English
Taberna La Bola is a restaurant in Madrid which specializes in “cocido” (typical stew from Madrid). Madrid´s cocido is a typical Spanish dish and everyone´s favourite no matter from which social class they come from.
Although it´s a dish of mixes, the “Cocido Madrileño” is very tasty and its preparation must be supervised. It´s a stewpot that´s cooked at a low heat, preferently over coal from oak.
In the last century, the newspapers of the time said that La Bola was the favourite place of the the people of Madrid, but because they couldn´t mix social classes there, they sold three different types of cocido. At midday they served the cheapest one that didn´t contain any meat. The workers and the employees of the area went to eat then. Later, at 1pm, they served it with chicken and it was the students´ favourite time, although it was a little bit more expensive. And, finally, from 2pm, the best cocido of all was served in La Bola, which contained meat and pork. It was a lot more expensive but the commensals were journalists and senators, people of a much higher purchasing power.
But stories like this are abundant in this beautiful restaurant in Madrid that today serves everyone the same dish with no exception. Its menu is varied and there´s a choice for each taste.
If you want to get to know how the cocido tastes like in La Bola, rent apartments in Madrid and feel like a Madrileño for the day.
