Tasty Tapas by Karen Vivers


Tasty Tapas by KAREN VIVERS
Article Posted: 08/16/2013
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Tasty Tapas

Food & Beverages,Cooking,Cuisine

Whether it goes by the name of tapas, mezze, canapé, antipasti or any other, there is nothing better in my book than a great snack to enjoy with your pre-dinner drinks. All these geographic and cultural variations on a theme, just goes to show that I am not the only one who thinks so. Although, if you pushed me to choose a favourite (not that hard though), my personal top of the list would have to be the Spanish snacks which go under the collective name of tapas. The tapa had very humble, and practical beginnings. The story goes that somebody, some very clever Spanish person to whom I am eternally thankful, decided it would be a good idea to cover their drink with some bread to prevent flies and other insects from getting at it before you did. They also decided that the dry bread was a bit boring and so added some tasty toppings. From this, came the seemingly never ending list of tapas options with regional variations and specialities from the whole country. There’s lots about tapas that I love. Of course as I mentioned above, the fact that they are so varied and are served with your drinks is in itself great. However, there are a couple of things that make tapas jump out for me above the offerings from other cultures. Firstly, I feel that Spanish food, in general, is totally (and very unfairly) under rated. We hear so much about the great food of its European neighbours in Italy and in France, but Spain is often left out of this foodie group. Since I have been lucky enough to travel through Spain on a few occasions, I cannot imagine why their food is not held in the high regard of other European countries. The only reason I can think of is that so many tourists head for the costas and of course for the cuisine of their home countries, which, is pretty poor, and give the real Spanish food a wide berth, so don’t know what it is. I also have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with the Spanish culture itself. I find the Spanish to be slightly more reserved than their Italian cousins and not as boastful as their French friends when it comes to showing off and promoting their food culture. I am not saying that the French and Italians have no grounds to be proud of their cuisines, but more than the Spanish have just as much right. The strange thing is though, that the Spanish, amongst themselves celebrate food like nobody’s business. If you take the time to move away from the typical Spanish holiday resort, it seems like every village has its own speciality, which every villager can tell you about with passionate flair and a sense of seriousness that it seems as though their life almost depends on the delicacy. Which, probably at one time it did. Having said that, I love the feeling that when in Spain there is always something new to discover, that I am the first person to travel to that area and eat their tapas. I also love the variety. Spain being a large country has huge regional variations in its food and this is reflected in the tapas. And of course tapas is very often made with leftovers. There is something that really appeals to me about using every piece of food, and I have a real admiration for those who treat even the smallest of scraps with respect and give them a second life by turning each morsel into a tasy tapa.

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