In our travels, we will be dining in restaurants specially selected by Gerry Dawes for their authenticity, quality and uniqueness and our meals will be accompanied by wines chosen by Gerry, one of the top experts on Spanish wines, to reflect the best aspects of each locale. Participants on this trip will meet and interact with Spanish wine personalities and chefs, with whom Gerry Dawes in many cases has been acquainted for decades. Although the emphasis will be on food and wine, there will be cultural activities and some spectacular countryside to see and photograph as well and down-time to relax and enjoy the company and camaraderie of our fellow travelers. And, on this trip, we will have the benefit of the insights and knowledge of Chef James Campbell Caruso, who has specialized in Spanish cuisine for nearly thirty years and has been to Spain numerous times.
Day 00, Wed., May 6 USA to Madrid
Flights to Madrid from U. S.
Day 01, Thurs, May 7 Madrid (L, T)
Arrive in Madrid, Spain's capital, where we will rendezvous at our hotel, which will be near the Prado Museum. We will allow everyone to rest and freshen up, then we will meet at 2 p.m. for lunch at a restaurant owned by Spain’s greatest cortador de jamones, Ibérico ham carver (he travels the world demonstrating how to carve these exquisite expensive hams should be properly carved) and sample the best jamón, personally selected by this superstar personality. This will be our first introduction to jamón Ibérico, the world's best hams from acorn-fed, pata negra (black foot breed) pigs. The woman chef, mother of the cortador’s restaurant partner, is a great traditional cuisine cook, so jamón will just be the intro to our meal.
Florencio Sanchidrián, Spain's top professional ham carver.
After lunch, we will visit the Prado Museum with a professional guide.
In the evening, we will stop at a couple of very special tapas places on the other side of Retiro Park.
Day 02, Fri, May 8 Madrid – Segovia – Ávila – Salamanca (B, L, D)
From Madrid, we will drive up into the Guadarrama Mountains to Segovia, the roast suckling pig capital of Spain and home to an amazing 2,000-year old Roman aqueduct that still crosses the city. For lunch, we will have exceptional roast suckling pig, so tender they cut it with the edge of a plate, in a restaurant that has been a must visit for celebrities and just plain folks for decades.
200-year old Roman aqueduct that still spans the marvelous city of Segovia.
Roast suckling pig, so tender you can cut it with the edge of a plate, at a classic restaurant in Segovia.
After lunch we will drive less than an hour to visit the amazing Medieval walled town of Ávila, then move on to spend the evening in the historic university city of Salamanca, whose Plaza Mayor (main square) is the most beautiful in Spain, and just sample an order of tostón, roast suckling pig with crackling skin and other non-pig regional specialties.
The amazing Medieval walled town of Ávila.
We will being staying at a hotel near the southern approach to the city’s famous Roman bridge over the Tormes River. We will walk across the bridge and up into old Salamanca. (You may recognize the Plaza Mayor square in Salamanca from the 2008 movie Vantage Point.)
Day 03, Sat, May 9 Salamanca – Guijuelo – Hervás – Cáceres – Trujillo (B, L, D)
We will spend a little time in the morning seeing some of Salamanca and visiting the market, then head south through the major pig town of Guijuelo, where we will stop to visit one of Spain's top jamón Ibérico producers, then travel south, stopping off to visit historic Hervás (an old Jewish town), arriving in to the monumental medieval city of Cáceres, where we will have late lunch and sample the sensational local Torta del Casar and Torta de la Serena ewe’s milk cheeses.
Gerry Dawes at one of the top jamón Ibérico produces in Guijuelo (Salamanca).
After lunch we will take a walking tour of the old quarter of Cáceres, before moving on to the important nearby hilltop town of Trujillo, hometown of Pizarro (conqueror of the Incas) and Orellana (the first European to make the 2400-mile trip down the Amazon). Trujillo has a major cheese fair every year in May and producers here make great goat cheeses, including Ibores. In Trujillo, we will take a break from pig and have some roast goat and try other regional specialties.
Statue of native son, Pizarro, conquistador of Peru, in the Plaza Mayor, Trujillo.
Storks originating in Africa are ubiquitous in Extremadura.
Day 04 Sun, May 10 Trujillo – Montánchez – Mérida (Roman ruins) (B, L)
What an exciting day we have in front of us! After a walk around picturesque Trujillo, the next stop is Montánchez, an incredible hilltop town, where we will sample the prime hams from this village and visit a hermitage with stunning views.
We will move on to Mérida, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Europe. The Roman bridge across the Guadiana River, a superb amphitheater and arena, the Raphael Moneo-designed Roman Museum and the well-preserved remnants of this important Imperial city are scattered all over town. (One shop in this city has the figure of a Roman Centurion whose shield is an Ibérico ham.)
Roman theater in the monumental Roman legion town of Mérida.
Roman bridge over the Guadiana River in the monumental Roman legion town of Mérida.
We will stay in a lovely converted palace on the main plaza in Mérida (excellent evening lollygagging territory) and within an easy stroll of all the major Roman ruins. At a local restaurant, for lunch we will sample traditional Extremaduran specialties, including more local cheeses and different grilled cuts of pork from Ibérico pigs.
The afternoon and evening will be free to relax, tour the Roman monuments, the Rafael Moneo-designed Roman Museum, stroll across the river on a pedestrian-only Roman bridge and sample local tapas in the restaurants around the plaza.
Day 05 Mon, May 11 Mérida – Jabugo – Sevilla (B, L, T)
We will spend a couple of hours in Mérida in the morning, then ride south, stopping to make a short visit to Jerez de los Caballeros, the evocative and picturesque hometown of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (discoverer of the Pacific Ocean) and De Soto (explorer of the Mississippi River).
By lunchtime, we will arrive in Jabugo, the jamón Ibérico capital of the Andalucía. We will tour a jamón processing plant and have lunch there on some of the best pig products in the world.
La Giralda, the wonderful former Moorish minaret that is now the bell tower of the Cathedral of Sevilla.
After lunch, we will ride a little over an hour to Sevilla, the city of Carmen and one of the most beautiful and evocative cities in Europe. After checking into our hotel, we can relax until early evening when Gerry Dawes will lead a walking tour of this stunningly pretty city where he lived for nearly six years. We will sample tapas in a few places, then sit down in a particularly good tapas bar for some grilled shrimp, fried fish (an Andalucian specialty) and other special tapas, including, no doubt, a plate or two of Ibérico ham.
After the tapas tour, there will be the option of going to an authentic tablao for a flamenco performance.
Flamenco dancer in Sevilla, a city where Flamenco is a way of life.
Day 06 Tues, May 12 Sevilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda (B, L)
In the morning, we will have a guided tour of the Cathedral, the Moorish fortress-palace El Alcázar and the Barrio de Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter), do some strolling and shopping, then travel an hour and a half south to the superb fishing and Sherry town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where Columbus set sail on his second voyage to America.
Langostinos de Sanlúcar (the town's renowned prawns) on the beach at sunset Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Flamingos in the Las Marismas marshes around Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
In Sanlúcar, we will prevail upon one of Gerry’s friends to open his old sherry bodega and let us taste some of his exceptional Manzanilla sherries, then we will have lunch at a beachfront restaurant with more Manzanilla, grilled shellfish and some of the best fried fish in the world. Hopefully, we will see one of Sanlucar's spectacular sunsets from the legendary Bajo de Guia fisherman's beach with a glass of Manzanilla in hand (more on this later).
Gerry
Dawes with his long-time friend, owner Javier Hidalgo, at Bodegas
Hidalgo, producers of the famous La Gitana Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
In the evening, we will have free time to enjoy the Plaza del Cabildo and environs, which has some of the best tapas bars and restaurants in Spain.
Day 07 Wed, May 13 Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Cádiz – El Puerto de Sta. Maria - Sanlúcar de Barrameda (B, L)
Gerry Dawes at a Sanlúcar market bar with langostinos de Sanlúcar. The bar owners will prepare your purchases for a modest fee.
We visit the Sanlúcar market, buy some ingredients in market, then take them to a nearby Manzanilla Sherry bodega, where they will prepare them for us for a late morning merienda, mid-morning snack. Then we will bus to El Puerto de Santa María to take the catamaran hydrofoil ferry to Cádiz, visit this wonderful, unique sea-surrounded peninsular city and its unique market, then take the ferry back to El Puerto, where we will have lunch at the sensational Aponiente Restaurante, where Chef Angel León is doing some of the most creative, innovative seafood based dishes anywhere.
We will return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a 20-minute ride, then have a free, relaxing afternoon in this wonderful town, then gather in the evening for optional tapas, a nightcap and a relatively early (for Spain) end to the evening.
Day 08 Thurs, May 14 Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Pueblos Blancos – Ronda (B, T, D)
We will leave Sanlúcar in the morning and drive east through the spectacular Pueblos Blancos, the white hilltop villages of Cádiz and Málaga provinces, some of which are cheese villages, visit a great mountain cheese producer, then have lunch on local specialties on the terrace of a tapas bar in a mountain town, then ride on through cork forests for 45 minutes to the spectacular city of Ronda, which is set astride a 300-foot gorge that splits the town in two.
Zahara de la Sierra, one of several spectacular Pueblos Blancos, the white hilltop villages of Cádiz and Málaga provinces.
In the afternoon, we will check into our classic hotel, which has gardens with spectacular views of the mountains and a statute of the poet Rilke, who lived and worked here for a year, and reproduction of the room where he stayed. After we check in, we will tour Ronda, see the old quarter, the gorge, the historic bullring and the Bandoleros (mountain bandits) Museum, then have an early dinner in one of the most colorful restaurants in Ronda.
Bridge spanning the 350-foot deep gorge that splits the town of Ronda in two.
Day 09 Fri, May 15 Ronda – Córdoba (B, L, D)
After breakfast, we will take our bus to Córdoba, once one of the great capitals of the Moorish world, rivaling Damascus. We will tour the Mezquita (one of the great Mosques in the world, which is so huge that it has a full-sized Christian cathedral built into the middle of it), and the Roman bridge crossing the Guadalquivir River.
La Mezquita, the Mosque at Córdoba,
whose illustrious past as one of the great capitals of the Moorish
world (rivaling Damascus). We will tour the Mezquita (once one of the
great Mosques in the world
Just a couple of blocks outside the old walls of the city, we will have lunch at a very special Cordoban taberna, where we will have fried eggplant strips along with two kinds of salmorejo (a thick gazpacho that is at its best here). We will also sample the excellent jamón Ibérico from the up-and-coming Pedroches ham region north of Córdoba and other Cordoban specialties.
Lunch at a very special Cordoban taberna, where we will have fried eggplant strips along with two kinds of salmorejo (a thick gazpacho that is at its best here).
The afternoon will be free to wander the labyrinthine streets of the old Jewish and Moorish quarters, one of Spain's finest old quarters, have some free time for shopping.
In the evening, we will gather in the lobby of or hotel, then take a short walk to another colorful local restaurant for some churrasco (grilled pork loin) or steaks and some good red vinos.
Day 10 Sat, May 16 Córdoba – La Mancha – Toledo - Chinchón (B, L, D)
The windmills and castle at Consuegra in La Mancha.
In the morning, we will head for La Mancha, land of Don Quixote, stopping briefly in a couple of Quixote villages (one with the famous windmills) along the way, then arrive for a very special lunch at a spectacular site overlooking Toledo owned by a famous chef Gerry Dawes calls the “Emperor of Toledo.” Our lunch will be accompanied by wines from the exceptional vineyard on the property.
Gerry Dawes with his long-time friend, Chef Adolfo Muñoz, whom he calls the "Emperor of Toledo."
Views of Toledo from the olive groves of Chef Adolfo Muñoz's estate on the outskirts of the city.
Santa Maria la Blanca, the stunning former synagogue in Toledo.
After lunch, we will visit the historic city of Toledo for a couple of hours, see El Greco’s home and the great former Jewish synagogues, then ride about 45 minutes east to the enchanting town of Chinchón, where we will check into a charming hotel just a block from Chinchón's legendary Plaza Mayor, one of Spain's best restored and loveliest plazas, which is like a page out of the 16th Century. Our group will have the rest of the afternoon free to explore this magical village and shop for unique local items.
Entrance to La Balconada Restaurant, which overlooks the charming Plaza Mayor of Chinchón and serves great traditional Castilian food.
We will have our farewell dinner at La Balconada overlooking the charming Plaza Mayor. At this romantic restaurant, Chef Manuela and her husband Isidro, offer superb classic Castillian dishes, including more pig (brick oven-roasted) of course, but with the option of having roast lamb, wood-grilled steaks, bean dishes, fried potatoes with "broken eggs," artichokes cooked with jamón Ibérico bits, bean dishes and other specialties, accompanied by simple D.O. Madrid (province) rosado and red wines. We can linger over snifters of the town's famous Anis Chinchón licor (dry or sweet), watch the peregrinations of the people down in the plaza and reminisce about the high points and comedic episodes of our trip around Spain.
Like a page from of the 16th Century, Chinchón's
legendary Plaza Mayor is one of Spain's best restored and loveliest
plazas.
Day 11, Sun, May 17 Chinchón – Barajas Airport – USA (B)
We will leave Chinchón in the morning for a 45-minute ride to Madrid airport to arrive in time for our travelers to catch their flights back to the USA.
* * * * *
Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?
Poem
by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse
Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt
Huntington,
in the courtyard of the Hispanic
Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York
City.
____________________________________________________________________________________
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36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel
About Gerry Dawes
My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine
enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless
crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce
Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's
culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel
Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019
Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)
Dawes
was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía
(National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on
Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural
tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's
Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava
Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004,
was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles
& Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the
2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature
in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about
Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.
".
. .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià
in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow
narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish
correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food
journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a
self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again
brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane
Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher,
Food Arts, October 2009.
Pilot for a reality television series
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
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