The Madrid Food Festival takes place in restaurants and bars around the city centre from the 23rd January through to the 5th February 2012. This is an ideal time to take a winter sun holiday to Spain and take in this lip-smacking festival which is certain to tantalise your taste-buds.

Gastrofestival Madrid 2012

This two week gastronomic festival, called the Madrid Gastrofestival, puts Spanish cuisine under the spotlight, giving food lovers the chance to sample some of Spain’s amazing gastroculture in the restaurants, bars, food shops and markets in Madrid.

Top chefs, including Heston Blumenthal and Joel Robuchon, will be at the 10th edition of Madrid Fusion from the 24th to the 26th of January. This is a three day event which includes workshops, demonstrations and talks relating to gastronomy, not to be missed on your holiday packages to Madrid in January.

This exciting food festival includes food tasting, special set menus at affordable prices and guided visits to museums and art galleries. The event is attended by world famous chefs who

Madrid

offer special menus in various restaurants across Madrid. You can eat at Michelin starred restaurants, bars serving tapas washed down by a few beers, delicatessens where you can sample a wide-range of foods and also visit the Mercado de San Miguel. This is an amazing restored historic market with food and wine stalls where you can sample a whole variety of gourmet goodies, including oysters and champagne, Galician octopus, Catalan canelones, artisan cheeses, Jamon de Bellota and a choice of wines such as Ribera del Duero, vino de Rioja, Cava, Sherry and Priorat.

Take advantage of the many late deals to Madrid which are available throughout the internet and don’t miss out on this tasty Spanish event.

Over the Christmas period Spanish families celebrate at least two huge family meals. The night of ‘Noche Buena’ (Christmas Eve) and ‘Noche Vieja’ (New Years Eve) are when the different generations of the family get together to eat, drink and be merry. The most popular dishes in Madrid over this period are prawns for starters followed by a delicious piece of roast lamb. Unlike in the UK where lamb comes with a selection of vegetables, it is the meat which is important to the Spanish meal maybe with a few potatoes that have cooked in the lamb’s juices but nothing more.

Roast Lamb

SPANISH ROAST LAMB
Usually this recipe involves cooking the lamb on a bed of sliced potatoes, onions and garlic. This is a typical dish around the north of Madrid especially going out for Sunday lunch and during the Christmas period.

Ingredients for 4 – 6 people

1.5 kg (3 ½ lb) leg of lamb
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
1 wineglass of dry white wine
300 ml (½ pint) of water
2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon

Potatoes (the quantity just depends on how much you want to cook with the lamb)
1 or 2 large onions
4 or 5 whole garlic cloves (or add less if you don’t want such a strong garlic flavour in the onions and potatoes)

Preparation
Rub the lamb with half of the olive oil, season it with salt and pepper and rub the thyme over the surface of the lamb. Let the lamb sit for an hour to absorb the flavours.

Peel and cut the potatoes into slices about 1cm thick and place on the bottom of a roasting tin. Slice the onions and mix them with the potatoes and peel the garlic but leave the cloves whole and add to the potatoes and onions.

Put the white wine, water, vinegar and lemon juice into a pan and bring to the boil.

Next make some slits in the leg of lamb and put some slices of garlic into them and then rub the lamb with the rest of the olive oil. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes, onions and garlic and pour about half of the liquid over the meat.

Place in a preheated oven at 230ºC/450ºF  for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 190ºC/375ºF  and continue to roast it. Baste with the remaining liquid from time to time.

For cooking time allow 15 minutes per 450g (1lb) if you like your lamb pink and 25 minutes per 450g if you like it well done in the manner that the Spanish like it!

Traditionally in Spain this would be served along with the potato that is cooked with it but you might choose to serve it with some roast potatoes and vegetables of your choice.

Spain now has another Michelin three star restaurant. The Celler Restaurant in Can Roca, Girona, is run by chef Joan Roca.

There are now seven three star restaurants in Spain, and the new list as featured in the Michelin Guide to Spain and Portugal 2010, was presented on Wednesday in the San Miguel Market in Madrid.

The other three star establishments are from Juan Mari Arzak, restaurant Arzak (San Sebastián), Santi Santamaría, restaurant Can Fabes (San Celoni), Ferrán Adriá, restaurant El Bulli (Rosas), Martín Berasategui, restaurant Martín Berasategui (Lasarte), Carme Ruscalleda(Sant Pau) y Pedro Subijana (San Sebastián).

The two star restaurants in Spain are Casa Marcial de Arriondas (Asturias), Lasarte de Barcelona, La terraza del Casino (Madrid), y Les Cols (Olot).

The Tristán restaurant in Portals Nous, (Mallorca) has however lost its second star this year.

Many establishments get their first Michelin star this year – El Etxebarri Axpe (Vizcaya), la Enoteca in the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, A Estación in Cambre (A Coruña), M.B. de Guía in Isora (Tenerife), Bo,Tic, in Corça (Gerona), Julio Fontanar dels Alforíns (Valencia), La Fonda Xesc Gombrèn (Gerona), Cocinandos de León, La Broche, (Madrid), Diverxo (Madrid), Kabuki Wellington (Madrid), Ramón Freixa (Madrid), As Garzas, in Malpica (A Coruña), La Cabaña de la Finca Buenavista (Murcia), Alejandro in Roquetas del Mar (Almería), Torreó in L’India de Xerta (Tarragona).

The following have lost their single stars this year – Kursaal in San Sebastián, The Gallery Arts & Food in Gijón, Lillas Pastia in Huesca, el Chaflán in Madrid, el Solar in Puebla de Santa Cruz De Bezana (Cantabria), Read’s, in Santa María del Camí, (Mallorca), la Taberna de Rotilio in Sanxenxo (Pontevedra) and Alejandro del Toro (Valencia).

Statistics
Wineries -  5,500
Area under vine -   1.2 million hectares
Production volume per annum -   33 million hectolitres

Ribero del Duero

Ribero del Duero
This region now rivals Rioja as the most exciting wine region of Spain. Its wines are big and bold with lots of chunky fruits. It is the home of the Vega Sicilia – Spain’s most famous wine with yields as low as 18 hectolitres per hectare and made entirely from french grapes with a tiny addition of Tempranillo. 

Rioja
The region takes its name from the Rio Oja which is one of the tributaries of the river Ebro. The region of Rioja actually evolved out of its trade with Bordeaux during the time of Phylloxera the disease which destroys the roots of the vines before one realises it has attacked.

Penedes
Situated south of Barcelona this region produces elegant light wines, mainly white but the reds are fast gaining popularity.

Jerez Sherry

Jerez
The unique wine that is Sherry comes from an area of Spain called Jerez in the hot dry Southwest of the country. Sherry is a very underrated quality wine and comes in a variety of styles from very dry – ‘Fino’ and ‘Manzanilla’, through to the medium styles of ‘Amontillado’ and dry ‘Oloroso’ to the ultra rich sweet cream Sherries.

Rias Baxas
Mainly a white wine area produced from the Albarino Grape. Some fantastic wines which taste like some of the good barrel fermented Chardonnay’s.

Valdepeñas

Valdepeñas
The name means ‘The Valley of Stones’. Again this region has very hot humid summers and cold winters. Some excellent Reserva and Gran Reserva wines using 100% Tempranillo and extremely good value for money.

Navarra
Navarra is situated next door to Rioja, and produces 2 different styles of wine – traditional styles using indigenous grapes and modern styles like Palacio de La Vega and Ochoa using French grapes along with the Spanish varieties. The quality of wine produced in this region has increased immensely . Lots of ripe approachable fruit with intense flavours and firm structure. The best are capable of ageing. Tempranillo has become the preferred variety for red wine production.

Rueda
Mainly a white wine producing area made from 100% Verdejo grape. Good Sauvignon Blanc made in this area.

Costers del Segres

Costers del Segres
Another newly created wine area situated around the town of Lerida. Alongside the Spanish grapes you will find Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay growing. These grapes have adapted well to the area and are producing some extraordinary good wines like Raimat Estate.

La Mancha
Situated almost in the centre of Spain with extremes of temperatures – hot summers and very cold winters. Ten years ago La Mancha was producing large quantities of cheap table wine but lately we have seen a cut back in production and an increase in quality.

Priorato

Priorato
Producing unique and truly Spanish wine, Priorato is one of the great red wines of Spain.  Rich, robust wine full of ripe fruit with great body and structure. 

Somontano
Another up and coming wine region situated at the foothills of the Pyrenees supporting lots of young dedicated winemakers . This is an area to watch for the future.

Ribeiro
Located in the north-west corner of Spain on the Portuguese border, this region produces fine quality white wines and some very pleasant light reds.

Valencia

Valencia
Large scale production of table reds, whites and rosés plus Moscatel dessert white wines.

Hard Rock Cafe Madrid

Hard Rock International will be launching a new location in Spain’s Costa del Sol this month. The Marbella cafe will be Spain’s fifth Hard Rock Cafe. The new Hard Rock Cafe will be situated in Marbella’s Puerto Banus area, just opposite the main entrance of the El Corte Ingles department store.

The new establishment is receiving a 2.5 million euro installation and decoration investment injection. The new venue will seat around 300 and include a bar as well as an open-air terrace and Rock Shop, and also feature Hard Rock’s limited-edition merchandise.

“Marbella is one of Europe’s premiere and most exclusive Mediterranean destinations situated on the scenic Costa del Sol,” said Hamish Dodds, president and CEO of Hard Rock International.  “With its rich Andalusian history and diverse cultural offerings, we are proud to call Marbella home to Spain’s newest Hard Rock Cafe.”

The new venue is expected to create about 70 permanent jobs (up to 100 in summer) as well as an international “promotion boost” to the city of Marbella.

Hard Rock Cafe Marbella will launch on the 29th October and open its doors to the public a day later.

Hard Rock International has a total of 157 venues in 52 countries, including 127 cafes and 12 Hotels/Casinos.

Entrance to El Bulli Restaurant

El Bulli restaurant in Catalonia, Spain, is probably the most controversial and experimental restaurant in the world. It receives up to 1,000,000 reservation requests a year but only 8,000 get a table!

El Bulli is housed in a whitewashed building, down a rough track. The restaurant is located on Cala Monjoi,  a small village camping ground by the sea, 7 kms from Roses – a tourist resort on the Costa Brava, on the north of Spain.

The restaurant has 3 Michelin stars and has a 25-course menu which takes more than five hours to eat!

Sometimes you are advised how to eat a dish, like the trademark pea soup which arrives at your table in a thin cone-shaped glass and should be ‘downed’ in one go. The texture and colour of this soup remains the same, but the temperature of the soup changes as you drink, starting hot and finishing cold.

Other acclaimed dishes include tasty foams, including raspberry herb foam with a sea-urchin ravioli and oyster jelly with seaweed and tea foam.
Chef Ferran Adria, who earned El Bulli it’s worldwide fame, has invented many ‘way out’ dishes, including transparent tagliatelle, fried rabbit’s ears and foie gras icecream.