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.