organic in madrid?

[zkl]

hola

I have just moved to Madrid and although I LOVE the food here I prefer to eat all/as much as possible organic food. Does anyone know of good places to buy organic produce, including meats?

In many countries you can get boxes of organic produce delivered to your house each week - does anything like that exist in Madrid?

I also cook alot of international dishes, especially Thai and Vietnamese, Indian etc - are there any places to buy fresh international herbs, fruits and vegetables?

Muchas Gracias
Zoe

[Legazpi]

There are usually organic vegetables in the really big supermarkets such as hipercor. Occasionally you'll see free range chicken (pollo de coral), and they usually have a shelf or two with rice noodles and various curry pastes as well.

You can easily get cinamon, nutmeg, dried chillies and cumin in most supermarkets, and occasionally coconut milk.

Getting hold of certain spices can be tricky. Have a walk around Lavapies and you should find local stores selling chillies, ginger, and fresh coriander without much problem. You can often bulk buy "basmati" rice cheaply in big 5kg bags as well.

Chinese stores often have jars of lemon grass and soy sauce, though I haven't seen Thai fish sauce yet.

I usually bring over from the UK spices such as turmeric, coriander seeds, cardamons, and curry leaves. I never see them here.

[Marina]

Hola Zoe,

Welcome to Madrid!!!

I do buy organic veggies boxes every now and again. Here is what I've learned:


Ecologia Certificada (http://www.ecologiacertificada.com/html/index.html): They sell fresh fruit and vedge, as well as meat (I've never bought any), grains, dairy products, cleaning and beauty products. From the two services that I've tried I would recommend this one as they pack things very well, and they have a good customer service if anything arrives damaged. They do free deliveries in Madrid (one day a week depending on the area) for over 100€ orders, and the deliver costs are 4€ for over 60€ orders.

Recapte (http://www.recapte.com/index.aspx): There are very good things and bad things about this service. The good things for me are the price, they deliver weekly boxes of 10Kg (sometimes a bit more) for 30 € including the transport, and the flexibility, they use a delivery company so you can choose the day of the week that suits you better to receive your greens. The BAD THING is that their customer service is APPALLING, I've had a couple of problems with them and the response hasn't been good enough any of the times. So I've stopped using them.

Cesta Verde (http://www.cestaverde.com/): I've never tried them, but I've heard that the quality is great but the prices are just too expensive.

Then there are a few shops where you can buy organic stuff directly, Ecocentro (http://www.ecocentro.es/) is really good, as apart from the food shops they have a restaurant and a book shop, but it is expensive for fresh fruit and vedge.
There is also a little shop in Chueca called The Organic Shop (http://11870.com/pro/59461) that sells meat by order.

Regarding the herbs, the best thing is to go to a local market and discover a stall where they sell them, if not try the shops in Lavapies or the Market in Anton Martín.

[zkl]

wow that's great info!

I've been doing some more searching and though I wasn't having much luck with the organic stuff I did find this site that has lots of info for where to find different kinds of food:

Fruits & vegetables
http://www.softdoc.es/madrid_guide/shopping/fruits.html

International foods
http://www.softdoc.es/madrid_guide/shopping/asian_food.html

:)

[richardksa]

There's this (http://www.mapmagazine.com/madrid/A-Salto-de-Mata-Organic-Food/) and another out near Manuel Becerra Metro, Calle del Dr Gómez Ulla called (I think) "Origines", opposite Parque Evita Peron, but I can't find a link to it.

[Ben]

I have moved the discussion on whether organic food is worth eating here (http://www.notesfromspain.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5845).

More Organic in Madrid recommendations welcome below!

[Alessia_MissItalish]

hola!
I've come across this website while looking for organic food shops in Madrid.:p

I am Italian and here in Italy there is a shop called "NaturaSi" and luckily enough there seem to be two in Madrid too.
www.naturasi.es
They sell organic products and I really hope the two shops in Madrid are quite big as this is the best shop for me 'cos I don't eat diary or meat and this shop is very good for all vegans and vegetarians.
If you've lived in the UK or US they sell the same products sold in Whole Foods or Holland & Barrett.

Hope this helps!! :)

[Londoner_at_heart]

Hello Zoe,

Regarding your other question, I found a well-stocked good Asian food shop right outside the Principe Pio mall in Madrid (c/ Mozart I believe): http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=es&geocode=&q=mozart+1,+madrid&sll=40.423634,-3.722837&sspn=0.011957,0.027788&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Calle+de+Mozart,+1,+28008+Madrid,+Comunidad+ de+Madrid&ll=40.422056,-3.72149&spn=0.011958,0.027788&z=16

They have an amazing variety of noodles. Also curry pastes, sweets, etc. I seem to recall they had veg as well, I do hope I can find lemongrass there when I go next.

Welcome to Madrid!

[Legazpi]

Hello Zoe,

Regarding your other question, I found a well-stocked good Asian food shop right outside the Principe Pio mall in Madrid (c/ Mozart I believe): http://maps.google.es/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=es&geocode=&q=mozart+1,+madrid&sll=40.423634,-3.722837&sspn=0.011957,0.027788&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Calle+de+Mozart,+1,+28008+Madrid,+Comunidad+ de+Madrid&ll=40.422056,-3.72149&spn=0.011958,0.027788&z=16

They have an amazing variety of noodles. Also curry pastes, sweets, etc. I seem to recall they had veg as well, I do hope I can find lemongrass there when I go next.

Welcome to Madrid!

Thanks - I am always on the lookout for such places.

Re. lemon grass - I have previously bought it in jars from the Chinese shop underneath Plaza España. I'm afraid I've never seen it sold fresh anywhere in Madrid, although I believe it's quite easy to grow at home.

[Londoner_at_heart]

Re. lemon grass - I have previously bought it in jars from the Chinese shop underneath Plaza España. I'm afraid I've never seen it sold fresh anywhere in Madrid, although I believe it's quite easy to grow at home.

Believe me, I can't grow anything to save my life. Except maybe hair. Hopefully not a beard though ;)

[arcamma09]

Hi everyone...im in the middle of making banana icecream and like usual, im putting a bit of organic vanilla in there. But then i thought... is this vanilla liquid raw? What is it It sure smells alcoholly and smells good

[frilfulge]

Hi Ive been buying organic oranges. I have bought a couple different kinds. For some reason some of the oranges are seedless. Is it possible to have an organic seedless orange? I mean wouldnt the original seed from the orange tree have to be GMO to have seedless fruit?