Wining and Dining Spanish Style

The Spanish evening starts late, around 9pm and it is rare to eat much before 10pm. In terms of food, one of the real joys of the Spanish cuisine is its ‘tapas', where you buy a selection of smaller dishes, which go towards the making of a full meal. In this way it is easy to taste a range of Spanish specialties in one sitting, though to the uninitiated the menu can be complex and difficult to understand with possible delicacies ranging from ‘setas' (wild mushrooms) to the unthreateningly named ‘callos', which in fact is a dish of tripe and provides a pitfall for unwary foreigners.

‘Tapas', from the Spanish ‘tapa' or ‘lid', gets its name from the tradition according to which your wine glass was covered with a piece of bread or biscuit to prevent flies getting in your drink. Many bars in Madrid provide you with a free ‘tapa' or snack with your drink. However if you are to make a meal of them ‘tapas' is ordered by the ‘ración', which provides you with a plateful.

The Spanish like to eat on the move ‘en marcha' and although you do find a lot of places where you can have a sit down meal, the majority of tapas is consumed ‘de pie' (on foot), either at the bar or in small groups around pedestal tables. Many people tend to do the equivalent of a pub-crawl with the emphasis however, on food and the best dishes available in each bar or restaurant.

In Spain it is not considered bad manners or unhealthy to throw your olive pips or used serviettes on the ground before a big sweep-up at the end of the evening. The best bars can therefore often be judged by the amount of rubbish on the floor! Visitors should bear this in mind when choosing where to go, as the most unlikely bar, judged by British standards, is often the best.

Additional Inside Info!

Worried about getting your chorizo home on the plane?

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