Work through the list in order. Hide the notes when you know what to do.
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Eat cocido madrileño
Chickpeas stewed with meat, vegetables and sausages, served in three stages: first the broth with noodles, then the chickpeas and vegetables, then all the meat. A whole day's lunch, traditionally on Wednesdays.
The three services are called vuelcos, meaning tips of the pot. The portion is enormous, and old taverns take bookings because they cook a fixed number of servings.
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Get a bocadillo de calamares
A roll packed with lightly battered squid rings, no sauce and nothing else. The city's signature paradox: the landlocked capital's street sandwich is made of seafood.
Look for the bars around Plaza Mayor where the squid is fried in batches in front of you. You squeeze the lemon yourself; mayonnaise is not the Madrid way.
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Try tortilla de patatas
A thick omelette with potatoes softened in olive oil, with or without onion, which is Spain's great culinary argument. The centre should stay slightly runny.
You will be asked con cebolla or sin cebolla. It is eaten cold or warm, as a wedge at the bar or in a roll as a pincho de tortilla.
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Try jamón ibérico
Cured ham from the black Iberian pig, hand-cut into near-transparent slices. The top grade is de bellota, from pigs fattened on acorns in oak pasture.
The slices should glisten and soften on your fingers; the fat is soft at room temperature. It is ordered by weight, with bread and a glass of red.
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Try callos a la madrileña
Beef tripe stewed with chorizo, blood sausage and chickpeas in a thick, spiced sauce. A winter dish from old taverns, traditionally served on Fridays.
The sauce should be sticky with gelatine rather than thin. A half portion works as a beer snack; a whole one is a lunch.
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Order huevos rotos
Fried potatoes under eggs with runny yolks that you break and stir into the plate, usually topped with ham or chorizo. Simple and never bad.
The name means broken eggs, and breaking them with your fork is the point. A ración is built for two.
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Try gambas al ajillo
Prawns in boiling olive oil with garlic and chilli, served in an earthenware dish straight from the flame. The oil matters more than the prawns and is mopped up to the last drop.
The dish is scalding and keeps bubbling at the table, so give it a minute. Ask for bread immediately; without it the dish loses half its point.
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Try croquetas
Breadcrumbed balls of thick béchamel with ham, cod or mushroom, molten inside and crisp outside. Homemade ones use yesterday's meat, and those are the best.
A proper croqueta flows when bitten; a dense paste inside means a frozen industrial one. The classic flavour is jamón.
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Have a tostada con tomate
The Madrid breakfast: toasted bread with grated tomato, olive oil and salt, often with ham laid on top. Ordered with a café con leche around nine in the morning.
The tomato is grated into a small bowl and you spread it yourself. Without tomato, just oil, it is a tostada con aceite.
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Do a tapeo bar crawl
The Madrid way of dining: one drink and one small plate per bar, then move on. Nobody spends the whole evening in one place, and that is the point.
The classic routes run along Cava Baja and Ponzano. Standing at the bar is cheaper and faster; you take a table only when you decide to settle in.
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Have churros con chocolate Desserts and pastries
Strips of fried dough dipped in a thick hot chocolate. Eaten at breakfast or at four in the morning after a long night, but never as an after-dinner dessert.
The thicker version is called porras and is softer inside. The chocolate should be thick enough for a churro to stand up in it.
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Try tarta de Santiago Desserts and pastries
A flat flourless almond cake marked with the cross of Saint James in icing sugar. Galician by origin but available in any decent Madrid pastry shop.
It is almost entirely almonds, sugar and eggs, which makes it naturally gluten-free. Take it with coffee rather than wine.
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Try torrijas in season Desserts and pastries
Bread soaked in cinnamon milk, fried and finished with honey or syrup. An Easter dessert that appears in Madrid pastry shops a month before Holy Week.
They come made with milk or with wine; the wine version is less sweet and considerably more interesting. Outside the spring season they are hard to find.
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Drink horchata de chufa Non-alcoholic drinks
A cold sweet drink made from tiger nuts, plant-based and nutty. In Madrid it is sold in pastry shops and dedicated kiosks from late spring.
Fresh horchata separates in the glass and needs stirring, which is how you know it is not from concentrate. It comes with long fartons buns for dipping.
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Have vermut de grifo before lunch Local alcohol
Red vermouth from the tap over ice with orange and an olive, drunk at midday on weekends. In Madrid going for a vermut means the whole outing, not just the drink.
Ask for it de grifo, from the tap; the bottled version is noticeably plainer. Olives or a tin of seafood arrive with it automatically.
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Try tinto de verano Local alcohol
Red wine over ice with lemon soda — what Spaniards actually drink in summer instead of sangria. In Madrid sangria is mostly ordered by visitors, which is a fact rather than snobbery.
It is made with gaseosa or with lemonade, which changes the sweetness, and you can specify. It comes in a tall glass with ice and a slice of lemon.
