Hotel Sterling Madrid

Although once upon a time this dish was very common during times of hardship and hunger and present in the kitchens of the poorest families, with time cocido from Madrid has become the great symbol of this city.

This exquisite dish is composed mainly of chickpeas with potatoes, pork’s fat, meat and vegetables. It is a typical dish for those cold months of the long winter because of its calorie content and it’s strength, although many tourists don’t have a problem eating it during the hottest times of summer.

Tradition tells us to serve cocido in three stages, with three very different courses, that in Spanish are called “vuelcos” and are served usually in clay bowls in the most prestigious restaurants.

The starter would be made up by the broth resulting of boiling all the ingredients and is served as clear soup with thin noodles.

The second “vuelco” contains the chickpeas accompanied by the boiled potatoes and of course all the different vegetables.

The third and last vuelco contains all the meat products. However, in many restaurants in the city they do it in two stages rather than three, first the soup and then the chickpeas with everything else