Food tours in Spain
 

Hi,
We are going to Madrid, Salamanca and Segovia in late October. We are pretty familiar with Spanish cuisine after several trips to Spain. We are looking for food tours for the more knowledgable traveler as opposed to the first-time tourist. Thanks.

Moved to the Europe forum and tagged for Spain

Most of the food tours in Madrid and other cities really are geared to the first-time tourist to introduce him/her to the regional specialties of Spanish cuisine that they have probably never tried.

So... they will visit an indoor market, like the Mercado de San Miguel or Antón Martín
to sample jamón ibérico and olives, to the Monasterio de Corpus Christi to sample the cloistered nun's cookies, go to Casa del Abuelo for a vermouth and gambas, el Anciano Rey de los Vinos for wine, to Tureens Vicens for almond nougat, to Las Campanas for a bocadillo de calamares, go to La Bola and watch the cooks prepare cocido, go to a bar to have tortilla española, to El Riojano for soletilla biscuits and coffee, to Los Gatos for tostas, etc.

There isn't a company that I know of that does food/tapas tours in Salamanca or Segovia because there isn't a demand.

Visitors will find these food tours in Madrid, Barcelona (several ...I like Culinary Backstreets), Granada, Seville (my friend Shawn Hennessey is the owner of Azahar Tapas), San Sebastián (Gabriella Ranelli's Tenedor Tours), Pamplona, Bilbao, Málaga.

There is also a cooking course in Madrid that teaches the visitor how to make tapas and paella. It's the Cooking Point. And cooking courses in Barcelona at Cook & Taste.

For Salamanca, if you´re ok with going on your own, these are the tapas bars that I recommend:El Mesón de Gonzalo on the Plaza Mayor

Tapas 3.0 (for bravas)

Vino Diario

Ipan Ivino

And if you´re interested in. gourmet dining, the Restaurante Consentido, across from the indoor market, is fabulous and sports 1 Repsol sun.
Another great place for more informal dining at high tables is Bambú, just steps from the Plaza Mayor.

In Segovia, if you decide to have the iconic Segovian dish of roast suckling pig, the Restaurante José María on Cronista Lecea, off the Plaza Mayor, is my favorite of the 4 cochiniilo/tostón temples, and even if you don´t have that dish there, you can sample local tapas at its bar. Ditto to the bar below Casa Duque. And another tapas bar....El Sitio on Infanta Isabel.

Thank you, Maribel. What I expected. I was hoping to hear from you on this after seeing your excellent posts about Madrid restaurants.

Thank you again, Maribel!

Don't go for the big tour operators that hire guides and give them a script and a route. Go for the passionate small ones that will show you why they find their city so irresistible. In Madrid you have:
Best Tapas Tour in Madrid (Old Town Gourmet Tour) (walksofspain.com)
Neighborhood Food Tours in Madrid | Walk and Eat Spain

Walks of Spain with Andrés Jarabo has been around for many years. He's a sherry lover. I know him and have been around with him.
Walk and Eat Spain is the new kid on the block and takes their clients to Malasaña.
But again, these are geared to first time visitors, not those who are well versed in the Spain food scene.

Just curious: If the OP has been to Spain and is somewhat familiar with the food, what could a food tour show you? Personally, I gather the info about the places (markets, restaurants, etc) and just go on my own. Last time I spent the equivalent of almost a full day in the Mercado de la Paz, just ambling around and asking questions and swooning over the bounty in the various shops and eateries..... I found that many if not most vendors are happy to answer questions (to a certain extent, obviously not ifs they are serving a rush of shoppers).. Surely speaking Spanish would help but I wonder if many of the vendors in then large markets do not speak some English, (not sure about that, however!)

I feel the same way ekscrunchy. The food tours are primarily for those who want or need an introduction to the city’s unique cuisine. We do see these food tours when shopping at Mercado de Antón Martín or Mercado de la Paz, but one can go on one’s own to both markets and purchase or browse.

Yes, I basically agree. Y si, hablo espanol bastante bien. I was thinking primarily from a socialization standpoint, particularly for my wife, who likes to chat.

Your wife can certainly chat up the market vendors like ekscrunchy and I do! They're happy to explain and answer questions.

We really enjoyed the Walks of Spain tour with Andres. He ended our tour with a stop at a nice restaurant where we had lots of time to chat with him and the other participants. We spending time with someone who clearly loves his city (and had good food!)

Maribel,
Thank you for your excellent recommendations. In Segovia, we had dinner at El Sitio and Jose Maria. And in Salamanca dinner at Consentido and Vinodiario plus lunch at Ipan Ivino. Almost all were very good to excellent, particularly Consentido and Vinodiario. The only exception: Jose Maria. The roast suckling pig was pretty good, not great. My wife had baby lamb chops that were very fatty and tasteless. Average service. Bright cafeteria lighting.

Thanks so much for your feedback. I loved my lunch at ConSentido across from the market. The chef has worked at some of Spain's finest restaurants, including DiverXO and he's really nice and approachable to boot. I went along, sat at the counter to watch the preparations in action and he composed a very nice tasting menu for me with wine pairings, just 1/3 of a glass in some cases, so that I wouldn't over indulge and continue to enjoy each dish.

Also thanks for the notes about José María. The next time, if you return, try Casa Duque.

correction: I went ALONE, as a solo diner, with reservations and the staff took wonderful care of me.

I'm always amused that some restaurants in Spain don't give proper attention to mood lighting for dining and keep the lights so bright, as you say, cafeteria style. I think about this a lot, when dining out here and am still surprised by the bright lights.

Vino Diario was my evening "go to restaurant" in Salamanca, and they got the mood lighting just right. It's also such a friendly place for a solo diner, and the staff is delightful. It's also handy for those staying at the Hospes Palacio de San Esteban nearby, just a 6-minute walk.

Casa Duque on Calle Cervantes in Segovia has a very pretty, inviting interior decor, but I haven't been yet this year and don't remember about the lighting but the dining room is very cozy and attractive, very Castilian style. It also boasts a Repsol sun.

https://restauranteduque.es
.

ConSentido does not have a menu in English. Normally not a problem for me. But the dishes there are different, often with less well-known ingredients. So I had a hard time figuring it out, much less explaining it to my wife. Our waiter explained everything (sort of) despite language limitations and helped us come up with a good combination of dishes. Excellent, gracious service. A memorable experience.

So glad you enjoyed it. I agree that the service is excellent and very gracious, especially from my standpoint as a single female traveler sitting at the counter facing the open kitchen. The staff took care of me very well.