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Anyway, food: if Toledo is known for anything, it's partridge and marzipan. But where to go? We chose Casa Aurelio on Calle Sinagoga, and stepped down into a very smart cellar dining room, elegantly furnished, with classical music trilling quietly in the background. I can't say, on this occasion, that we were dressed for it: but we sat up straight and tried to behave ourselves.
The two styles in which the local red partridge is universally offered are en estofada and en escabechada - stewed or pickled. We ordered the escabeche first, a salad of tender, medium rare partridge meat dressed in a light vinaigrette. We also sampled the cold foie mi cuit, not great quality (slightly on the dry and crumbly side) but a quite massive portion, with a neatly presented fruit garnish (and I haven't seen a slice of kiwi fruit in a while).
We ordered two stewed partridge between the three of us. The birds had been cooked to tenderness in red wine with onions, and it's a long time since I've eaten a partridge with such decisive gaminess about it. The simplest possible garnish of a potato or two. Bone-lickingly satisfying.
I have no time for marzipan, but as were there I ordered a plate of it. My family ordered some tulips of ice cream to share; and then ordered some more. Around 2.45 pm in the afternoon, other lunchers began to join us. A bottle of Juve y Camps cava, chosen not so much to accompany the food as to give us a chance of staying awake for the rest of the afternoon.
124E for two, as we didn't order a full meal for the Munchkin, but there was plenty of food for three to share. I am still regretting that we didn't work the hake cheeks into the lunch.
