The Food Post (and Panther Milk)

Tapas, tapas and more tapas. The moment you all have been waiting for (or at least the moment I've been waiting for), the food post.

Mercado de San Miguel is one of my favorite places in Madrid so far. We stumbled upon it our first day in Madrid and fell in love. It is booth after booth of different delicacies and cuisines. It originated as a fresh meat and fish market and farmers and fishermen would carry their meat and cod to the market to sell. Today there are a variety of options, from meat to shrimp, cheese to gelato and even hot dogs wrapped in a bun!

 

The fruits and vegetables were picturesque but let's move on to the real steak and potatoes (even though I didn't see any steak or potatoes...)

 The aceitunas (olives) were not your typical olives, each was stuffed with some sort of seafood or cheese or vegetable and the ones that weren't stuffed were skewered with cheese and tomatoes and various meats. 

 This is an ensaldilla, or a little salad, that looks like a salad pot pie to me. ¡Deliciosa!

¡Croquetas! These are like little fried balls of goodness. I ate a croqueta de queso which sort of tasted like a cheese curd (what up Minnesota State Fair!) But you can also get croquetas with different meats inside.

After drooling over everything in the mercado, we finally started buying tapas to enjoy. On the left are tostas, which are basically little pieces of toasted bread with various toppings. The two we tried were salmon and cream cheese and jamon serrano. Jamon serrano is the bread and butter of the Spanish diet and it could not be tastier. In the middle was my favorite tapa so far. It is a bread crust with an apple spread and a piece of warm brie on top. And you can't forget dessert! My roommate Liz tried the concoction on the left, I am still not sure what is in it, but it looks like a chocolatey, nutty goodness.

Keeping with the theme of trying new things, some friends and I ventured to El Chapandaz which is known for its leche de pantera (panther milk). The bar is also called "cave bar" because it looks like you are inside a cave. We had to try the leche de pantera and we found out that is made with milk, ginger ale, cinnamon, rum and a few other ingredients that I am not sure of... and it is surprisingly good! It is very sweet and the milk comes from a stalactite in the ceiling! They even give you a little package of candy to enjoy with your drink.

Leche de pantera coming from the stalactite

Stephanie and I enjoying our panther milk!

There will be many more updates about the comida as well as the milk of various jungle animals coming your way soon! ¡Hasta la próxima!