Mad about Madrid

Part 1: The Genius of La Broche

Ernest Hemingway spent most of his life trying to make the point that the food in Spain is superior to the food in France or Italy. I'm here to finish the job Hemingway started!

In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway often seemed more interested in how much food he was eating rather than focusing on the nuances of what he was eating. Here's a passage from Book 2 of Hemingway's love letter to Spain:

"The first meal in Spain was always a shock with the hors d'oeuvres, an egg course, two meat courses, vegetables, salad, and dessert and fruit. You have to drink plenty of wine to get it all down."

While Hemingway was busy eating plenty of meat, my goal in this series on Madrid is to explore the subtle nuances that typify great and true cooking in 21^st century Madrid -- what I like to refer to as the culinary capital of Europe.

My first and favorite example of Madrid's culinary artistry is Angel Palacios, the chef at La Broche (www.labroche.com), and his managing director, service staff manager and partner Jesus Cobo. Palacios is the Francisco de Goya of Spanish chefs: He is an artist who can paint his plates with rich textures and vibrant colors. He can paint with great complexity, or stark simplicity and honesty. On my visit to La Broche I enjoyed a course that was dubbed "Chicken with Crayfish." The secret underlying this dish was a combination of complementary flavors-saffron and chocolate, to accent the prime ingredients.

"This is the type of food that my grandmother would cook for me while I was growing up in Catalonia, where, in truth, this a very traditional dish," says Palacios, who took over as executive chef in the past year and along with Jesus Cobo has guided the menu to a more traditional approach to Spanish cooking. "My goal is to present the traditional and authentic food of Spain with techniques and surprises to challenge the imagination and delight the senses."

Take a look at my tasting menu from a recent visit:

• White anchovy with "Ajoblanco"
• French fries
• Fried egg with red sausage
• Artichoke with duck liver and Champagne sauce
• Lamb sweetbreads with squids
• Rice broth with sea urchin roes and cockscomb
• Sole with beef tongue, peas and broad beans
• Monkfish with liver and corn
• Chicken with crayfish
• Sirloin with parsnip and salsify
• White chocolate with cardamom
• Pistachio sponge cake with yoghurt ice cream
• Textures of cocoa

While I was waiting for one of the many courses to arrive, I viewed a vegetable plate at the neighboring table that was as colorful as an open-air market in the Pyrenees.  "This dish was a good example of how I work with vegetables to create different textures on a plate, with the produce transformed into terrines, cakes, sponges and sorbets."

Madrid Summer Menu

Palacios and Cobo change the menu to suit each season and the periodic climate changes in Spain; the summer menu reflects the vibrant produce that is available locally in Spain right now. Here are Palacios's analytical comments on some of the new dishes at La Broche:

Strawberry Gazpacho: "I make this cold soup, native to the south of Spain, with shrimp essence, shrimp oil, caramelized strawberries, peeled and grilled shrimp, baby spring onion and I serve it with olive oil ice cream. I'm very proud of this dish, as it is the perfect way to enjoy the beautiful strawberries that are at the peak of freshness in Spain in summer."