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Tapas - A Spanish Institution 
After spending time in Andalucia the Spanish tradition of eating tapas becomes so much
a part of everyday life you can not imagine how you survived without them.
When you first arrive in Andalucia they are just a bit of a novel treat when taking a morning
coffee or a refreshing afternoon beer, but after a while, as you blend more with the Spanish
way of life, they can become the only thing that you actually eat all day until you sit down
for dinner late in the evening.
Forget a chicken and mushroom pie and a bag of cheese and onion crisps from a service station
and instead enjoy a selection of tasty and healthy tidbits from as little as 40p a dish that
you can find almost anywhere and at any time of day.
There are many stories that you hear about the origin of tapas but what seems to be
the most accepted is that bar owners would place a small plate over a glass of the local wine
to stop the tiny fruit flies from diving in to it. A lid or a cover is a tapa
" in Spanish, hence the name. Bar owners then found that if they placed a little bit of food
on the tiny plate they could attract more customers through their doors and so bar owners wives
had their culinary skills called upon to make their offerings better and more enticing than the
bar next door. So began the varied array of tapas that we have today, made from simple
local produce, which is readily available in the area that you are in.
Another explanation is that a small small piece of food was given in bars to "cover"
(tapa) the appetite until it was time for a main meal but the first story that I was ever
told and the one I like to believe is that tapas originated in the ventas (roadside
bars) along the mountain pass between Malaga and Granada. Muleteers transporting goods between
the two cities would make their customary stops in the ventas for a swift copa
of brandy or local wine to keep them going, but never bothering to have something to eat. After
a few stops they were in no fit state to negotiate the twisty bends and precarious paths of the
mountains and would end up tumbling down the cliffs, leaving their mule to wander on alone.
The local police were so fed up with scraping muleteers of the rocks (much like the police on
the Spanish roads today) that they passed a law which stated that bar owners had to supply a
free piece of food with every drink sold to soak up the alcohol and help them on their way.
Traditionally only foods that were readily available in each region where found in the tapas such
as fish on the coast, meat stews in the mountains and vegetables in the plains but today, thanks
to it taking 2 hours instead of two weeks to get from Malaga to Cordoba, you can expect to get a
varied selection of dishes where ever you are in Andalucia.
The classics that you will find anywhere include a few slices of Jamon Serrano (
mountain ham), Queso Manchego, the strong, hard goats cheese, Tortilla Española,
the traditional potato omelets and a dish of delicious home prepared olives, best served with
stalks and leaves still attached and marinated with garlic and peppers.
Fresh fish and seafood can also be found anywhere but especially in Malaga where almost any type
of shell fish is offered as a tapa.Boquerones (pickled white bait), Pulpo
(octopus) and Fried Jivia (Cuttlefish) are other good ones to try and ordering
Gambas Pil-pil brings a delicious sizzling dish of fresh prawns cooked in olive oil and
garlic to your table.
Salads are becoming more popular and the most common include Ensalada Russe (mashed potato,
mayonnaise and vegetables), Ensalada Rosa, a mixture of shredded lettuce, prawns, crab sticks
and Mary Rose sauce and a refreshing combination of diced tomato, peppers, cucumber and fish dressed
in vinegar and olive oil.
More traditional tapas can be found in the small inland villages including Jabas (broad beans
with chunks of ham), Migas (a stodgy mix of garlic semolina) Albondigas (meat balls
served in a saffron & almond sauce) and Carne con Tomate (stewed meat in a rich tomato
sauce).
Vegetarians can often fare better with tapas than with the main menu as the Spanish often put ham
in everything "vegetable" to make it taste better! Garbanzos con Espinaca
(chick peas with spinach) and deep fried aubergine with honey are Pretty safe bets but be
careful with the pan fried wild mushrooms as you are quite likely to find a bit of ham lurking in
there.
If you don't mind paying a bit more for your tapas you can find absolutely delicious selections in
the more upmarket restaurants but they will probably have a time limit on serving tapas and only
offer raciones (a larger portion) during main meal times. A few expensive examples that I will
never forget include a mouth-watering lamb stew in Seville, a roast duck with honey sauce in Nerja,
a dish of chicken livers in a sherry in Jerez de la Frontera and a Salmonejo to die for in
Cordoba which is a creamy Gazpacho type soup with ham and eggs.
Along with flamenco, the tapa is a Spanish institution, that will hopefully outlive the other one
of bull fighting, and whether a tapa is taken as a necessity to stop the hunger pangs whilst
shopping, or for an interesting and healthy light lunch with friends or as a heavenly indulgence
that does not break the bank, I no longer know how I would survive without them and they never
taste quite the same if you make them at home.
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