The history of Tapas
The Tapas in order to be considered as such, must
be taken between meals as food that allows the body to survive until
lunch or dinner.
Some people suggest that the Tapas was born because of a disease of
Spanish King Alfonso X the Wise, who was forced to eat small snacks
between meals with small sips of wine. Once recovered, the wise king
ordered that the inns of Castile did not dispatch wine if not
accompanied by some food, which was a royal decision considered
appropriate and wise to avoid the excesses caused by alcohol organic
vapors in those who drank, who in most cases, they had no pecuniary
enough to afford good condition protein-rich food.
The real story of the ailment can be ignored if we are more
interested in the birth of the tapas, actually, because of the need
of farmers and other trade workers to eat small food during their
working day, allowing them to continue the task until lunchtime.
The main meal, especially abundant in fat, gave the body a hard time
trying to digest it which didn’t help workers to resume the hard
work in the land or in the workshop and forced them to take a nap,
rest to facilitate digestion, so the work was paralyzed a few hours.
The more work was done in the morning hours before lunch, the less
had to be done after digestion.
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The snack demanded wine because alcohol
increases the enthusiasm and strength, and warmed the body to face
the rigorous cold of the country or the medieval workshop in winter.
In summer, the South snack drink was gazpacho, instead of wine,
since it caused inconvenient suffocation to a body that needed more
refreshment than heat.
This snack becomes "Alifara" in the north, Aragon and Navarra and
the Basque Country, with the passing of the years, it was being
called "poteo" because it required wine "pots" in its ritual.
When Spain became widespread "wine shop" and "taverns", the
provision of the Wise King remained in force. For this reason, the
glass or jug of wine was served covered with a slice of cold meat or
a slice of ham or cheese, which has a twofold purpose: to prevent
dirt and insects from falling into the wine and provide the client
with alcohol and solid food, as advised Alfonso X. This was the
origin of the name of this Spanish tradition so deeply rooted, solid
food that covered the glass of wine.
This was generalized throughout Spain the tradition of the tapa,
which is still rooted nowadays and has even been adopted and adapted
by other countries.
Nothing else but a solid cover is what Americans eat lunch at noon,
continuing his intensive working day until mid afternoon, allowing
them to put up with a frugal meal until the hour of the protein
meal. Habit of the frugal lunch in Europe is still not implemented
at all, despite the Americanization of the work system.
In the Old World custom of the three main meals: breakfast, lunch
and dinner is preserved.
The long distance between breakfast,
almost at dawn, and lunch in the early hours of the afternoon, still
requires, however, in some Mediterranean countries the snack,
l'apéritif or tapa, which also provides the necessary time to
get-together or the exchange of views about work.
The drink that traditionally accompanies the tapa is wine, either
cheap wine or reserve wine specific to each region: young txakolí in
the Basque region, Penedès wine and cava in Catalonia, the ribeiro
in the northwest, the young Valdepeñas wine or Rioja in Castile and
the center or fine sherry in the South. In Asturias and Basque
regions, where the apple is abundant, wine is replaced by cider.
The recipes of tapas are different according to tastes and
gastronomic traditions of each region. But usually, the olives, in
its many variants, dried fruits and cold meats are found more
frequently.
From here, the tapa became established with many others recipes,
most of them stopped being considered main food (in the Middle Ages
and shortage times was supplemented with bread) to become
appetizers.
Green olives, of chamomile, crushed, filled, seasoned or pitted,
could constitute a tapa recipe on its own.
Have also been universalized slices of chorizo or tenderloin, slices
of cheese or cured ham, which ultimately are the origin of the tapas
of the medieval jug of wine.
From these centuries-old ingredients, tapas recipe book covers all
kinds of food: meat, fish, vegetables, eggs and any other products
can be part of the world of the tapa.
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The fried food prevailed over the
sauces, except for some minor exceptions: anchovies, squids,
sausages, fritters, croquettes, potatoes and bacon are part of the
world of the fried tapas, casseroles did so, such as tripe in the
Madrid style, Almagro's aubergines or seasoned beans. And finally,
the centuries-old recipes such as potato tortilla, cod fritters,
croquettes and pickled dishes were forced to the cocktail hour
which, together with any salad, they could perfectly replace a
complete meal.
To these traditional snacks, new tapas recipes were made and added
nowadays. Some recipes that until now were reserved only for
tablecloth covered table with cutlery, such as paella or beef stew
with potatoes, and others from foreign cookbooks that have ended up
incorporating into the Spanish tapas such as canapés of smoked fish,
pate or caviar, Chinese rolls filled with vegetables, Nordic smoked
fish, German sausages, the Swiss and French cheese cakes or Central
Europe cakes or pates.
The tapas can even replace lunch or dinner if the quantity and
variety of tapas is enough to satisfy your appetite.
But surely the most singular aspect of tapas lies in its collective
quality and the fact that the companions at the table want to
attribute an informal ritual to this snack.
The elegance of tapas, the aesthetics of ritual lies in a kind of
demonstration of indifference to the table and chair, and to the
food itself, although delicate and tasty food, they eat it standing
up and minimum proportions, using the verb “to have a snack” or “to
peck” that belongs to the world of birds instead of “to eat”, which
they refuse to use on this occasion.
Priority is given to the speech and gestures during the tapas
ritual. It is not a demonstration of greed or materiality. The art
of eating standing up is almost sacramental.
Tapas are a very characteristic recipe of the Spanish culinary that
seemed intransferable to other cultures, but has become popular
worldwide.
How could it not! The tapas would
undoubtedly be the best formula for fast food if it did not require
break and time to practice Spanish elegance with the art of eating
standing up.
Sources:
"Tapas, bar snacks and snack" by Emilio Gonzalez Sevilla
"The golden book of Tapas" by Itos Vazquez
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