This one's for Scoville:
I just Wiki'd "Tapas." Here are some tasty morsels.
The Origin of The Species
"According to legend, the tapa tradition began when Castile's King Alfonso the Wise recovered from an illness by drinking wine and nibbling small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered taverns to serve their guests food along with wine and the tapas became a kind of loophole in the law to allow drinkers to drink."
The Eytmology of Tapas, or Tapa, which is Spanish for "lid"
"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 same cover'. "
According to Scoville
"In Spain, that shit is FREE!"
Generic Food Network Tapas Recipes
For those of us who can't get to Spain, and would like to make our own
1 comment:
tapas were expensive most everywhere in spain like it is here in new york. but if you go to a smaller city, granada, that shit is mad free. order a drink, get a tasty morsel. best tapa i had was fish on top of potato chips, croquettes and sliced ham on bread.
delish.
in my book, which is ghetto and not very p.c., a tapas can be anything that is bite sized and delicious and enjoyed with liquor. so mambas must count. so im eating tapas right now.
thanks for the sustenance.
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