Got Milk? Every single American child of the 90’s remembers the commercials and print ads of our favorite celebrities with their milk moustaches aimed at increasing our dairy consumption. Flash forward 15-20 years and in Malasaña, America’s Dairy Farmers can find a place where Madrid-based expats can make up for what they didn’t consume in their early days. One random afternoon, I found myself cutting through Calle de Manuela Malasaña when I stumbled upon a lechería, Cántaro Blanco. While I’ve found my fair share of carnicerías, fruterías, charcuterías, and pescaderías, I had yet to come across a lechería. As El Comidista, El País‘s gastronomy blog confirms, the lechería is now up-and-coming.
With its white façade and clean interior, it gives you immediate association with milk. As the owners, Nacho and Adrián aim, it’s like getting the fresh leche del pueblo (milk from the village). For those of us who’ve never had said experience (especially when your pueblo just happens to be one of the largest cities in the world), Cántaro Blanco gives you that fresh milk and much more.
Cántaro Blanco stocks fresh milks, cheeses, yogurts, and milk-based desserts. Its main supplier, according to the El Páis article, is Los Combos, a farm in nearby Móstoles. The fact that the milk is super locally-sourced makes it so so fresh (the owners had actually planned on bringing it from the North, but keeping the suppliers as local as possible gives you the truely fresh taste). Other than from Los Combos, two brands you’ll most likely be famliar with are Xanceda from Galicia and Pastoret (a dairy from Lleida, Catalunya that makes the non-fat yogurt I mix with berries for breakfast each morning). Pastorert’s yofurt is perfectly smooth and creamy, even in it’s nonfat form.
They don’t just stop at the stuff you can take home: they have some homemade products to satisfy your need for Vitamin D. First is the fresh frozen yogurt with your choice of toppings. My personal pick is the batido (or milkshake), which can be made with whatever type of milk you want in a variety of flavors. Since I can only drink skim milk, I was elated and enjoyed one with strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
Strawberry and frutos rojos; ñam ñam indeed
There’s also ecological horchata (that tiger-nut drink from Valencia that tastes like almond milk with a touch of cinnamon), both to have on the spot or to take home.
Get yourself into Cántaro Blanco. Then you’ll be answering the question “Got Milk” with a resounding “¡Síííííí!”
Cántaro Blanco Lechería
Address: Calle de Manuela Malasaña, 29
Tel.: +34 91 029 66 39
Metro: San Bernardo (Lines 2 and 4), Bilbao (Lines 1 and 4), and Tribunal (Lines 1 and 10)
Facebook
Website
