Tapas Tapas Tapas

You cannot avoid tapas. I have now learned you really shouldn’t. I thought that these were simple hors d’ouevres, maybe chips, olives, a small salad etc. But here in Spain they can be miniature, manageable portions of fine entre dishes, Legend says that ‘tapas‘ refers to a ‘lid’; innkeepers feared that travellers would have too much to drink and would fall off their horses, so they put a lid over the last drinks of the patron with some food to help them sober up a bit.

Here in Andalucia, where tapas were born, it is actually difficult to find a traditional restaurant in old Seville because of all the tapas bars. In Barcelona, where tapas isn’t indigenous, it was nonetheless difficult o throw a rock in any direction and not hit a tapas place. Bars almost always have tapas and Spaniards make an evening of bar-hopping, having one drink and a tapas, before moving to another place not far away. It is an extremely social way of eating.

My personal take on a good tapas: tons of flavor on first taste, rich in texture since there are so few bites and it must complement a good cerveza or glass of a tannic Rioja. My tapas highlights so far:

Foie gras with onion marmalade and crostini (melt-in-the-mouth, hands-down my fave)

Roast lamb with an orange glaze

Shrimp in garlic oil

Ham and cheese croquettes

Fried camembert with raspberry sauce

Asparagus in a Romesco sauce

Thin-sliced cured Jabugo ham (pigs fed acorns only)

Fried potatoes in a creamy aioli

Catalan gazpacho (pureed form of the usual cold soup)

Almond soup

Tomato bread

Here is where Dave and I ate in Barcelona that was fantastic: