Page 53 - DreamScapes Magazine | Spring/Summer 2024

long, post-lunch walks, followed by a few alfresco tapas. Casual snacks of patatas bravas—crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, olive-oil-fried potatoes smothered in a spicy tomato sauce—would land at the table next to mini shot glasses full of summer-fresh, blitzed tomatoes, garlic and sherry vinegar for a refreshing gazpacho cold soup. Manchego sheep’s-milk cheese triangles would join the spread, along with some piping hot, ham-flecked, crisp-fried cro- quettes that are creamy, bechamel-smooth on the inside. The parents always enjoyed a caña (small glass) of local beer, while we sipped on a soda.
You’ll find restaurants, markets, bars and even hotel patios throughout the country offering tapas any day of the week. You want to meet up with friends post breakfast hours? You’ll usually get together over a beer, glass of wine or vermouth, with a few simple tapas ranging from 1€ and up.
THE WEEKDAY OR ANY DAY TAPA TOUR
After work, your colleagues might entice you to go for tapas (“¡Vamos a tapear!”)—a few bites after work and before dinner which is usually served late around 9 to 11 p.m. If you’re a bigger group, you might hear someone order a “media ración” or half a dish of say four cro- quettes. If they order a ración, a full plate, you’ll get the house specialties and share them amongst your friends (hot tip: this is likely less expensive than ordering single tapas for the gang).
Tapas bar hopping is a tasty way to explore a city’s tapas scene. In the heart of Rioja wine country, for example, Logroño’s must-try tapa is the “champis.” This hot, seared mushroom cap dotted with garlic- parsley butter houses a baby shrimp and gets skewered onto a baguette slice for one delicious mouthful. Tuck into a champis and sip on a glass of red Rioja in most any bar on what locals call La Laurel (Calle Laurel) next to the San Blas Market.
When in the city of Leon, try the Castilian specialty, cecina, which dates back to the 4th century BC. Savour a slice in the city’s fabled Húmedo neighbourhood where the salt-cured, air-dried beef has the nuttiness of jamón with the minerality of an aged steak. You’ll get it served on a baguette slice with a glass of the local Bierzo red wine, offered in a customary chunky glass. No matter where you go in Spain, whether you’re in a big, inland city or small, coastal town, there’s another tapa packed with gastronomic history to discover and share. ¡Listo! DS
FUN FACT
A TORTILLA
DE PATATAS
IS NOT A FRITTATA
While both are egg-based dishes, they are worlds apart. A frittata is an Italian, open-faced omelette that’s finished in the oven and can include veg- gies, cheeses and meats. A tortilla de patatas is Spanish and made with eggs, potatoes, onions and olive oil. Once done cooking on one side, the tortilla is flipped onto a plate before being slid back into a hot pan. Both are served room tem- perature, but one bite of the custardy centre, made slightly sweet thanks to the caramelization of onions and potatoes in olive oil, and you’ll taste the difference!
TORTILLA DE PATATAS
PHOTOS: TOURIST OFFICE OF SPAIN
SPRING/SUMMER 2024 DREAMSCAPES 53