On the tapa world
In praise of the Spanish style of eating that works with any cuisine
At Bar Angel in Logrono, a small city on Spain’s northern edge, the bar’s famous pinchos de champinones function as both a delicious menu item and an unavoidable temptation. The dish, three mushrooms grilled in bright green garlic- infused olive oil and speared with a glossy shrimp, is made in a street-facing window. Chefs flip rows of mushrooms on the grill in a hypnotizing fashion, perfuming the air outside with the sweet, truffled scent of garlic and caramelized mushrooms. It’s enough to encourage nearly every passerby to stop in for a bite.
Across Spain, many bars prepare a full range of tapas before service, laying them out at the bar for customers to eye. This makes life easy for diners, allowing them to see what they’d like to eat before putting in an order. At other tapas bars, the need to order is eliminated entirely. Instead, servers bring complimentary small bites to the table with each round of beverages ordered. At Taberna de Angel Sierra in Madrid — a bar known as much for its sweet vermouth on tap as its electric, bustling atmosphere — each round of libations arrives with a complimentary tapa. The first comes with a small dish of crisp manzanilla olives, while the second is served adjacent to a toothpick speared with pickles and slippery boquerones.
Depending on where you are in Spain, these small plates can also be called pinchos and pintxos. The former comes from the Spanish verb “pinchar” meaning “to pierce.” Pinchos are traditionally served speared with a cocktail stick attached to a piece of bread to soak up extra flavour. Meanwhile in the Basque country, all tapas are referred to as pintxos.
There are several myths about how the tradition started. The first dates back to the 13th-century ruler King Alfonso X, who required small snacks and glasses of wine served to him at regular intervals to recover from an illness. He became such a fan of the ritual that even after returning to health, he insisted on it. The second is from the 19th century, when King Fernando VII was served a glass of wine with a slice of cheese used as a tapadera, or cover, to protect his wine from bugs. He enjoyed the pairing so much that he began asking for small snacks to accompany his wine everywhere he went.
While the origins remain debatable, the tradition remains as strong as ever. And it’s easy to see why. Tapas, pinchos and pintxos provide an opportunity for quick sustenance without the time commitments of a full meal. Because dinner (la cena) is typically eaten much later in Spain (between 9 p.m. and midnight), tapas are a convenient way of bridging the gap between the two meals. But unlike protein bars and other North American snacks, tapas don’t numb hunger with lifeless packaging and artificial flavours; they provide additional enjoyment to look forward to throughout the day.
Anything can be considered a tapa — from a savoury slice of Manchego cheese to patatas bravas (crispy baked potatoes slathered in spicy tomato sauce). The only rule is that the bites must be served on small plates and accompanied by a drink, usually alcoholic. As a result, Spanish tapas, while very good, are almost always treated as an asterisk to drinking.
It’s certainly a fun way to dine and catch up with friends and family. While one need not go all the way to Spain to enjoy the custom, many of the tapas bars in Canada miss the mark. However, there are a few restaurants that get it right.
Hidden between a Swiss Chalet and a Pet Valu on an otherwise unassuming stretch of Yonge St., Cava is among the best iterations. Open since 2006, the restaurant has helped change the landscape of dining in Toronto, encouraging countless Spanish eateries to open in its wake. But few have mastered the formula for boozy indulgence the same way. On the menu, a concise selection of Iberian- inspired small plates works in perfect harmony with sommelier Kyle Burch’s long list of Spanish wines and sherry. Many items, like the famous fried eggplant with queso fresco and tomatillo salsa, fall outside the lines of what might be considered traditional Spanish cooking. But the original dishes are perfect drinking food, and they remain a testament to the kitchen’s trailblazing creativity.
Vancouver’s Pidgin is another example of tapas done right. Inside the restaurant, chef Wesley Young prepares Asian- and French- inspired small plates from an open kitchen that mimics the effects of Logrono’s Bar Angel. Diners are invited to watch Young plate bowls of pork belly over fluffy steamed rice with pear kimchi before being tempted to order their own. The eatery’s wide- reaching wine and spirit selection further underscores the connection between tapas and alcohol. A casual atmosphere also welcomes guests just looking for somewhere to grab a drink.
Much like going for tapas in Spain, the experience of dining at Cava and Pidgin can go on for hours. It’s not about eating to the point of discomfort, but about savouring each sip and flavour while enjoying the company you’re with. This is the point of great tapas — and what all eateries should aspire to regardless of their geography or the cuisine coming out of the kitchen.