FoodNet

The gourmet's guide to Europe

1903

Page 158

Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
lift,^ and on the first floor are cabinets particuliers where little supper parties are given after the theatre. The Madrilese dandy wishing to sup cafe ingles, a deux generally patronises the Cafe Calle de Sevilla Ingles in the Calle de Sevilla, where the private rooms are said to be particularly well decorated. The Ideal Room is a recent addition to the Mad- rilene restaurants. The Spaniards de- The Ideal Room, scribe it as La ultima palabra — the last Calle Alcala word, in such establishments. At La Vina P, so I am told by Spaniards, the best cookery of the country is to be found. The a ma Casa de Botion off the Calle. Mayor has been estab- lished for three centuries. Its specialty casa de Botion, is Spanish cookery. It corresponds to Calle Mayor the Cheshire Cheese in London. Most Anglo-Saxons passing through Madrid are contented to breakfast and dine at their hotel, and, before the advent of the Ritz, nine out Hotel de Paris, of ten Englishmen went to the Hotel Puerta del Sol de Paris. The meals served in the low-ceilinged restaurant, with its wonderful outlook and its army of white-clothed tables, are neither noticeably good nor noticeably bad. The Englishman who knows his way about Madrid on arriving at the Hotel de Paris has his bath, and then for breakfast orders Pescado Frito , for all Spaniards are born fryers, and the chef at the Paris is a past-master with the frying-pan. If there are salmon steaks — the salmon of the Bay of 288 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe Biscay — he orders one of those to be fried, and he asks whether the great prawns caught off the coast at Cadiz are on the menu. Tortilla con jamon (omelette with Montanchez ham), Renones a la brocket (kidneys on a skewer), and perhaps a slice of truffled turkey, complete his repast ; after which he lights a Breva de Cabanas or De Book and strolls to the Museo to look at the old masters. Parisiana is in the park of Mondoa, about twenty minutes by train from the Puerta del Sol. It is open from April till Septem- ber. A Hungarian band plays during dinner, and the cookery is said to be good. Madrilene Clubs The Nuevo Club, in the Calle de Sevilla, is small Nuevo club and very select* The Haute Noblesse 3 Calle de ’ and the diplomatists form the greater Sevilla proportion of its members. An excel- lent dinner is obtainable there. The Gran Pena, in the Calle Alcala, is also select, and is largely used by military officers and by civil servants. The Gran Pena admits temporary foreign members. The Casino de Madrid is the largest of the Madrid clubs. It has bought a property in the Calle de Alcala, which has been converted into a most luxurious club-house. Tiro de Pichon, The pigeon-shooting club is at Casa Casa de Campo de Campo, the Royal Park across the river to the west of Madrid. Gran Pefia, 3 Calle Alcala Casino de Madrid, Calle de Alcala 289 Spain Andalusian Cookery