The Tops of Tapas

For the less adventurous Tapa-Tasters (a.k.a. those who do not like seafood) I would recommend all of the pinchos I have tried thus far. Before coming to Spain, I knew that I adored tortilla de espanola, and after failing to make it myself at home, I knew had to come back here to get some real tortilla. Like much of the food here, the tortilla is a strange combination of food you might never think of putting together: egg, potato, and onion. So simple, yet so delicious.

Next is the famous croqueta. I've heard it described as a gooey mozarella stick and that seems to be pretty accurate; there are different fillings but most involve cheese, ham, or potato.

I also tried the costillos (ribs) at the place where it was supposed to be the specialty. Although extremely flavorful, my piece was very disappointing as there wasn't much meat at all on the bone, so I definitely felt cheated.

After sampling these two, I kind of thought Spanish pinchos resembled bar food far too much for me to enjoy on a daily basis. However, I discovered the elegance in other pinchos that seemed like delicacies to me. For instance, the champinones rellenos (refilled mushrooms) were delicious. I really had no idea what to expect here, but I think they were stuffed with some kind of meat and I'm not sure what else, but they were delectable! Definitely a good idea for a classy party snack.

Having never tried sangria before coming to Spain (something about wanting to wait for the real thing) I had made it a point to sample it at each new establishment. To my amazement there has actually been quite a spectrum of quality. Clubs around here serve terrible juice-like sangria, but in tapas bars (especially those on the Plaza Mayor), the sangria is wonderful and refreshing. Tasting so much sangria has also steered me in to trying more red wine here. At home, I am not a red wine drinker at all, but I've wanted to become one. I think that once I go home, I will want to start trying more, now that I've had everything under the sun mixed with red wine: limon, coke, casera, and various other beverages.