Learn Spanish

• Home page
• Why learn Spanish?
• Why don Quijote?
• Spanish in Spain
• Spanish in Latin America
• Spanish Courses
• Course Activities
• Accommodation
• Scholarships
• Pricelist
• Special offers
• Free brochure
• Book now
• News
• Student articles
• Newsletter
• dQ in the Press
• Contact us

Spanish in the UK

Useful contacts

• Student Articles

By Anthony Pemberton

In Spanish cuisine tapa is the name given to a wide variety of snacks and appetizers eaten in between meals; these saucer-sized bites, as much a part of Spanish culture as the siesta and the fiesta, come in infinite varieties with no counter of a Spanish bar seen without them.

Some believe that the tradition of tapas began when the king of Castile, Alfonso the 10^th, also called the Wise, had to take small bites of food with some wine between meals due to illness. Once he recovered from the disease, the wise king decreed that no wine was to be served in any of the inns in the land of Castile unless accompanied by something to eat.

In Spain dinner is usually eaten between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. leaving significant time between work and dinner. Therefore to sustain themselves, Spaniards often go bar crawling but gastronomic style (Ir de tapas/tapear) and eat tapas in the time between finishing work and having dinner. The fresh tapas of the evening are normally prepared at around 6 p.m. ready for the evening influx of Spanish people looking for a snack before dinner. Since lunch is usually served between 1 and 3 p.m., another common time for tapas is weekend days around noon as a means of socialising before a proper lunch at home.

It is very common for a bar or a small local restaurant to have 8 to 12 different kinds of tapas in warming trays with glass partitions covering the food.

Often one or more of the choices for tapas are is seafood (mariscos), often including anchovies, sardines or mackerel in olive oil, squid rings (calamares); sometimes tapas are accompanied by red or green peppers or other seasoning. It is rare to see a tapas selection not include one or more types of olives, such as manzanilla or arbequina olives, but many types of tapas vary depending on the region and its delicacies. One or more types of bread are usually available to eat with sauce-based tapas.

At the time of tapeo conversation plays an integral part of the tapeo ritual. The art of eating standing up has become almost sacred. The tapas are a very characteristic part of the Spanish cooking tradition which has spread to other cultures and have now become popular throughout the world. In many countries the eating of tapas has been transformed into full meals with restaurants dedicated to tapas inspired food. 

Tapas recipes do vary according to the taste and gastronomic traditions of each region. But the tapas most often served are usually those including the many varieties of olives, dry nuts as well as many kinds of cold cuts. Many typical tapas which can be found in any bar are those such as boquerones (anchovies marinated in vinegar), croquetas (fried potato with meat), varieties of tortilla española, olives, patatas bravas (fried potato in a spicy tomato sauce), and other types of seafood.

Ski in Spain

Barcelona Football Club

Spanish Language Dictionaries

Spanish grammar

A history of Salsa music and dancing

Spanish phrases

Travelling step by step around Spain