Botín in literature
(1967)Almudena de ArteagaManuel (Godoy), whom I, and not for my taste, knew so well, was a man of deep-rooted routines that whenever he stopped in the villa and court he repeated his route: he would leave the Palace to go through the streets of the Cava Alta on the way out and the Baja on the way back, crossing the Plaza Mayor, from which he would exit through the Arco de Cuchilleros to go to the Botín inn, where a mug of hot chocolate with fritters invariably awaited him. He used to ride back down the Cuesta de la Vega...
The history of Madrid and Botín are interwoven and converge not only in the collective imagination, but also in literature over three centuries.
Back in 1620, the area of the Cava de San Miguel and what is now the Plaza Mayor of Madrid were a hotbed of people of the best and worst kind: where Lope de Vega found the profile of the rogues who would star in his theater. Already in the 19th century, this traditional neighborhood served as the setting for many of the novels of Benito Pérez Galdós, in what is known as Madrid Galdosiano.
Many other authors have found in the neighborhood the perfect place for characters and plot to evolve: Botín has the honor of being part of some of those imaginary worlds.
Botín's roots in Madrid are so deep-rooted that it has given rise to a traditional saying
Ever since I was a little boy and liked suckling pig, I always wanted to go to Botín to eat like a suckling pig.
(1866 - 1943)Carlos ArnichesAntonio: Well, yes sir, I want the party to be at my house, because Casa Botín is a public establishment and I don't want Regina to go in there and give me a lecture.
XIX Century
Benito Pérez Galdós(1843 - 1920), Spanish author, chronicler and politician."Fortunata and Jacinta", (1886).
Last night he dined at the pastry shop of Botín's nephew, in Cuchilleros street...
"Mercy," (1896).
Now, Celedonia, put on your new skirt, you're going to Botín's house. I'll write down on a little piece of paper what I want, so you won't make a mistake.
Mariano de Cavia(1855 - 1920), Spanish journalist and bullfighting critic.He mentions Casa Botín in some pieces of his series on politics, customs, society and much more "Platos del Día", which he wrote for "El Liberal".
Mention in article published in "El Sol":
Here is the vapor of the tasty and substantial influence floating between the old but always young and neat walls of Casa Botín, thanks to those tiles, slippery due to the centuries that glide over them without breaking or staining them.
Beginning of the 20th century
Carlos Arniches(1866 - 1943), Spanish author of sainetes and comedies."The Feast of San Antón", (1898).
Antonio: Well, yes sir, I want the party to be at my house, because Casa Botín is a public establishment and I don't want Regina to go in there and give me a lecture.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna(1888 - 1963), Spanish writer and journalist.He dedicated several of his "Greguerías" to Casa Botín:
He dedicated several of his "Greguerías" to Casa Botín:
Botín is the great restaurant where new things are roasted in old casseroles.
Botín seems to have always existed and Adam and Eve have eaten there the first pork stew ever cooked in the world.
In the old Botín of the old Cuchilleros street, there is also the lechoncito, the touching lechoncito, before which we would cry as if it were our children because it seems to us that they are going to tell us: Baptized, so many pesetas, and without baptizing so many less.
Botín will celebrate its golden, silver, diamond and even fossil wedding anniversaries.
Alfonso Reyes(1889 - 1959), Mexican author."Minuta, memoirs of kitchen and wine cellar", (1953).
Apart from the French restaurants, the venerable Botín reigned at the court, where there was less modernity, but more authentic cuisine than in many renowned European inns. The windows of Botín boasted those little suckling pigs with lettuce on their trunks that have achieved just fame. Those matronly casseroles -planets of clay and fire carved in the rotation of the ages-, had been soaked in grease for several centuries: perhaps Quevedo himself had once dipped them...
Indalecio Prieto(1883 - 1962), Spanish politician and journalist."My life: memories, prints, silhouettes, shadows", (1965).
...The following Saturday, at one of those weekly dinners at Botín's house that I usually attended, with Julio Romero de Torres, Anselmo Miguel Nieto, Julián Moisés, Juan Cristóbal, Pérez de Ayala, Valle Inclán, Enrique de Mesa and other artists and writers, Sebastián Miranda, wanting to make the payment in front of witnesses, returned the five duros from Julio Camba who with them covered his share of the cost of the roast goat and the tasty bartar; Sebastián Miranda, wanting to make the payment before witnesses, returned the five duros from Julio Camba who with them covered his share of the cost of the roasted kids and the tasty bartolillos that since 1725 had been served at the famous tavern on Cuchilleros Street, food of which we consumed in abundance.
Arturo Barea(1897 - 1957), Spanish writer. "The Forge of a Rebel", (1941 - 1946).
...she goes alone, or with one of us, to Botín's house, which is a very old restaurant in Madrid, and orders a suckling pig to be roasted. She eats it -if we don't go- by herself, with a big bowl of lettuce and a liter of wine.
Ernest Hemingway(1899 - 1961), American writer and journalist, Pulitzer Prize 1953, Nobel Prize 1954."Death in the afternoon" , (1932)
…but in the meantime, I preferred to have suckling pig at Botín rather than sit and think about the accidents that might befall my friends.
"Fiesta", (1926)
We ate at Botin in the upstairs dining room. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast suckling pig and rioja alta. Brett didn't eat much. He never ate much. I ate a good lunch and drank three bottles of rioja alta.
Mid-twentieth century
Francisco de Sert((1940)), Count of Sert, Spanish gastronome.In his book "El Goloso, una historia europea de la buena mesa" he describes an official meal that Alfonso XII offered to Edward VII on the occasion of the visit of this monarch to Spain. In the menu that has been preserved from that event, it is stated that one of the desserts was "bartolillos a la Botín".
Graham Greene(1904 - 1991), British novelist."Monsignor Quixote", (1982).
...I propose that before buying the purple socks we treat ourselves to a good lunch at Botin...
James A. Michener(1907 - 1997), American writer and novelist, Pulitzer Prize 1948."Iberia", (1968)
...and went to eat at a good restaurant just off the Plaza Mayor, Botín, which dates back to 1725.
Antonio de Obregón(1911 - 1985), Spanish writer and journalist.Newspaper section 'Madrid al Día' (Madrid al Día)
In Botín, nationalities come together and fraternize, without problems, as the bastion of peace that it is.
Michael Aaron Rockland(1935), American writer and professor, former cultural attaché at the American embassy in Madrid."A Diplomat in Franco's Spain," (2011), mentions his dinner at Botin with Martin Luther King shortly before he was assassinated:
... The limousine and the ambassador's chauffeur were waiting for us on the street and with great pomp we headed for the Botín restaurant, located on Cuchilleros Street, just past the Plaza Mayor. I knew that this was the place most frequented by tourists since Hemingway had chosen it as the end of his novel Fiesta...
Frederick Forsyth(1938), British writer of crime novels."The Black Manifesto", (1996)
Three nights later the two men arrive separately on a small street in Madrid's old quarter, Cuchilleros. Halfway down what is but an alleyway is an old plank door that opens into a cellar after descending a few steps. The cellar has brick arches and is an old bodega dating back to the Middle Ages. For many years it has served typical Spanish cuisine under the name Sobrinos de Botín. The old arches divide the space into compartments with a table in the center, and Monk and his guest had one to themselves.
End of the 20th century
Lorenzo Diaz(1948), Spanish Gastronome.In a letter written in Latin to Messrs. Bonilla and Canseco by Mr. Ismael Calvo, magistrate, he accepts their invitation to eat at Casa Botín, back in 1917.
"Madrid. Bodegas, Mesones, Fondas y Restaurantes" and in other of his books.
Ismael, viris illustribus doctissimis antecesoribus Bonilla et Canseco L.P.D. Dilectissimi amici: grata fuit mihi epistola vostra, quam ego accepi, instantissimam consumere prandium apud Botinum. Decimo Calendas Maii mihi conveniens est, ...
Soledad Galán(1952), Spanish writer. "The Devil in the Body," (2015).
...I told Francisco that we were going to have some red wine and some wood-fired lamb at Casa Botín...
...It is said that Botín's roast lamb composes hendecasyllables on the palate...
Antonio Gómez Rufo(1954), Spanish writer."Madrid. La Novela", (2016)
-What will you call your inn?
-Botin. As was the name of my good friend Pierre's father.
-Botin. As was the name of my good friend Pierre's father.
And when the González family took over the business in the 20th century, that family business formed by Amparo Martín, Emilio González and their sons Antonio and José was still a small business with seven employees living on the third floor of the building.
...And, when the war ended, the sons of the family, Antonio and José, continued forever with the endeavor, like their sons Antonio, José and Carlos: an inn in which the soul of the man who, in 1725, paid eternal homage to a Frenchman, Jean Botin, who arrived in Madrid wanting to be a cook and, without knowing it, was the seed of a corner of Madrid that has flown over the times of history.
Nieves Herrero(1957), Spanish writer and journalist."Like there's no tomorrow", (2015).
... Luis Miguel went to lunch with his friend Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera at Casa Botín, on Cuchilleros street.
María Dueñas(1964), Spanish writer. "El Tiempo entre costuras", (2009).
I call him my friend Guillermo, in Spanish; he speaks our language very well, he lived in Chile for a while. A few days ago we met for lunch at Botín, he loves Cochinillo ....
"Mission Oblivion " ( 2012 )
I have already told my daughter-in-law that I am going to go to her house early that afternoon and I am going to roast a suckling pig that they are going to bring me from my town that will be at least as tasty as the ones from Casa Botín.
Almudena de Arteaga(1967), Duchess of Infantado, Spanish writer, winner of the Azorín Novel Prize 2012."Caprice", (2012)
Manuel (Godoy), whom I, and not for my taste, knew so well, was a man of deep-rooted routines that whenever he stopped in the villa and court he repeated his route: he would leave the Palace to go through the streets of the Cava Alta on the way out and the Baja on the way back, crossing the Plaza Mayor, from which he would exit through the Arco de Cuchilleros to go to the Botín inn, where a mug of hot chocolate with fritters invariably awaited him. He used to ride back down the Cuesta de la Vega...
Botín in literature
The history of Madrid and Botín are interwoven and converge not only in the collective imagination, but also in literature over three centuries.
Back in 1620, the area of the Cava de San Miguel and what is now the Plaza Mayor of Madrid were a hotbed of people of the best and worst kind: where Lope de Vega found the profile of the rogues who would star in his theater. Already in the 19th century, this traditional neighborhood served as the setting for many of the novels of Benito Pérez Galdós, in what is known as Madrid Galdosiano.
Many other authors have found in the neighborhood the perfect place for characters and plot to evolve: Botín has the honor of being part of some of those imaginary worlds.
Botín's roots in Madrid are so deep-rooted that it has given rise to a traditional saying
Ever since I was a little boy and liked suckling pig, I always wanted to go to Botín to eat like a suckling pig.
XIX Century
Benito Pérez Galdós(1843 - 1920), Spanish author, chronicler and politician."Fortunata and Jacinta", (1886).
Last night he dined at the pastry shop of Botín's nephew, in Cuchilleros street...
"Mercy," (1896).
Now, Celedonia, put on your new skirt, you're going to Botín's house. I'll write down on a little piece of paper what I want, so you won't make a mistake.
Mariano de Cavia(1855 - 1920), Spanish journalist and bullfighting critic.He mentions Casa Botín in some pieces of his series on politics, customs, society and much more "Platos del Día", which he wrote for "El Liberal".
Mention in article published in "El Sol":
Here is the vapor of the tasty and substantial influence floating between the old but always young and neat walls of Casa Botín, thanks to those tiles, slippery due to the centuries that glide over them without breaking or staining them.
Beginning of the 20th century
Carlos Arniches(1866 - 1943), Spanish author of sainetes and comedies."The Feast of San Antón", (1898).
Antonio: Well, yes sir, I want the party to be at my house, because Casa Botín is a public establishment and I don't want Regina to go in there and give me a lecture.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna(1888 - 1963), Spanish writer and journalist.He dedicated several of his "Greguerías" to Casa Botín:
He dedicated several of his "Greguerías" to Casa Botín:
Botín is the great restaurant where new things are roasted in old casseroles.
Botín seems to have always existed and Adam and Eve have eaten there the first pork stew ever cooked in the world.
In the old Botín of the old Cuchilleros street, there is also the lechoncito, the touching lechoncito, before which we would cry as if it were our children because it seems to us that they are going to tell us: Baptized, so many pesetas, and without baptizing so many less.
Botín will celebrate its golden, silver, diamond and even fossil wedding anniversaries.
Alfonso Reyes(1889 - 1959), Mexican author."Minuta, memoirs of kitchen and wine cellar", (1953).
Apart from the French restaurants, the venerable Botín reigned at the court, where there was less modernity, but more authentic cuisine than in many renowned European inns. The windows of Botín boasted those little suckling pigs with lettuce on their trunks that have achieved just fame. Those matronly casseroles -planets of clay and fire carved in the rotation of the ages-, had been soaked in grease for several centuries: perhaps Quevedo himself had once dipped them...
Indalecio Prieto(1883 - 1962), Spanish politician and journalist."My life: memories, prints, silhouettes, shadows", (1965).
...The following Saturday, at one of those weekly dinners at Botín's house that I usually attended, with Julio Romero de Torres, Anselmo Miguel Nieto, Julián Moisés, Juan Cristóbal, Pérez de Ayala, Valle Inclán, Enrique de Mesa and other artists and writers, Sebastián Miranda, wanting to make the payment in front of witnesses, returned the five duros from Julio Camba who with them covered his share of the cost of the roast goat and the tasty bartar; Sebastián Miranda, wanting to make the payment before witnesses, returned the five duros from Julio Camba who with them covered his share of the cost of the roasted kids and the tasty bartolillos that since 1725 had been served at the famous tavern on Cuchilleros Street, food of which we consumed in abundance.
Arturo Barea(1897 - 1957), Spanish writer. "The Forge of a Rebel", (1941 - 1946).
...she goes alone, or with one of us, to Botín's house, which is a very old restaurant in Madrid, and orders a suckling pig to be roasted. She eats it -if we don't go- by herself, with a big bowl of lettuce and a liter of wine.
Ernest Hemingway(1899 - 1961), American writer and journalist, Pulitzer Prize 1953, Nobel Prize 1954."Death in the afternoon" , (1932)
…but in the meantime, I preferred to have suckling pig at Botín rather than sit and think about the accidents that might befall my friends.
"Fiesta", (1926)
We ate at Botin in the upstairs dining room. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast suckling pig and rioja alta. Brett didn't eat much. He never ate much. I ate a good lunch and drank three bottles of rioja alta.
Mid-twentieth century
Francisco de Sert((1940)), Count of Sert, Spanish gastronome.In his book "El Goloso, una historia europea de la buena mesa" he describes an official meal that Alfonso XII offered to Edward VII on the occasion of the visit of this monarch to Spain. In the menu that has been preserved from that event, it is stated that one of the desserts was "bartolillos a la Botín".
Graham Greene(1904 - 1991), British novelist."Monsignor Quixote", (1982).
...I propose that before buying the purple socks we treat ourselves to a good lunch at Botin...
James A. Michener(1907 - 1997), American writer and novelist, Pulitzer Prize 1948."Iberia", (1968)
...and went to eat at a good restaurant just off the Plaza Mayor, Botín, which dates back to 1725.
Antonio de Obregón(1911 - 1985), Spanish writer and journalist.Newspaper section 'Madrid al Día' (Madrid al Día)
In Botín, nationalities come together and fraternize, without problems, as the bastion of peace that it is.
Michael Aaron Rockland(1935), American writer and professor, former cultural attaché at the American embassy in Madrid."A Diplomat in Franco's Spain," (2011), mentions his dinner at Botin with Martin Luther King shortly before he was assassinated:
... The limousine and the ambassador's chauffeur were waiting for us on the street and with great pomp we headed for the Botín restaurant, located on Cuchilleros Street, just past the Plaza Mayor. I knew that this was the place most frequented by tourists since Hemingway had chosen it as the end of his novel Fiesta...
Frederick Forsyth(1938), British writer of crime novels."The Black Manifesto", (1996)
Three nights later the two men arrive separately on a small street in Madrid's old quarter, Cuchilleros. Halfway down what is but an alleyway is an old plank door that opens into a cellar after descending a few steps. The cellar has brick arches and is an old bodega dating back to the Middle Ages. For many years it has served typical Spanish cuisine under the name Sobrinos de Botín. The old arches divide the space into compartments with a table in the center, and Monk and his guest had one to themselves.
End of the 20th century
Lorenzo Diaz(1948), Spanish Gastronome.In a letter written in Latin to Messrs. Bonilla and Canseco by Mr. Ismael Calvo, magistrate, he accepts their invitation to eat at Casa Botín, back in 1917.
"Madrid. Bodegas, Mesones, Fondas y Restaurantes" and in other of his books.
Ismael, viris illustribus doctissimis antecesoribus Bonilla et Canseco L.P.D. Dilectissimi amici: grata fuit mihi epistola vostra, quam ego accepi, instantissimam consumere prandium apud Botinum. Decimo Calendas Maii mihi conveniens est, ...
Soledad Galán(1952), Spanish writer. "The Devil in the Body," (2015).
...I told Francisco that we were going to have some red wine and some wood-fired lamb at Casa Botín...
...It is said that Botín's roast lamb composes hendecasyllables on the palate...
Antonio Gómez Rufo(1954), Spanish writer."Madrid. La Novela", (2016)
-What will you call your inn?
-Botin. As was the name of my good friend Pierre's father.
-Botin. As was the name of my good friend Pierre's father.
And when the González family took over the business in the 20th century, that family business formed by Amparo Martín, Emilio González and their sons Antonio and José was still a small business with seven employees living on the third floor of the building.
...And, when the war ended, the sons of the family, Antonio and José, continued forever with the endeavor, like their sons Antonio, José and Carlos: an inn in which the soul of the man who, in 1725, paid eternal homage to a Frenchman, Jean Botin, who arrived in Madrid wanting to be a cook and, without knowing it, was the seed of a corner of Madrid that has flown over the times of history.
Nieves Herrero(1957), Spanish writer and journalist."Like there's no tomorrow", (2015).
... Luis Miguel went to lunch with his friend Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera at Casa Botín, on Cuchilleros street.
María Dueñas(1964), Spanish writer. "El Tiempo entre costuras", (2009).
I call him my friend Guillermo, in Spanish; he speaks our language very well, he lived in Chile for a while. A few days ago we met for lunch at Botín, he loves Cochinillo ....
"Mission Oblivion " ( 2012 )
I have already told my daughter-in-law that I am going to go to her house early that afternoon and I am going to roast a suckling pig that they are going to bring me from my town that will be at least as tasty as the ones from Casa Botín.
Almudena de Arteaga(1967), Duchess of Infantado, Spanish writer, winner of the Azorín Novel Prize 2012."Caprice", (2012)
Manuel (Godoy), whom I, and not for my taste, knew so well, was a man of deep-rooted routines that whenever he stopped in the villa and court he repeated his route: he would leave the Palace to go through the streets of the Cava Alta on the way out and the Baja on the way back, crossing the Plaza Mayor, from which he would exit through the Arco de Cuchilleros to go to the Botín inn, where a mug of hot chocolate with fritters invariably awaited him. He used to ride back down the Cuesta de la Vega...