any indicator, Spanish food has been a welcome change.
We met up with our friend Maria, who lives in Madrid part time, for an afternoon/early evening of site-seeing and catching up. We had an incredible time touring around San Miguel Market (in search of cones of jamon), the Puerta del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, the Almudena Cathedral, and the Royal Palace. It was so fun to experience a city with a native Spanish speaker.
We had a fantastic Airbnb apartment in the arts district of Spain which was incredibly convenient to the museums we wanted to visit. Between the Reina Sofia (where Picasso’s Guernica is displayed) and the Prado Museum we soaked in the works of Spanish artists Picasso, Dali, El Greco, Velasquez, and Goya. In the evenings we immersed ourselves in the paseo (Spain’s answer to Italy’s passegiata) and tapas culture enjoying some of the best meals on this trip so far.
There’s lots more to see and do in Madrid and the surrounding area; but it feels like we got a really great introduction. Could we live in Madrid? Probably. Would we visit again? Absolutely!
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