The Lowdown on Madrid, Spain.
December 18th, 2003 | The lowdown by Marion Wise
Scrumptious Spanish Sweets.
The sweet smell of waffles and chocolate floats your way, teasing and taunting you until I feel forced to enter the pastelería to try a gofrey.
One of the most exciting things about traveling to a new country is experiencing the new, interesting cultural foods, and Spain is no exception. If you have a sweet tooth, beware! In Spain, you can find a plethora of luscious sweets at inexpensive prices.
The gofrey, essentially a square waffle with thick, warm chocolate syrup and nata (whipped cream) decorating the top, is one such favorite. These scrumptious treats can be found at street vendors in Barcelona, or cafes in pretty much any city.
Mazapán (marzipan in English) is another traditional Spanish treat historically made by nuns in Toledo. Traditionally, people went to the convent to buy mazapán, but because the nuns cannot talk with the outside world, they ordered into a rotating dumb waiter and waited for their order.
While you can still visit convents for mazapán, a sweet almond pastry, now you can buy it just about anywhere, and not just in Toledo. One popular spot in Toledo is Santo Tomé, with their main store near the Iglesia de Santo Tomé. In the window of this shop, they have an amazing model of the Cathedral of Toledo ? all made of mazapán dough!
And of course, how could you forget churros y chocolate, perhaps the most famous Spanish treat! Churros, which are very different from those you might find in the states, are essentially fried doughnut sticks without any topping. They are to be dipped into a cup of very thick hot chocolate ? almost like chocolate syrup ? and are delicious!
These are a popular before or after dinner treat or a late-night snack after partying all night. An excellent spot in the Puerta de Sol in Madrid, is Chocolatería San Gimes, which is open daily from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
So, when in Spain, do as the Spanish?stay out late at the clubs, and enjoy your pastry fresh from the pastelería before you go to bed in the morning.
