Tapas tours in Madrid – The best way to sample Spanish cuisine

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In 1561 Madrid was declared by King Felipe II as the capital of Spain, much to the surprise of its inhabitants. At that time Madrid was a rundown, rather squalid outpost in the centre of Spain, where the cuisine could only be described as basic comfort food to fortify the residents against the harsh cold winters.

As centuries passed more Spaniards chose to make their home in the city, firstly very slowly and later with more enthusiasm as people began to realize the potential of being close to the Royal Court. They brought spices, herbs and other ingredients with diverse recipes from the provinces that transformed the normal, plain staple diet into an exciting menu of dishes bursting with flavor. As a result, Madrid is now considered one of the best culinary cities in Europe.

Those early settlers also introduced tapas into bars. Tapas are small plates of food served with wine or beer. For tourists and corporate visitors to Madrid who take advantage of Tapas Tours that are offered in the city, it is possible to consume a sufficient number of these small plates of food to not want anything further to eat at the end of the tour. Tapas Tour operators know the best bars to go to that serve excellent cuisine, albeit in bite-sized morsels.

Tapas Tours are the best way of sampling some of the best food in Madrid, and in order to completely satisfy your hunger you will need to go to an area where there are many tapas bars in close proximity to each other. One such area is La Latina, which is located near to the Plaza Mayor in the city. One popular provider of tapas tours is Insider’s Madrid, a niche tour operator run by locals with a passion for their city.

With your first drink you may be presented with a small plate of olives or nuts. Your second drink may be accompanied by a local sheep or goat’s cheese on fresh bread with olive oil. With each subsequent drink you may sample Spanish meat balls (albondigas), fried cod, paella, pork in a tomato salsa, prawns with garlic and chilli (gambas pil pil) or a plate of thinly sliced Spanish cured ham (jamon). The more you drink the more exotic the food will become.

In Spain you will rarely see a Spaniard who is drunk, although they can consume vast quantities of alcohol in an evening. One possible reason for this is that when they drink, they eat. It would be inconceivable for a Spaniard to be served a beer or glass of wine without a tapa.

A truly worthwhile experience is to enjoy one or more Tapas Tours because in this way you get to know where the best food is served, and if you are spending a week or two in Madrid, you will also learn the places to avoid.

Alternatively if you are spending a hen or stag night in Madrid, Tapas Tours take you to a variety of bars and allow you to pace your drinks in between sampling the excellent cuisine. In the morning you will not have such a huge hangover if you do as the Spaniards do and “ir a tapear” (go out for tapas), moving from bar to bar until you can eat and drink no more.

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