Madrid / Freiduría de Gallinejas. Embajadores 84: only for strong stomachs

If you have a weak stomach, I would suggest you to stop reading here.

If instead, you are curious and nothing would stop you from trying new ingredients and dishes, or simply your stomach would allow you to eat even stones (Italian way of saying), you should keep reading to discover a true madrileno dish!

Despite the Spanish name would make you think of chicken, gallinejas are guts and intestines of lamb - or other animals -, usually served together with pieces of entresijo (or mesentery).

Gallinejas have a spiral shape and they are usually cooked in their own fat, basically resulting fried.

The taste is intense but not overwhelming, even if I would recommend to eat them with bread and maybe with the onions of the salad that can be ordered as a side. The salad indeed is seasoned with apple vinegar, a perfect element to note down the oily feeling in your mouth, while the onions add a good balance of sweetness and crispiness.

It's for sure an interesting dish that represent the gastronomy tradition of Madrid, but I have to admit that when it comes to lamb's guts my favorite is still 'stigghiola' from Sicily!

There the guts, wrapped around leek or spring onion are cooked directly on the grill, losing most of the fat and greasy feeling and getting a more meaty and intense flavor.