No Reservations Season 7 Episode 11: Madrid
Tony travels to Madrid to partake in their finest product to his mind, Jamon Iberico ham. In the intro to the episode Tony sits at a table with guide Gaspar, who slices off thin pieces of aged ham from the whole leg of a pig for them to eat. As Tony eats the Jamon Iberico ham he starts a rant about his friend, Chef Mario Batali’s PBS travel show on Spain, and Mario’s friend Gwenyth Paltrow, a vegetarian, who accompanied him on the trip “Message to Gwenyth Paltrow: I don’t know what the f**k is the matter with you. How can you drive across Spain and not eat ham? Mario, I love you, but why did you bring along the one f**king kid in the world who can’t eat ham? I’m pretty sure God’s against that.”
Tony is visiting amid Spain’s 2010 World Cup championship win, and experiences celebrations in the streets for three days. Tony and guide Gaspar, a food writer, sit down to breakfast at Bodega de la Ardosa, one of Madrid’s oldest tapas bars, known for its Tortilla de Patatas, aka a Spanish omelet. Tony tastes a coddled egg and is over the moon for its flavor, telling the audience “As the world’s number one egg whore, that’s already guaranteed a good time.” Tony and Gaspar visit the outdoor market where they look at the fine local fish and taste fried octopus.
Next Tony and Gaspar visit Casa Salvador, a restaurant Tony says is frozen in time. The restaurant’s famous clientele once included Hemingway, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, and Ava Gardner. Tony learns that Ava Gardner had a thing for bullfighters, many who hung out at the restaurant in Gardner’s heyday. Tony quips “Best I can understand, this was a place for the cream of the bullfighting elite and the women who liked to f**k them.” Tony and Gaspar partake in some of the food Casa Salvador is known for: Spanish stews, soups and fresh fish, hake, and their oxtail stew, one of Tony’s favorites. Tony tastes the oxtail stew and proclaims it is perfectly cooked, falling off the bone.
The next day amid the second day of World Cup celebrations, Tony and Gaspar eat at Taberna San Mames, where they are famous for their tripe and their croquettes. Taberna San Mames serves a traditional Madrid dish of tripe called “a la Madrillena”. Tripe is another of Tony’s favorite foods. The tripe dish is made with chorizo, and is considered an everyday dish in Madrid home kitchens.
Tony meets with David and Angela Munoz at their restaurant Diverxo, one of the toughest reservations to get in Madrid. Chef Munoz won his first Michelin star in 2009 as well as the 2010 National Gastronomy Award for Best Chef. David and Angela have just gotten married, in fact earlier that day, yet take time to meet with Tony and cook a meal for him. Chef Munoz combines the flavors of Spain with Chinese. Tony tells the audience “One the things I love best about David’s cooking is that it sounds, to me anyway, like something that should probably suck”, to which Tony says “But it does not suck…oh no!” Various dishes flood out of the kitchen to Tony’s table, including crab, Spanish suckling pig, shabu shabu, dumplings, and Tony’s favorite dish, a black pudding dim sum, quail egg, and pig’s ear with sweet and sour sauce that Tony finds exquisite: “I love my wife, I love my daughter, and then I love this.” Tony thanks David and Angela for taking time to dine with him, calling the experience “An extraordinary meal! It was amazing!”
The third day of World Cup celebrations finds Madrid quieting down as revelers are exhausted from two days of parties. Tony and old friend Lucy Garcia visit Gabinoteca, one of Madrid’s best gastro pubs, specializing in classical and unique tapas. Tony is fascinated with the tapas of cheese and whiskey. Tony and Lucy continue their tapas meal with foie gras; a tiny hot dog sausage made of veal with cheese sauce and crispy onions; flattened prawns; pureed potato, egg and truffle; and roasted chicken wings marinated in lime, soy sauce and honey. When the strawberry dessert arrives, Tony grabs the nitrous oxide canister and jokingly states he’s getting high by hoovering down a dose or two of the contents.
Tony travels outside Madrid to sheep country, where the shepherds lead their sheep this time of year on a 2,000 mile trip. The head shepherd tells Tony the sheep’s cheese is flavored with the grass flavor of the fields. The shepherds work on a lamb stew, flavored with wine, ingredients from the market and wild thyme plucked from the roadside. As Tony waits for the stew to cook down, he takes a nap. After his afternoon siesta Tony notices grass stains on his back and tells the audience “I look like I’ve been enjoying myself with the sheep a little too much.” Tony and the shepherds enjoy a lunch of lamb stew and freshly made pungent sheep’s cheese on bread.
Tony and Gaspar visit El Bohio, a Michelin star restaurant. They drink quite a bit of wine and feast on a terrine of foie gras and sardines; meat stewed with garbonzo beans; and a dish that looks like a giant truffle but is in fact a piece of delicious meat. Tony remarks on the amount of wine they have drunk, saying “In other countries, binge drinking at a Michelin starred restaurant might be frowned upon. But in Spain, apparently, it’s perfectly acceptable. At least, I hope it is.”
Tony and Gaspar meet up with local chefs to break bread and eat great food. Gaspar cuts thin slices of Jamon Iberico ham off an aged pig leg. Tony finds himself mesmerized by the taste, and calls the ham “Ridiculously good!” The black hoofed pig leg is aged four years, and Tony and Gaspar both regard this as the finest food Spain has to offer. Tony calms down and keeps eating the ham, telling the audience “To pass through Spain and not try this most traditional, most loved expression of Spanish history and culture is like letting the great love of one’s like slip through one’s fingers.”
Tony and Gaspar join with the local chefs as they cook up a fisherman’s stew; a tuna fish, potato and dried red peppers dish; tacos; marinated shrimp; and a dish with eggs, white anchovies, and tortillas; and more glorious Jamon Iberico ham. Chefs and locals continue to drink wine as guitars play music and guests dance. Tony beams, telling the audience Spain is “An amazing country!”
