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Lovers of Galician empanadas, we have found the best gastronomic temple in Madrid where you can try a traditional empanada. The place is called Mai y Matucha is located in the Chamberí neighborhood, specifically on Calle Fernández de los Ríos, 39. They also have a delivery service and sell their products to restaurants, hotels and events. Their secret? To follow to the letter the original recipe of Mai and Matucha -aunts-grandmothers of the founder-, made with lots of love, a thin and crunchy dough and a spectacular filling.
In fact, they still keep the paper with the traditional recipe in Mai’s handwriting, which, among other things, indicates that the dough must be beaten 12 times against the countertop. There is also a modern and more rebellious counterpoint in these empanadas, as they constantly innovate their filling recipes with international ingredients and influences, in homage to Matucha, who was ahead of her time.
Tastes of yesterday and today
Thus, for the most traditional
are the Mai empanadas, with flavors such as tuna, zorza, meat, turnip greens, xoubas, scallops… And those who want to innovate and have an adventurous spirit, will have to opt for the Matucha empanadas, with original ingredients such as mussels with chorizo, sweet chili tuna, tripe or kebab. The creator of these delicious bites is the chef Miguel F. Vidal, a man from A Coruña who, despite his youth, has already worked in great kitchens such as DiverXO and won the Galicia Gastronomy Award 2021.
If among so much variety, you don’t know which one to choose and you want to try them all, don’t worry because they have created an individual format, called ’empanadiña’, with a smaller size (1/4 of the big one approx.) so that customers can take different flavors. The large ones are priced from 20 €, while the ’empanadiñas’ cost between 5 and 7 €.