on 15/08/2024
When David España Gallardo moved to Adelaide a few years ago, he was pleasantly surprised with just about every aspect of his new life. “There are a lot of green areas, everything is so close, and Adelaide is great for families,” he enthuses. “The wines from South Australia are incredible, the cheeses are really good.” In fact, there was just one element that his new life lacked… “The only thing I was missing was good Spanish jamón!”
While it’s easy to access prosciutto and many other continental smallgoods, David could only find what he describes as “medium-quality” examples of jamón here in Australia. “And I wanted something really high-end to show people how good it is,” he continues, “so I had to import it myself.”
Sourced from the Guijuelo region in Salamanca, where the altitude and cooling breezes create ideal conditions for curing, the ultra-premium jamón ibérico de bellota comes from black ibérico pigs that wander through oak forests feeding on fallen acorns. “Because they’re free range and walk all day, the meat is strong but tender and they have a lot of intramuscular fat,” David explains, while a minimum curing time of two years concentrates maximum flavour and colour into every bite.
He sources his jamón from Abundio, a house that recently celebrated its 100th birthday, and one bite of the wafer-thin slices is enough to reveal their quality. But the most remarkable thing about this exclusive cured meat is that the owner of the recently opened Bar Madrid is literally giving it away.
“Where I come from in Madrid, we have this culture of tapas, where you get a complimentary bit of food with each drink,” he explains. “Every bar specialises in one thing, so you go from bar to bar and they are places to meet new people and socialise, to celebrate and to eat. I love this culture so I wanted to bring it to Adelaide… It's why I put this big table in the centre of the bar, so that people can sit side by side and talk to each other.”
In typical Spanish style, Bar Madrid opens its doors each morning for pre-work coffees, and David is true to his word when it comes to respecting local produce. Behind the bar you’ll find pastries and bread from Prove Patisserie on Magill Road, Portuguese custard tarts from Saudade and even some beers from Little Bang in Stepney. At some stage in the early afternoon, the hybrid bar/ cafe slowly begins to switch over and customers can decide whether to grab a late coffee or kickstart the evening with an early aperitivo. “This is super typical in Madrid,” says David. “You can enjoy a glass of wine with your lunch or have a cup of coffee afterwards – we’re still serving coffee until four or five in the afternoon.”
Once the transformation into a bar is complete, every drink comes with a complimentary snack, or tapa. “At the beginning, I'm mostly giving tapas of jamón because I want to share how good it is,” David says. “Then if the customers have another drink I ask if they want another round of jamón, or if they want to try something else like cheese or banderillas – skewers with olives, pickles and anchovies.”
Before opening the bar, David was importing Spanish wines and cheese, so the drinks list includes iconic Spanish drops like tempranillo from Rioja, albariño from Rias Baixas and monastrelle blends from Jumilla alongside local wines, and he also makes up platters with manchego and other Spanish cured cheeses. But rather than competing with neighbouring restaurants, he wants to complement the businesses around him. “Customers can come here for a wine before or after dinner,” he suggests. “Or they can grab a pizza from Crust Pizza next door and bring it in here.”
With two Spanish employees, David is hoping to turn the venue into a small slice of Madrid on The Parade, citing ultra-French cafe Hey Jupiter as an inspiration. “You can speak Spanish with us or ask for recommendations for places to visit in Spain,” he suggests, and he has already welcomed several fellow Spaniards to the bar. “We’ve only had three so far,” he says… “But every one of them bought some jamón to take home!”
