Spaniards love their rich hot chocolate, no more so than in the capital city of Madrid. In “The Sweet Spanish Center” episode, I show you how they serve it up in this vibrant city with warm sugary churros. Just outside the capital in Aranjuez, I take you by a special train to a strawberry farm, and then show you how to make a red wine sauce to serve with juicy strawberries. We also celebrate the festival of San Isidro by taking in a bullfight, and then sample the traditional stew of bull’s meat.

In the following weeks we will visit Madrid again with “A Cultural and Culinary Capital.” Here I will take you on a tour of the city’s artistic and food culture. We’ll eat fried squid sandwiches in the Plaza Mayor, and sips an elegant cup of consommé in a historic restaurant. We’ll prepare a refreshing salad of clementines, anchovy and olives flavored with the unique liquor of nearby Chinchón and then settle in for an enormous meal of cocido Madrileño.

Chocolatería San Ginés
Pasadizo de San Gines
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 91 365 6546

Make sure to come by for some churros and chocolate, classic late-night snack after a night of revelry on the streets of Madrid.

Charolés Restaurant
Calle Floridablanca, 24
San Lorenzo de el Escorial
Tel: 011 34 918905975

Puerta Grande Restaurant
C/ Pedro Heredia 23
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 913 551 087

Sacha Restaurant
C/ Juan Hurtado De Mendoza 11
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 913 455 952

Cacao Sampaka
C/ Orellana 4
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 913 195 840
www.cacaosampaka.com/eng/presentacio.htm

Lhardy Restaurant
Carrera San Jerónimo 8
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 915 213 385
www.lhardy.com

La Campana Bar
C/ Botoneras 6
Madrid
Tel: 011 34 913 642 984

Strawberry train to Aranjuez

Train runs Saturday and Sunday from April to July and mid-September to mid-October
For schedules and information please contact Renfe

Train leaves from Atocha Station
Pl. Emperador Carlos V s/n
Madrid

Tel: 011 34 902 22 88 22
www.renfe.es