The Art of Eating Standing Up

My wife and I had squeezed ourselves into one corner of a tavern and started out slow, ordering just a couple of dishes. You didn’t need the menu: the kitchen’s entire offerings were displayed on platters at different heights on the counter. After seeing several of the locals all enjoying the prawn dish, we chose it and something we thought looked like tuna. While we were eating well in Spain, we didn’t have to be fluent in Spanish. We’d just point and add por favor. When we were ready to move on, the barman added up the toothpicks in front of us and let us know the bill.

We were in the Old Town of San Sebastián just over the French border in Spain’s Basque country. Here, tapas are known as pintxos (the Basque word means ‘to skewer”) and locals call the tradition of going from one tapas bar to the next  “ir de tapeo.” In Madrid, we heard it called the Art of Eating Standing Up. Of course, the art of tapas goes beyond the food itself. It’s the fun conversation among a group of friends all talking over each other; it’s the age-old family-run bars that have been serving up local favorites for generations.

My wife and I have visited Spain three times and always enjoyed the early evening stroll from one beautiful restaurant or tavern to the next, ordering a few small plates of tapas. Back in Napa, we appreciated having Zuzu and more recently La Taberna for their small plates with big flavors. At home, tapas make great appetizers for a more formal meal, or become the whole meal with just a little work. Here are just four ideas; there are lots of books about tapas that will trigger your creativity. One of the best is “Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain: A Cookbook” by Penelope Casas. Look for the revised edition.

What to serve with your tapas? You might think the automatic go-to drink would be a glass of well-chilled sherry from Spain but mostly what I saw was beer in an Caña glass, the smallest pour, typically the size of a brandy glass, but lots of cava in Barcelona, which borders the cava sparkling wine region of the Penedès.

Banderillas
Serves 4 as a tapa

These easy-to-make tapas get their name from the toothpicks, which remind Spaniards of the barbed darts used during a bullfight. Yes, I know that’s not an animal welfare friendly name, but the Spanish seem to have much more evocative titles for their food than Americans: we would probably call this a Vertical Ham and Cheese and Sausage Sandwich.

Ingredients

• 1 French-style baguettes

• 1/2 pound  Manchego cheese

• 1/4 pound  Serrano jamón (cured ham) (unless you’re experienced at thinly slicing a hunk of dried ham, buy it already sliced)

• 1 pound Spanish chorizo sausage  (Spanish chorizo is a firm, dry sausage where Mexican chorizo is fresh and soft, not cured sausage. It also has different spices than Spanish Chorizo).

• 1 box round toothpicks (or some stores sell more fancy wooden picks topped with little flags or balls on them, if you want more of a visual impression)

Slice the crusty baguette, making the slices about a 1/3-inch thick.

Slice the Manchego cheese, approximately 1/8 – 1/4-inch thick. Slicing the cheese thinly can be tricky because it is dry and crumbly. You´ll need small pieces to place one on each piece of bread.

Cut the thinly sliced jamón into pieces small enough to fit on the top of the baguette slices.

Slice the Spanish chorizo into pieces about 1/4-inch thick (another option is to lightly fry the chorizo pieces in a dry pan)

Place the baguette slices on the platter. Place one piece of the chorizo, one piece of cheese and top with a piece of ham and skewer with a toothpick for each bread slice. The Instituto de Turismo de España pretty much requires you to serve this with a Rioja or Ribera red wine from Spain.

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers
Serves 4 to 6 as as a tapa

We often serve this dish as a lone appetizer but don’t have enough command of the language to call it by its Spanish title of “Pimientos de Piquillo Rellenos de Queso.”

• 8-9 ounzes Gruyère, or your favorite melting cheese, chilled

• 14-16 whole piquillo pepers (traditionally grown in Northern Spain near the town of Lodosa. Its name is Spanish for "little beak".  Local stores sometimes carry them, The Spanish Table, both in Mill Valley and Berkeley, stocks them, and online) Roasted red peppers just will not taste the same after you become addicted to these.

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Handful of thinly sliced basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully (so you don’t tear them) ease out the peppers from their jar and evenly lay them out on the parchment. Remove the cheese from the refrigerator (it’s easier to cut when cold) and slice pieces of the cheese so each stick is about three-quarters the size of the pepper and stuff each pepper.

Slide the tray of piquillos into the oven and warm just until the cheese is oozing out, about 15 minutes. Remove the tray and let the piquillos and cheese finish melding together. Us a thin spatula to transfer the peppers to a large white serving platter and drizzle a bit of olive oil over them and sprinkle with your just sliced basil leaves. Serve while still warm.

By the way, you can stuff piquillos with just about anything: goat cheese, tuna fish, flaked cooked fish, sautéed ground pork…for a quick appetizer or simple main dish.

Gambas Ajillo
Serves 2-4 as a tapa

This is a classic prawn dish packed full of the rich flavors of garlic, olive oil and a hint of brandy, finished off with a dusting of freshly chopped parsley.

Ingredients

• 1 pound prawns, head on

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 2-3 oz. of cognac or sherry

• 1/4 cup virgin olive oil

• Fresh lemon

• Bunch of Italian parsley, finely chopped

Peel prawns, leaving the heads on. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute garlic and red pepper for about one minute. Raise the heat to high and add the shrimp, lemon juice, cognac and paprika. Stir well, then sauté, stirring briskly until the shrimp turn pink and curl – about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer shrimp with oil and sauce to a warm plate or serve right from the pan. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with fresh bread. It makes you think you are in Spain, especially if you serve the shrimp in a small clay cazuela.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelet)
Serves 6
Adapted from “The Taste of Spain” by Xavier Domingo

Tortilla means omelet in Spain, not the similar shaped but flat bread of Mexico. This is a classical tapa found in just about every bar and restaurant in Spain and is usually served at room temperature, making it great for entertaining.

• ¾ cup neutral olive oil

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 small waxy potato (around ¾ pound/750 grams), peeled and sliced very thinly

• Kosher salt

• 8 eggs

Heat the oil in a 12-inch non-stick skillet. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for roughly 5 minutes, until tender. Add the potatoes, season with salt, and cook over low heat for around 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, shaking the pan from time to time to prevent the potatoes from sticking. Drain the potatoes in a sieve, reserving 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and season with salt. Add the cooked potatoes, mixing well.

Heat reserved oil in the same skillet until it is very hot. Add the egg mixture, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top of the skillet, flip the omelet and cook on the other side another 5 minutes. This can be served hot or at room temperature.