Marea Bread is in is an Artisan bakery in Madrid that was awarded as having the best bread in Madrid in 2022. They specialize in sourdough breads, but they have all sorts of treats, especially their doorstop thick cookies !
In a world where convenience overshadows authenticity, finding quality bread and keeping artisan baking alive is really important. It’s a reflection of culture, heritage and the art of food. It’s a reminder for me that food is not just fuel, it’s an experience.
Maread Bread embodies all of these ideals.
The Best Bread In Madrid
A Culinary Gem in Sanchinarro
The other week, we were having Cocido for lunch on a Sunday, and we needed to get some bread. We got to talking about some of the best bakeries in Madrid, and as you do we got to googling. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out the best bread in Madrid was made just 400m from my house!
After a couple clicks, I was on Marea Bread‘s Instagram page looking at an award for the best bread in Madrid they were awarded back in 2022, and all of the proof to back it up.
So I got dressed, typed it into google maps, and set out to what is promised to be one of the best bakeries in Madrid.
The Best Bakery In Madrid: The Marea Bread Experience
I realized as I got closer that I have walked around here hundreds of times, and never realized the bakery was there. It’s a small shop on the ground floor of some flats, but you can smell it when you get close. Everyone knows the smell of some fresh baked bread.
The shop really is simple. Even the sign outside is handmade.
Everything about the place lets you know it’s an artisan bakery. On one side theres huge sacks of flower stacked up, the kitchen is to the back clear in view. All the bread is on wooden racks to the right, and you can find a few other sweet treats too.
For a small bakery, there must have been ten people in there working. I had gotten there just before lunch, so I guess there was a rush on the way. I was just browsing for a couple minutes, and before I knew it there was a queue forming, so I needed to make up my mind.
The Bread Collection
There were a number of different loaves of bread on show. I knew which I one I wanted, the rustic loaf that won the award for the best bread in Madrid. But, I asked about the others out of interest
The breads varied in the amount of dark cereals they contained, and some were more dense than others. The baking methods were different if it was a crusty loaf or a bread higher in cereal content.
I got a quick three minute masterclass on the types of bread, but still settled on the rustic loaf. But, the I saw the panettone and the cookies and had to add a few of those to the bag as well.
Artisanal Baking Process
I did a little reading up on Marea Bakery, and their process is quite laborious. They grind down flour using a technique as old as bread making, grinding it down with a stone! They do all of their own fermentation and no processed ingredient enters the chain at any point.
All of their bread is baked their on site, and you can see it if you go around the back. They have a huge glass pane window that lets you see into the kitchen. Everything in the bakery is on show, the ovens, the flour, the dough.
If you have the time, you can watch the whole process from kneed to oven to freshly baked bread.
Meet the Baker
The name behind the best bread in Madrid is Miguel Castro. He started baking bread out of the oven in his kitchen when in California, and through his passion for baking managed to start his own business and have arguably the best bakery in Madrid.
Miguel says the success of His bakery is “ the culmination of so much effort and teamwork. When you open a bakery you want it to be the best and this is something that can only be achieved with tenacity and everyone’s commitment ”
The Community’s Favorite
As people, we get used to everything pretty quick, and having the best bread in Madrid just around the corner has just become a normal thing for me at this point, but I do appreciate it when I think of it.
Often, for something like this you would have to go to the center of Madrid, so to have one of the best bakeries in Madrid in a regular neighborhood is pretty cool for the local residents.
It’s only small, but other shops around the bakery get a lot of business becuase of Marea Bread. You come here to buy a loaf becuase you saw it on Instagram, then you end up going to the fruit shop, maybe you need something from the local chemist whilst you’re there.
Planning Your Visit
If you too want to get yourself a loaf of the best bread in Madrid, the closest station to Mare Bread is Virgen Del Cortijo. Heres a map: