Cocidito madrileño [English translation]

Don't talk to me

Neither about the banquets that were in Rome.

Nor about the menu

Of the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Neither about the pheasant

Nor the dove foie-grass,1

Don't even tell me

About the lobster Thermidor.

For I lose sleep,

Needless to say,

And it's my pleasure and food

Salt and grace

The love that a woman puts in

The cocidito madrileño.2

Chorus:

Cocidito madrileño,

Minceing finely in the attic,

That smells to me like peppermint

And like a vebena.3in Las Vistillas4

Cocidito madrileño

Of yesterday and tomorrow.

Grief and joy

Of mother and sister.

Looking at you tenderly

I learned it from an early age.

For you are pure glory,

For you are pure glory,

Cocidito madrileño.

Tell me

Where there's a more joyful picture

With color

That lightens up the month of April,

When they are two

And they are below a tree,

And between both

A stew of the albañil.5

When the love

Of a woman tells her man

About her beauty and passion:

Take, honey,

Your cocidito madrileño,

That inside goes my heart.

1. French food2. A typical traditional chickpea-based stew from Madrid3. Street festival4. A district in the centre of Madrid, near the cathedral5. Bricklayer

• Artist:Manolo Escobar