retire456

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.

Moderator1

Moved to the Europe forum and tagged for Spain

Maribel

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.

Maribel

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.

retire456

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

retire456

Thank you again, Maribel!

MadridProfessor

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

Maribel

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.

ekscrunchy

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!)

Maribel

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.

retire456

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.

Maribel

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

KTtravel

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!)