I am ashamed, upon looking back at a few of my columns, to realize that I have written about paella, Paris and everything in between, but not about ?Spanish tapas.
Tapas are quite a bit different from how we have interpreted them in the United States. You do not sit down at dinnertime and order five plates of tomato-based food and a soda.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been increasingly impressed with how food forms a culture and lifestyle, and I can imagine no other place that would’ve developed tapas, because they’re totally in line with how food is consumed here and nowhere else.
In Spain you eat breakfast at home. There’s a philosophy here restaurants are run by people too, so unless it’s a chain, it won’t open until 11 a.m. That’s when you can pop in for a muffin, but don’t even think about getting lunch until 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
Why? Mealtimes are extremely important here. There’s no dashing in and getting take-out. You are supposed to sit with friends or family and talk to them for two hours, or else alone with your thoughts. Enjoy yourself, dang it.
Because dinner in Spain isn’t served until 10 or sometimes 11 at night, you’ve got plenty of time.
Unfortunately, that means you’ve also got upwards of six or seven hours between lunch and dinner, so that means it’s time for snacks.
Enter tapas. Tapas happens around 8 or 9 at night. Most restaurants will serve tapas and look at you funny if you walk in and try to ?order a meal.
There are also a few historic markets here — Mercado de San Anton and Mercado de San Miguel being the most famous — that serve incredible tapas. You go around to different stalls and order a few things for your plate, each thing costing about a euro, and a glass of wine.
Technically speaking, tapas time can happen earlier in the day. But for the real, authentic experience it’s best to go to the markets when the Spaniards go and do as the Spaniards do.
Tapas are normally bite-sized pieces of fish or, as one of my friends ordered, a very small burger with a quail egg on top.
Sushi is now also an option — thank you international trade. I tried octopus with sweet pepper at Mercado de San Anton, and at Mercado de San Miguel we had oysters that still had seawater inside.
Tapas is also not meant to fill you up, but rather to let you experience the flavor of food. And since most of it is fish-based and very light, it’s hard to be totally satisfied, so you are still expected to be home and eating a full meal at 10 p.m.
Given my last experience, the next time I do tapas I’m eating paella, too.
ewenning@indiana.edu
