When enjoying an authentic Spanish day, the only thing that truly competes with the splendor of the siesta is tapas: those delicious bites between meals throughout the day and night.
Legend has it that tapas originated when Castile’s King Alfonso the Wise recovered from an illness by drinking wine and nibbling on small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered taverns to serve food along with wine. This savory addendum to old world drinking binges spawned tapas.
The original tapas were simply slices of bread. Sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns would use these slices to cover their glasses between sips; a practical measure taken to prevent fruit flies from hovering too close to the surface of the sweet sherry (tapa derived the verb tapar, “to cover”).
It didn’t take long for enterprising bartenders to figure that if you deck the bread out with tasty toppings, the customers will order more. Quickly, tapas became as important as the sherry that it was originally employed to bodyguard…
Certain historical events then pushed the initiatives of tapas further into the realm of tastes now served at bars all around Spain, and far beyond. When Spain’s eastern coast was invaded by the Romans, irrigation methods for farming were introduced along with olives gracing the tops of tapas. The invasion by the North African Moors in the eighth century also brought olives to the south, as well as almonds, citrus fruits and fragrant spices. The discovery of the New World introduced tomatoes to Catalan cuisine, along with sweet peppers, chili peppers, maize (corn), beans and potatoes, which were all readily accepted and easily grown in Spain’s micro-climates.
As Spain’s cultural traditions have changed, so has its tapas. And with creative tapas bar proprietors constantly looking to raise the bar for these bites, you’re in luck with a wide variety of delicious options when it comes to Spanish snacking in style.
About
In Spain, dinner is usually served late at night, leaving significant time between work and dinner. So Spaniards often go “bar hopping” (Spanish: Ir de tapas) and eat tapas before it’s time to sit down to a proper meal. Since lunch is usually served late in the afternoon, another common time for tapas is weekend days around noon, which as well serves as a means of socializing before lunch is had at home.
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