Gastronomy

The cuisine of Navalcarnero specializes in knowing how to keep the Castilian culinary arts alive and yet at the same time include dishes and ingredients from the latest trends on a national and international scale. This explains the wide range of choice, from the traditional inns or taverns to the most up-to-date restaurants.

The unique gastronomy of the Town has left its mark in the apt expression used to describe the municipality as a "land of wine, lamb and chick peas." Our cuisine shows the care we take in preparing the basic home-grown produce of our land and their use in dishes to delight even the most sophisticated of palates. Thus, the chick pea, whose special flavour is due to the unique physical and chemical characteristics of the Earth where they are grown, becomes an essential ingredient for a truly successful "Harvest Stew", a version of the authentic stew from Madrid . Delicious fresh produce comes from out vegetable cultivation, in particular the Roman Lettuce, which the people in Madrid have always preferred for its taste, texture and freshness.

Many of the inhabitants enjoy hunting, and small game provides some extremely tasty dishes: Rabbit with wild mushrooms and potatoes, rabbit or hare with beans or pickled partridge.

When discussing the Town´s gastronomy, we must not forget the roast meat dishes, a wondrous combination of oven cooking and the quality of the local lamb.It was an old custom to take a large baking tray laden with meat for the family to the baker´s, to roast in the oven. The meat, which was generally roasted in lard, was served with a home-made sauce. This dish can be found on the menus of most restaurants in the old district of the town.

For people with a sweet tooth Navalcarnero has many things on offer on their dessert menu; the popular buns made from oil and lard and sprinkled with sugar, quince jelly and arrope, which is a sweet syrupy mixture of grape juice, pumpkin, figs and melon.