Iberian ham, seafood, stew croquettes and gazpacho: the Pope's dinner in Madrid

The Pope of Rome now knows a little more about traditional Spanish cuisine, at least that was the intention of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy of Madrid, which explained today what the dishes and products were that he chose for the dinner that took place last night at the Episcopal Palace of Madrid. The Lhardy restaurant, "one of the historic houses of Madrid gastronomy and a symbol of excellence and legacy", according to the Academy, was the one in charge of preparing the dinner.

To start, some appetizers, which consisted of organic salmon, provided by Pescaderías Coruñesas; Iberian ham from the city of Huelva and escudella croquettes, because this way they made "a wink to traditional stews", they say from the Academy. Next, the starters, which were Russian salad with prawns from the town of Motril and gazpacho, which contained Galician spider crab inside. As a second course, fish. Specifically, it was a grouper from the Cantabrian Sea, and they cooked it in the oven. For dessert, the protagonist was the soufflé, one of the emblematic desserts of the Lhardy restaurant, which dates back to 1839.

Spanish wines, no sparkling

To pair with the dishes, the protagonists were three wines from two Spanish denominations of origin: DO León and DO Bierzo. The Trapera rosat from 2024 from DO León; the Ultreia Villegas, from DO Bierzo, and the white wine Cuvée Lhardy Raúl Pérez Godello, also from DO Bierzo. Curiously, from the producer and winemaker Raúl Pérez there were two wines, one red and one white.

To conclude, the Royal Academy of Gastronomy stated that it has had "the opportunity to show the Holy Father how Spanish gastronomy serves as a vehicle for culture, identity, and hospitality, in addition to making known a small representation of the extraordinary diversity and excellence of our country's pantry and cuisine".