Tapas
Bringing People Together
As legendary cookbook author and journalist Claudia Roden wrote in her book, The Food of Spain, ”One of the pleasures in life in Spain is the tapas tradition: visiting bars and meeting friends before lunch or dinner for a glass of wine, beer or sherry accompanied by little plates of food.” Plenty of fun, to be sure.
My first tapas experience was in Madrid, on a free night during Oldways’ first Symposium in Spain in 1992, recognizing the 500th anniversary of the Columbian Food Exchange. The Symposium was my first and the 100 attendees were essentially the who’s who in food wine, agriculture and history. With Symposium sessions designed to construct a stable base of information from collective knowledge about the past 500 years of the food exchange, and from that platform, to think about the future, we covered a lot of ground over just 10 days – Barcelona to Sevilla to Madrid.
By the time we got to Madrid, we had enjoyed the pleasure of several incredible meals, many of them lasting late into the night. On this first night in Madrid, after endless presentations in the City Hall, I opted for tapas instead of a lengthy, multiple course meal.
Even though it was pouring, I was ready for a full-on Tapas Experience.
Photographer Porter Gifford and I set off for a multi-stop Tapas Hop. As Chef and Cookbook author Alex Raij wrote in her book, The Basque Book, “Today, enjoying tapas (or pintxos) means going from bar to bar, having a drink and something small to eat – oftentimes, choosing the bar for their tapa specialty.”
That’s exactly what we did… Setting off in the rain, we found refuge at our first stop with a delicious Tortilla Espanola with a glass of Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine. Tortilla Espanola or Spanish Potato Omelette is one of the most popular dishes in Spain. There are many variations of the dish, but the most common version features potatoes and onions. It’s a perfect lunch and is a staple of tapas bars throughout Spain.
Another tapas staple -- Croquetas de jamon (ham croquettes) – crispy fried balls of jamon and béchamel sauce accompanied by Fino, a dry Sherry from Andalusia (Jerez) filled our table at the next bar. But, the third stop was known for one of my favorites -- Gambas al Ajillo, shrimp cooked in a shallow clay dish with olive oil, garlic, and cayenne pepper – best enjoyed with a glass of crisp white wine, like Albariño.
By the time we were ready to leave the third Tapas Bar, Porter was intent on finding Spanish ceramics for his girlfriend, Serena, who is now his wife of 35+ years. Fortified by tapas, cava and wine, we shopped and searched until we eventually found a quartet of beautiful ceramic bowls for Serena.
We weren’t complete yet! Our final stop was for Bocadillo de Calamares, a classic Madrileño specialty – a crusty bread sandwich stuffed with fresh, deep-fried calamari. Most traditional to drink with the sandwich is a very cold, draft beer.
When we made our way back to the hotel where our group was staying, we gave everyone a good laugh with our bedraggled appearance. It was well worth it, and in the tradition of the saying, “you simply cannot visit Spain without experiencing tapas (at least once!).”
In case you are wondering about the origin of tapas -- as Claudia and others explain, “Tapas originated in the southern region of Andalusia, and Seville is the capital where the custom is supposed to have begun. The word tapa, which means “cover” or “lid” is said to have referred in early days to the slice of ham or cheese that was laid across the tops of narrow sherry glasses by innkeepers when they handed them to stagecoach drivers – to keep them covered and, it is said, to keep insects out of the wine. The salty tidbits also kept clients thirsty.”
Very simply, you can create your own Tapas Experience at home with a few of Oldways recipes (below). Or, even better, join us in Madrid in October 18-25, 2026, for the Oldways Madrid Culinaria, which will of course include a night of Tapas. We hope it will be as memorable and delicious as this night was in 1992 and filled with an equal amount of laughs and memories.
In Food & Wine you’ll find 25 Tapas Recipes including my favorite, Gambas al Ajillo
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