Tapas or pintxos, the sushi bar of Spain


In Catalonia and the rest of the world they are called tapas. In Basque they are called pintxos (say ‘pinchos’). Whatever you call these morsels they can range from the most simple bread with a slice of jamon to a delicate construction of a food pyramid. The style of dinning is somewhat similar to the sushi bar yet less formal. You can eat one or two bites and sip glass of rioja and tapa crawl your way through the cobble stone streets or pick your favorite bar and just order until you are happy. The best tapas bars make food to order (like a good sushi bar) but these are rare. Most have batches made and unless you get them early, they will sit and do nothing.

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A typical tapas bar, San Sebastian.

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Sagardotegi, the Basque cider. The drink is poured from head height from a bottle with a special spout. Here is a little passage from wiki:

In the most traditional sagardotegi, each guest, after having paid in the region of 25 euros, receives a glass and at various intervals a txotx (pronounced [?o?]) is called. At this, everyone who wishes for cider gets up and heads to the lower section of the sagardotegi where the barrels are located. The large barrels, which are stored horizontally, have a small tap in the lid at about head-height. This is opened by the innkeeper or the first guest to reach the barrel and a thin stream of cider exits, which the guests catch with their glasses as low down as possible to aerate the cider. People then return to their tables to continue with their meal and cider until the next txotx is called. Each guest may drink as much cider as they like.

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Jamon with little up-side-down hats to catch any dripping fat.

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