Spanish Tapas

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Alicia back again with a couple more Spanish recipes for you. One is actually Catalonian, so I'll say Iberian Peninsula recipes for you. 

This time I decided to do tapas. Tapas is a small portion of food that is enough to accompany a drink (according to the official Spanish dictionary). You can think of them like appetizers or bar food in America. They got their start long ago when King Alfonso X forbade taverns from serving wine without food to accompany it (to prevent drunkenness).This is how the name tapas came along. Tapas literally translates into cover or coaster. Before the royal decree, coasters were commonly placed over the drinks in order to keep bugs from drowning in the drinks. The little plates with the required food went on top of the cup instead. So the tapas were free at first and just small things like sausages, olives, and meats. But now it has evolved and is a national meal in Spain. You can find it all over.

Tapas

I decided to stick to some basics and tried to get as much authentic Spanish food as possible, but I had to substitute in some Italian meats, Sorry Spain. I did get Spanish cheese though. I also don't own any small plates and didn't think of this until I was already home, so we just used our regular plates. 

For our tapas meal we had:

• Manchego Cheese
• Iberico Cheese
• Murcia Al Vino cheese
• Spanish Olives
• Kalamata  Olives
• Mushrooms
• Proscuitto
• Salame
• Coppa
• Dill and Sweet Pickles
• Toasted French Bread
• Pa amb Tomàquet (Catalonian)
• Garlic Shrimp

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Pa amb Tomàquet- Catalonian Tomato Bread

This bread was so simple to make, yet so delicious. I found out about it because my friend posted on facebook about tomato sandwiches. She has some Spanish friends who commented that this is a popular way to eat tomatoes and bread in Spain. 

It is very simple to make.

1. You take a rustic crusty bread (I used French Bread). Cut it in half and toast it.
2. Cut a piece of garlic in half and rub it all over the bread.
3. Take a garden fresh tomato and slice in half. Squeeze the juices and pulp over the surface of the bread until it is saturated. I used one whole tomato on one side of the bread. 
4. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt.

This was so GOOD YOU GUYS! And it took barely any time to make. If you have tomatoes coming in from your garden make this! so fast and easy! It's perfect. I saw pictures where the bread they used was much thinner, but I liked it like this too. I do wonder if I should have used more tomato though. 

​I only used the top half of the french bread, and just toasted the bottom half for us to eat the cheese and meat with.

Garlic Shrimp

I saw garlic shrimp on a lot of tapas lists. I didn't look up a recipe because I thought the name was the recipe. This is another one that is so simple, but delivers big time on flavor! I'm noticing that theme with Spanish food so far.

To make:

1. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and add a couple TBS salted butter.
2. When the butter is melted add in raw, peeled shrimp.
3. Add 4-5 minced cloves of garlic.
4. Sprinkle a little salt if desired. 
5. Cook until shrimp is done.

I didn't measure anything in this recipe, just kind of through it together. If you have extra garlic butter it's a great dip for the plain French Bread.

Overall, this meal was very fast to put together, especially if you're not trying to make it look nice for a picture (haha). And it's very filling. Of course it's not supposed to be a huge thing but be little meals to accompany your drink (we had ginger ale). But if you eat a lot of little meals, it makes a pretty big meal. This would be great to feed a crowd with. Try it and let me know what you think!

If you want to learn more about Spanish cooking and cuisine,Panna has a class that is 6 lessons for $59.99! It's called Modern Spanish Cuisine and is taught by Seamus Mullen of Tertulia. That's basically $10 a lesson. What a deal! It'd be a fun gift for your loved one who is a foodie.