Explanation of and History of Tapas Restaurants
Tapas is the name of a wide variety of appetizers
in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold
(such as mixed olives and cheese) or warm
(such as puntillitas, which are battered, fried baby squid).
In North America and the United Kingdom,
tapas have evolved into an entire cuisine.
In these countries, patrons of tapas restaurants
can order many different tapas
and combine them to make a full meal.
The serving of tapas is designed
to encourage conversation because
people are not so focused upon eating an entire meal
that is set before them.
Also, in some countries it is customary
for diners to stand and move about while eating tapas.
According to legend, the tapa tradition began
when Castile's King, Alfonso X
of Castile or Alfonso the Wise,
recovered from an illness by drinking wine
mixed with small dishes between meals.
After regaining his health,
the king ordered that taverns were not allowed
to serve wine to customers
unless the beverage was accompanied by
a small snack or tapas.
The word became a kind of loophole in the law
to allow drinkers to imbibe alcohol.
According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas
were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers
in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between
sips.
This was a practical measure meant to prevent
fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry.
The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham
or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst.
Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners
began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry,
thus increasing their alcohol sales. Soon the lowly tapa
(from tapa derived the verb tapar, "to cover")
became as important as the sherry.
Tapas evolved over Spain's history
through the incorporation of ingredients
and influences from many different cultures
and countries. The east coast was invaded
by the Romans, who introduced the olive
and irrigation methods. The invasion of
the North African Moors in the 8th century
also brought olives to the south, as well as almonds,
citrus fruits and fragrant spices.
The influence of their 700-year presence remains today,
especially in Andalusia. The discovery of
the New World brought the introduction of tomatoes,
sweet and chili peppers, maize (corn), beans and potatoes.
These were readily accepted and easily grown
in Spain's micro-climates.
Tapa means "lid" or "cover" in Spanish.
There are several explanations for the etymology of "tapa":
A commonly cited explanation is that an item,
be it bread or a flat card, etc., would often be placed
on top of a drink to protect it from fruit flies;
at some point it became a habit to top this "cover"
with a snack.
It is also commonly said that since one would be standing
while eating a tapa in traditional Spanish bars,
they would need to place their plates on top of their drinks
in order to eat, making it a top.
Some believe that the name originated sometime around
the 16th century when tavern owners from Castilla-La Mancha
found out that the strong taste and smell of mature cheese
could help disguise that of bad wine, thus "covering"
it,
and started offering free cheese when serving cheap wine.
Another popular explanation says that
the king Alfonso XII stopped by a famous venta (inn)
in Cádiz (Andalusian city) where he ordered a cup
of sherry.
The waiter covered the glass with a slice of cured ham
before offering it to the king,
to protect the wine from the beach sand,
as Cádiz is a windy place.
The king, after drinking his wine
and eating the tapa, ordered another sherry
"with the cover"
In Spain, dinner is usually served between 9 p.m. and 11
p.m.
(sometimes as late as 12 midnight),
leaving significant time between work and dinner.
Therefore, Spaniards often go "bar hopping"
(Spanish: Ir de tapas) and eat tapas in the time
between finishing work and having dinner.
Since lunch is usually served between 1 and 3 p.m.,
another common time for tapas is weekend days
around noon as a means of socializing before
lunch proper at home.
It is very common for a bar or a small local restaurant
to have 8 to 12 different kinds of tapas in warming trays
with glass partitions covering the food.
They are often very strongly flavored with garlic,
chilies or paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, saffron
and sometimes in plentiful amounts of olive oil.
Often one or more of the choices is seafood (mariscos),
often including anchovies, sardines or mackerel in olive
oil,
squid or others in a tomato based sauce,
sometimes with the addition of red or green peppers
or other seasoning.
It is rare to see a tapas selection
not include one or more types of olives,
such as manzanilla or arbequina olives.
One or more types of bread are usually available
to eat with any of the sauce-based tapas.
In Madrid, León, Asturias, Extremadura,
and in parts of Andalucia,
when you go to a bar and order a drink,
you will often get a tapa for free. In León,
a city in northwest Spain, an entire zone known
as the Barrio Humedo is dedicated to tapas bars
each serving their own unique dish served free with a corto
(small beer) or glass of wine.
Sometimes, especially in Northern Spain,
they're also called pinchos
(spelled pintxos in Basque) in Navarre,
the Basque Country, Cantabria
and in some provinces like Salamanca.
They're called that because many of them
have a pincho or toothpick through them.
The toothpick is used to keep whatever
the snack is made of from falling off the slice of bread
it is attached to and to keep track of the number of tapas
the customer has eaten. Differently
priced tapas have different shape or size toothpicks.
Tapa price ranges from 1.00 to 1.50 euros.
Another name for them is banderillas
(diminutive of bandera "flag"),
in part because some of them resemble
the colorful spears used in bullfighting.
In Andalusia, tapas can be "upgraded"
to bigger portions, equivalent to half a dish
(media ración) or a whole one (ración).
This is generally more economical when a tapa
is being ordered by more than one person.
The portions are usually shared by diners,
and a meal made up of raciones resembles
a Middle Eastern mezze or Chinese dim sum.
