Tapas

Hey guys!

I wanted to do a blog on tapas, which are those small "snacks" that are extremely common here. It's common to say "let's go out for tapas" which is when you would go to a bar and order tapas with friends, while drinking and socializing. The word tapas mostly refers to the size of the dish - all tapas dishes can be served as larger portions, but the point is that you get small portions of different foods and eat a lot of them and have lots of drink over a long period of time with friends. It's one of my favorite social norms in Spain/.

I learned about eating tapas in my Civilization/Culture course here. They say that tapas originated in Andalucia (Southern Spain, region that Sevilla is the capital of) where Alphonse X, a king, got sick. A doctor recommended that he change his eating habits to eat only small portions of food throughout the day. He would eat small portions through the day, usually accompanied by a beer or wine. In the summer, when it was especially hot, it became habit to place a piece of meat (either turkey or ham) over the top of the glass of wine/beer to keep flies out of the drink. The verb "tapar" means to cover up. Thus, these types of food came to be called tapas.

Tapas can be consumed for lunch (from 2-5 pm) or dinner (from 9-12 pm). Some examples of tapas:

Cola de Toro - bull tail

The bone in the cola de toro

Pechuga de pollo al whiskey - grilled chicken in whiskey sauce

Croquetas de pollo

Paella de mariscos - seafood paella

Espinacas con garbanzos - spinach with garbanzo beans

Albóndigas - meatballs

Tapas are meant to be eaten over a long period of time. My friends and I all got the "ordering" thing wrong when we got here - we would order all of the tapas we wanted to eat all at once and eat them together. We found out that the way you're supposed to do it is order one with a drink, eat it slowly while conversing and socializing. When you finish that one, you and your company each order a second ronda (round) of their individual choice of tapas and drinks to match with them (usually either cerveza or vino). And then a third, a fourth, until everyone is full and finished. My prof said that normally when he goes out for tapas he'll spend about 3-4 hours eating.

My thoughts on tapas? I'm all for 'em. I go out for them a few times a week. It's a nice, relaxing way of eating. Instead of getting all of your food at once, you can eat a portion slowly and then order more if you want. If I could change anything about tapas, I would make more veggie options. On a normal list of tapas you'd find in most bars, the only veggie option is espinacas con garbanzo, which is spinach with garbanzo beans. Which is DAMN good. But as a girl who likes to eat a lot of vegetables, I wish there was more of a selection that involved vegetables. But otherwise, I love them.

Talk soon :)