on the plate
Ham, tortilla and the other plates a Madrid tapas crawl puts in front of you
The dishes that turn up again and again on Madrid's tapas tours, what they are and what to expect from each.
Save your place at the bar ↗Five plates to know
| Plate | What it is |
|---|---|
| Jamón ibérico | A dry-cured leg of pork from Black Iberian pigs, cured for at least twelve months |
| Tortilla española | A thick omelette of eggs and potatoes, often with onion, served hot, warm or cold |
| Patatas bravas | Fried potatoes in a spicy sauce |
| Chopitos | Battered, fried baby squid |
| Carrilleras | Iberian pork cheeks, slow-cooked until tender and served with mashed potatoes on the rooftop tour |
Why the plates change
On the Madrid tapas and wine tasting tour the guide picks the food at each bar, taking into account the speciality of the place and the tastes of the group. So the plates below are a vocabulary and not a promise: they are what a Madrid crawl tends to serve, and which of them appear depends on the day and the bar.
Jamón ibérico
Jamón ibérico is a dry-cured leg of pork from Black Iberian pigs, made in Spain and Portugal. The finest grade, from free-range pigs that roam oak forests and eat acorns in the last stretch of their lives, is called de bellota. Curing takes at least twelve months, and the bellota hams are cured for 36 months. It has a rich, savoury taste, with fat running through the lean,.
Tortilla española
The Spanish omelette is eggs and potatoes, often with onions, cooked in oil that is traditionally olive oil. It is eaten hot, at room temperature or chilled, and often appears at room temperature as a tapa, cut into small pieces. Spain argues about onions: cooks are split into concebollistas, who use onion, and sincebollistas, who do not.
Bravas, chopitos and croquetas
Patatas bravas, spicy fried potatoes, and chopitos, battered and fried baby squid, are classic hot tapas. The rooftop tour names croquettes among its signature plates. Cold tapas include mixed olives and cheese, so a crawl usually moves between hot and cold.
What the other tours name
The four-spot tapas crawl mentions Iberian cured meats, fresh seafood, Madrid-style pork belly and Spanish tortilla. The rooftop tour mentions mushrooms, Asturian-style chorizo slow-cooked in cider, Iberian pork cheeks with mashed potatoes, garlic shrimp in a clay dish and croquettes. Those are the dishes those operators describe, and they give a feel for how the plates vary between companies.
Eating restrictions
None of the three tours promises vegan, gluten-free or allergy menus. The rooftop tour's first stop mentions Padrón peppers as an alternative for vegetarians, but nothing more. Cured meats, seafood and bread are everywhere in a Madrid crawl, so strict diets and serious allergies are better served by a different plan, such as a seated meal where you can read the menu.