To the rescue of traditional crops

Or at least, it was surrounded by them. This landscape was described by writers such as Pío Baroja. Over the years, the city's expansion spread into rural areas, and native crops were replaced with other, more profitable ones. These included zucchini, eggplant, corn, and vegetables grown in greenhouses. However, some farmers (both Madrid-born and more recent arrivals) have tasked themselves with trying to recover some of the traditional crops that used to be grown right across the Community of Madrid.

Many of them have done so working in partnership with IMIDRA, the Madrid Institute for Rural, Agrarian, and Food Research and Development (Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario). This organization, which comes under the authority of the Community of Madrid, also works on other research areas that focus on the recovery of traditional foods and plant varieties.

At IMIDRA, there are currently almost 50 samples of varieties that have been grown in different towns and villages in Madrid. These varieties have adapted to being grown outdoors in the summer. “We noticed that many of them were similar. For example, there was a large group of tomatoes known as Morunos. They are evocative of the past and are round in shape, with stem scars and blossom-end scars."

They made a selection based on flavor, and recovered the seven varieties that were thought to be the most representative: the Gordo (big one) from Patones; the Moruno from Aranjuez; the tomato from the terreno sonrosado, or rose-colored land (Robledillo de la Jara); the Antiguo (heirloom tomato) from La Cabrera; the Enano (dwarf tomato) from Arganda; the Moruno from Villa del Prado; and the tomato from Olmeda. “Those were the names given to us by the growers when they gave us the seeds, and of the places they came from.”

The piel de sapo melon is a traditional melon and the most commonly eaten melon in Spain. Outside of Spain, however, it is almost completely unheard of. Several growers insisted on the mochuelo melon being recovered. "It is a round melon which is highly prized for its balance of sweetness and acidity. It was no longer grown because it was very difficult to find its optimum ripeness: it's really difficult to know when it reaches that point. We rely on what the growers tell us, because they can tell from experience."

And finally, the azul melon, "which turned out to be a piel de sapo mixed with another kind, the Tendral tradicional, which no longer exists. It had a thick, hard skin, and lasted a really long time—into the winter. It is a bluey-green color, and is smaller and extremely juicy, with a very concentrated flavor. These three are from Villaconejos and were grown traditionally in Madrid."

The IMIDRA project grew out of a PhD thesis on ethnobotany, based on interviews with inhabitants of the villages in Madrid's Sierra Norte region. Growers were asked which varieties had been planted over the past three generations. “We foundall these different types of beans. Not all of them are varieties, because lots of them are very similar. We put them into groups based on data collected over three years and we kept a few of them," explains the Director of the Community of Madrid's Center for Gastronomic Innovation.

The Albalá Association, in Madrid's Sierra Norte, has been growing local beans since it began in 2015. One of them is a judión, or giant bean, which is not technically a bean but is part of the region's allure for tourists and food-loving visitors to the area. Ochavada beans have white seeds and are kidney-shaped. They were originally grown in the town of Rascafría.

Ombligo de la Reina (Queen's Belly Button) beans are round in shape, red and white, and exceedingly tasty. Despite being fairly low-yield, they have continued to be grown on a small scale since the 1950s, in particular in Villavieja de Lozoya and in Navarredonda.

Of particular note is the red bean from Braojos: "More floury, and tastier," according to Susana de Eusebio, founder of the Albalá project. Demand for this bean among the region's inhabitants is so high that it isn't possible to produce enough to supply the capital's shops, although they have been asking for it for a long time.

At IMIDRA, they have worked with a type of pedrosillano chickpea. "We believe it is from Madrid because it has been grown here for years, and has adapted to the land here," notes Almudena Lázaro. They have called it Amelia. “At the moment, we are working on another project to recover the Brunete and Navalcarnero varieties, which are the ones used in traditional Madrid stews. They are more similar to the small Castilian chickpea and the blanco lechoso than to the pedrosillano.

The Fernández Godín brothers are from a family that has been involved in farming for several generations in Daganzo, a town to the north west of Madrid. They currently manage an almost 1000-acre dryland farm, producing cereal and leguminous crops. When the brothers took over the running of the farm, they decided to try conservation agriculture. This is based on techniques that focus on the soil as the most important element, protecting it from erosion and improving its vitality, and creating living soils.

Crop rotation—alternating cereal crops with leguminous crops—is essential when practicing conservation agriculture on this type of farm. And what better option could there be for the leguminous crops than to recover the chickpeas and lentils that are traditional to the area? Getting hold of the same seeds that their family used to plant was impossible, so they contacted IMIDRA to try and obtain some seeds of a variety that would adapt to the land, "and preserve the essence of what our ancestors used to do," explains Alberto Fernández Godín.

IMIDRA is in touch with local growers to get them to include this garlic among their crops again, promoting it across the entire Chinchón region. “What makes it so special is its flavor," says Félix Cabello of IMIDRA, "and its shelf life: it will last for a year outside the fridge without going off." Miriam describes it as "sweet in the mouth and when swallowed, but with a stronger touch of heat. Subtle and elegant.” In fact, you don't need to peel them, according to Cristina de Lorenzo, an expert in gastronomic research, "because when exposed to high temperatures in stews, they're not toxic."

The Aranjuez strawberry is a variety known as Aroma. The berries are small, very sweet, and aromatic, rich in vitamin C, and spring-fruiting. However, their delicate nature makes them vulnerable to frosts, which has led many farmers to stop growing them.

Plans are being put into place to stop them falling into obscurity and to encourage their consumption. As well as the famous Strawberry Train—a train ride from the capital to Aranjuez that offers strawberry tasting—an agreement has been reached to sell them in supermarkets.