Spain's coffee culture
In Spain, coffee and café culture is a way of life
Amigos, I hope everyone had a great weekend…we are FINALLY officially in spring! The cherry blossoms are getting ready to bloom (and in DC we are already celebrating…so keep an eye out for Cherry Blossom Festival specials in my restaurants!). It’s a time for new beginnings.
As much as I love my adopted hometown, there is never a time that I don’t miss Spain, and some of the things that you can only experience there…and today I’m thinking about Spanish cafés. Of course here in the US we take our coffee very seriously. But so often, unless you’re enjoying a cup on a relaxing morning, the coffee we drink is usually taken to go. It gets us through, but there isn’t always a lot of meaning or ritual behind it…and people, I think we need to change that, because coffee does so much for us! If you remember the conversation with the brilliant Bartholomew and Renata from last year, you’ll remember they’re trying to do that in Memphis, with their shop, the Anti-Gentrification Coffee Club. Wherever you live, you’ll do yourself a favor if you make time to savor a cup of coffee at one of your local shops.
In Spain, we also take our coffee very seriously, but the way we enjoy it is very different. Of course we will make it at home, but also, in the cities and towns all around Spain, coffee is less of a go, go, go drink…it is a social thing. You will find people in cafés everywhere, relaxing, taking a moment to enjoy their coffee and maybe have a conversation.
There are lots of different ways we enjoy coffee in Spain. I grew up drinking café con leche at my old favorite café in Barcelona, Bar Pinotxo, in La Boqueria market, and whenever I was there, the legendary Juanito would make me his famous café con leche (read about my memories of Juanito here). Some people will have a coffee MANY times during the day, usually in smaller amounts (what we call a “café solo”) — a great excuse to get out of the house!
People also love a cortado, which is made with equal parts strong coffee and steamed milk, or a machado, espresso “stained” with a little frothed milk. And like in the US, people in Spain like iced coffees, which we call café con hielo. And if you’re looking for something caffeinated but off the beaten path…you can sometimes find café con horchata—coffee with the horchata, the spiced milk made from tiger nuts from Valencia. And for kids, maybe you’ll find Colacao, the very famous chocolate drink, which you can order hot OR cold…
Of course, you can’t have a coffee in Spain without having a pastry. In Catalunya, you’ll find xuxos (also spelled xuixos) everywhere, the amazing pastry that is like a croissant for the gods…it’s filled with delicious Crema catalana and dusted with sugar (and you can make them at home for a fun Sunday morning project!). I want one right now!
A croissant for the gods
My friends, today I’m excited to share with you one of the most amazing pastries ever created by humans. It’s called a xuxo (say “choo-cho”—sometimes we spell it xuixo) and it is seriously one of the things that I imagine the gods eat for dessert…or breakfast…or with coffee.
In my show José Andrés and Family in Spain, my girls and I enjoyed coffee and xuxo at Bar Pinotxo.
If you love sweets, you should definitely explore some of the other pastry options you’ll find at Spanish cafés: magdalenas (like a muffin, with olive oil and lemon), or ensaïmadas, shaped in a spiral and traditionally made with lard, as they do in Mallorca.
And of course this is not just for the morning…we have an afternoon pause called merienda, time between lunch and dinner for a snack and a coffee (for adults, of course). Or maybe it’s time for a café carajillo, a coffee drink with some type of alcohol. But that doesn’t have to happen in the afternoon…yes, we can put a splash in our coffee at any time of day—why keep two amazing things separate when they can be in the same glass! Do you remember my idea for a brunch drink from a couple of years ago?
With all of this talk about cafés in Spain, you’re probably thinking, “ok, that sounds amazing, how soon can I get there?” But I promise, you don’t have to go all the way to Barcelona to experience a good cup of coffee, done Spanish style, and a xuxo or other incredible Spanish pastries. If you’re in New York, you can visit Mercado Little Spain and pick up a xuxo at Qué Sweet, and then head over to Bar Manolo for your coffee.
If you’re in Las Vegas, Bar Centro is a perfect place to step off the strip into a beautiful oasis where you can enjoy many of these Spanish sweets, plus others like palmeras and xuxos with chocolate cream (yes, people, it’s possible for xuxos to be even more amazing!) And of course we have all of the coffee drinks you could ever want…
Tell me…what’s your favorite way to enjoy coffee, and where are some of your favorite coffee places?
For ten years I went every morning to Joe Coffee on the corner of Waverly Place and Gay Street. There was a group there who went every day and quite quickly became family. One thing that made it work was that there was no internet connection at the time so people entertained themselves having fun and interesting conversations. Such a special time! Now I live in Hudson, NY and for awhile I searched for a similar community, but all I found was slightly populated coffee shops with hipsters sitting with their computers and never even looking up to say hello. Very sad how technology has affected human relations. I recently went back to Joe and found two of the people there from the old days. It was a wonderful and nostalgic reunion. I miss that time!
Nothing is like going to a bar in the morning in Bilbao or Bakio and having a cafe con leche and a Bollo de Mantequilla. i think they are only made in Bizkaia. the most simple and best breakfast treat i have ever had. And when you have cafe in Spain there is 3 choices not 500. In a real espresso cup not a paper cup. And they are great. I will never forget my Tia always had sopas for breakfast. cafe con lech made at home with day old bread in it. i was never a fan but she had it every day. Before they had white bread in the 30s they had cafe con leche with talos.