The Madrid-style stew is a great meal. Besides being delicious, it represents an authentic institution in Madrid; an ancient dish still deeply rooted in the everyday life of modern Madrid.
Enjoying a cleverly prepared Madrid-style stew is an experience that should never be missed during a stay in the capital. In fact, even the way this dish is served and eaten is a ritual—a banquet of many plates, lasting several hours, reflecting the cheerful and social spirit of the Spaniards, who also share this conviviality with Italians.
The Madrid-style stew is a slow-cooked dish made with chickpeas, various types of meat, sausages, and vegetables.
Stews are widespread throughout the diverse culinary traditions of modern Spain, with many regional variations. It is believed that such dishes originated towards the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, and therefore also the Madrid version. There is a chickpea-based stew that Jewish Sephardim used to prepare before the Inquisition began in 1478, called adafaina, which only used beef and slaughtered birds in accordance with kosher tradition. Converts to Christianity later added pork and blood—prohibited to Jews—to avoid suspicion from the Inquisition. The term 'cocido' was commonly used by the late 16th century, if not earlier.
