Tapas etiquette

[Kiwi-family]

Hi
When we have travelled in Spain so far we have just ordered raciones because there are at least 5 of us and as four of them are kids they are not ordering cerveza! However, some of them were mentioning the other day that they want to "do tapas". Will it work with a lemonade? (this would be a real treat for my kids because we don't do sugary drinks other than red wine;-) ) I don't want to offend - or look stupid! You guys can protect me from myself before we get there.
Also, I don't really drink, so the idea of having five red wines at different bars in order to get enough food to satisfy my hunger scares me - I get tipsy after half a glass. Is it OK to keep ordering food even if you're not drinking?
On our first camino I learnt to love olives. My second was for red wine. The third was for seafood. This time will be conquering tapas!

 

[Michael Caleigh]

I never ordered a soft drink so I won´t know if you will get tapas. You can order food though if you don´t drink

 

[Rob the Slob]

Whenever my wife and I are in Spain, we tend to order whatever and however may tapas we want. Sometimes this goes along the lines of "we'll have one of each except this and this." No one has ever taken offence, at least that we know, and no one has ever blinked an eye at any of our choices of drink (granted, though, we usually order sangria or tinto de verano).

 

[crackmrmac]

I don't recall receiving tapas with soft drinks, however this was usually early in the day.
If the bar concerned supplies tapas then I'm quite sure you can purchase some. In this scenario you don't need to purchase an individual drink for each person.

I suppose " Tiene tapas?" is your must have phrase.

Buen Camino.

 

[Mark Lee]

In my experience the tapas crawl thing is also a booze thing. Never saw anybody drinking water or sodas. Just beer and wine.
Why not just go to a restaurant instead and order a meal of various different plates?

 

[november_moon]

Tapas are supposed to be a snack, not a whole meal. Some people have tapas as they bar hop, others just have a tapa with a drink before dinner. So expect to order additional raciones in addition to any tapas you are given with your drink.

 

[SabsP]

Tapas are supposed to be a snack, not a whole meal. Some people have tapas as they bar hop, others just have a tapa with a drink before dinner. So expect to order additional raciones in addition to any tapas you are given with your drink.

When I went bar hopping for pinxtos , friends had a coke or limonade without a problem.
Also lots of bars serve small glasses of vino.
You will be ok.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I rarely drink, and I enjoy going to a tapas bar and just pointing to what I want.
I don't think it will be an issue.
By the way, Kiwi-Family, be sure to try manteca colora in the bars for breakfast.
YUM!

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

Hi
When we have travelled in Spain so far we have just ordered raciones because there are at least 5 of us and as four of them are kids they are not ordering cerveza! However, some of them were mentioning the other day that they want to "do tapas". Will it work with a lemonade? (this would be a real treat for my kids because we don't do sugary drinks other than red wine;-) ) I don't want to offend - or look stupid! You guys can protect me from myself before we get there.
Also, I don't really drink, so the idea of having five red wines at different bars in order to get enough food to satisfy my hunger scares me - I get tipsy after half a glass. Is it OK to keep ordering food even if you're not drinking?
On our first camino I learnt to love olives. My second was for red wine. The third was for seafood. This time will be conquering tapas!

The wonderful and very confusing world of tapas.

Tapas are free, are put in front of you without asking and except for a handful of places in Spain, you cannot choose. Tapas are usually small and bite-size, but not always, there are wonderful exceptions. Likewise, many place in Spain do not do tapas, such as Barcelona or Bilbao (no, pintxos are not tapas). Others like Granada or León are famous for their tapas.

What many people call tapas are what we call 'raciones', which is not free, you (obviously) choose and you share with others. A typical dinner for four would be ordering four raciones, fir example. Practical example: a tapa would get you a very small slice of Spanish omelette, and a ración could get you a whole tortilla.

And yes, you will get a tapa with a soft drink. And in many places in Galicia, a small French pastry 'tapa' with your coffee.

With kids, my suggestion, avoid tapas, we eat a lot of odd things qnd as others have posted, it's more of a social adult thing/atmospher.

Cheers

 

[fraluchi]

The variety of tapas is huge and reflects the diversity of the culinary traditions of the Spanish regions. It is believed that tapas were "invented" in Andalucia, where a glass of wine was covered (tapar) by a small snack (slice of bread with cheese or ham, or other food) which had to prevent flies from getting into the wine.
One can usually visit a tapas bar and choose a variety of these small goodies, without going for outright raciones, and have a beverage.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

You already know what a racion is : a large plate of one thing, be it ham, cheese, etc.

Then there are the tapas you get for free when ordering something to drink. These are usually very basic, nothing to write home about.

Then there are all those beautiful ornament or jewlery looking peices you find in glass cases on the counter tops. Those are also tapas, and you order as many as you want, regardless of what you may want to order to drink, if anything.

I am a solo walker and so often wish I had people to share raciones with, bit your kids will enjoy discovering these wonderful new combinations of flavour and texture.

 

[annakappa]

Translation seen on the way up to OCebreiro for tapas was "lids"!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Translation seen on the way up to OCebreiro for tapas was "lids"!

But so beautiflly crafted lids these days. And yes, it is said that tapas were fist offer with drinks so that the plate they were served on would serve as a lid to prevent flies to getting into the drinks.

 

[Lachance]

The variety of tapas is huge and reflects the diversity of the culinary traditions of the Spanish regions. It is believed that tapas were "invented" in Andalucia, where a glass of wine was covered (tapar) by a small snack (slice of bread with cheese or ham, or other food) which had to prevent flies from getting into the wine

Better they got into the food?? I wonder, if you put the tapas beside the glass, which would the flies prefer?

 

[Kiwi-family]

Sounds like we'll stick with our raciones - leaves them something to look forward to when they are adults;-) "When you grow up you can walk the camino and have tapas whenever you want"!!
Not that we're scared of strange things - we travelled the world for 15 months and they ate whatever we were served - fried crickets, live wriggling maggots, lamb's tail tea, buffalo stew, something we called "Mekong Sludge", camel, garlic milk, vegetables fermented on the side of the road (literally on the road) - they try anything. Next will be manteca colora!

 

[Kanga]

I found far more free tapas on the Norte than on the CF. In some towns the bars were really competative and the free tapas were culinary delights. That seems much rarer on the CF. As others have pointed out, the bars that automatically provide a free small tapas dish will often have many other tapas from which to select, but for those you have to pay. The rule (in Spain, Portugal is different) is that if it comes without asking, it's free. If you have to ask or select, you pay.

 

[Harington]

Hi
When we have travelled in Spain so far we have just ordered raciones because there are at least 5 of us and as four of them are kids they are not ordering cerveza! However, some of them were mentioning the other day that they want to "do tapas". Will it work with a lemonade? (this would be a real treat for my kids because we don't do sugary drinks other than red wine;-) ) I don't want to offend - or look stupid! You guys can protect me from myself before we get there.
Also, I don't really drink, so the idea of having five red wines at different bars in order to get enough food to satisfy my hunger scares me - I get tipsy after half a glass. Is it OK to keep ordering food even if you're not drinking?
On our first camino I learnt to love olives. My second was for red wine. The third was for seafood. This time will be conquering tapas!

Last time I was sitting in the iconic Do Bispo in Santiago after my last Camino, the Spanish guy sitting next to me had several tapas while drinking a Coke. I don't think there's any snobbery about what you drink, when, where. They all make their money as they can.

 

[GreatDane]

I found far more free tapas on the Norte than on the CF...

Aside from my Madrid hostel cafe serving yummy green olives with my wine, rock hard potato chips with my beer in Navarrete and very yummy sausage slices in Najera, none of my other "refreshments" were served with free tapas on my Camino to Burgos.

 

[movinmaggie]

For etiquette and general knowledge of customs and culture, there is something called 'Culturegram' for just about any country. I find them not only interesting but quite helpful when I am travelling to a new country. Just Google it followed by the country.

 

[movinmaggie]

Here's an example of Culturegram…...

 

[november_moon]

I noticed a lack of interesting complementary tapas in the bars along the Camino Frances also - I attributed it to the general differences of being a pilgrim versus not. Some of the "rules" are different for pilgrims - along the Camino you can find dinner before 9pm, for example I haven't walked any other routes, but I have spend time in Madrid, Sevilla, and Cordoba - all of which had lots of interesting tapas in bars. On the Camino Frances, I saw a lot of bread with cheese or meat, olives, and nuts as tapas, but not much else. Maybe because the bar owners know that they aren't really competing for business with their tapas, so they don't spend resources on making interesting ones. Of course there were plenty of interesting raciones that people can order.

 

[kmrice]

I defer to anyone who is Spanish, but in our experience:

Tapas are small - a bite or two

Raciones are larger

Some bars give you a free tapas with a drink. They don't care if the drink is alcoholic. The most wonderful tapas we got on our last camino came with our drinks in Finesterre. I ordered wine, my wife, a coke (she normally drinks wine but was intrigued to see that they still serve real coke in real bottles in Spain - not the high fructose corn syrup stuff we get in cans in the US these days. She had to try it.). We were both given a wonderful seafood salad tapas with our drinks.

If the tapas or raciones are being purchased, they don't care how old the customers are.

We took our boys everywhere we went on an earlier Camino, including the bars on Tapas crawls; it didn't hurt them a bit, they loved it, and no one objected. They pretty much loved everything they ate. We did not get pigs ears on that trip, like the ones my wife and I got on a subsequent camino. My wife says they are good.

Karl

 

[waveprof]

The idea that tapas area an "adult" thing is certainly not a Spanish idea. Heck, the idea that a bar is an "adult" thing isn't Spanish. In the Basque Country, entire families are at Pinxto bars at 11 PM at night. Our 14 month old only got strange stares from the Americans.

I don't know if you'll get free tapas (in the regions that still do that) without buying alcohol, you'd have to try it out. But you definitely can purchase them at the places that sell them.

Also, for clarification, the difference between tapas and pintxo isn't just Castillian/Basque, pintxos are supposed to be more of a composed bite/dish, only in a single or two bite portion. Tapas aren't as complex (nor are they meant to be, and simple can be just as good, so that isn't a knock"

The distinction between tapas and racciones (mentioned above) is mostly correct, except to say that things have "modernized" very regionally and you may see what that poster defines as racciones labeled tapas in some bars, and vice versa. You'll also see some places in Castilla y Leon advertising pinchos (Castillian for pintxo), but these are usually just tapas meant to sound more foodie because of the recent popularity of Basque food/pintxos (only made more strong throughout Spain after the recent smash hit movie "8 Basque Last Names"

 

[waveprof]

BTW, if you are pinxto hopping and "get tipsy on a half glass of wine" try ordering Txakoli, the young Basque white wine that is 1) amazing 2) ubiquitous in the Basque Country. I'm 100% a red wine kind of guy, but Txakoli is that good. Meanwhile, it's low alcohol content, small pours (usually), and cheap (usually). It's a good way to follow the Basque proverb: "A little bit, often" That's how they approach food too.

 

[Kiwi-family]

BTW, if you are pinxto hopping and "get tipsy on a half glass of wine" try ordering Txakoli, the young Basque white wine that is 1) amazing 2) ubiquitous in the Basque Country. I'm 100% a red wine kind of guy, but Txakoli is that good. Meanwhile, it's low alcohol content, small pours (usually), and cheap (usually). It's a good way to follow the Basque proverb: "A little bit, often" That's how they approach food too.

Thanks for the advice BUT I don't think we'll run into Basque country on the Via de la Plata;-)

 

[waveprof]

BUT I don't think we'll run into Basque country on the Via de la Plata;-)

Now THAT's a shame

 

[Camembert]

You already know what a racion is : a large plate of one thing, be it ham, cheese, etc.

Then there are the tapas you get for free when ordering something to drink. These are usually very basic, nothing to write home about.

Then there are all those beautiful ornament or jewlery looking peices you find in glass cases on the counter tops. Those are also tapas, and you order as many as you want, regardless of what you may want to order to drink, if anything.

I am a solo walker and so often wish I had people to share raciones with, bit your kids will enjoy discovering these wonderful new combinations of flavour and texture.

Be carefull not to order 5 raciones de jamon Iberico. You will be surprised when the bill comes up. A good quality jamon Iberico -the best quality ham from the "pata negra " pig cost you about 20€ for a plate with some slices.
Usely a group of family, friends, collegues etc order one ración de jamon Iberico and everybody picks a slice. Nice are croquetas, batatas bravas etc.
but the best and cheapest tapa is a piece of toasted bread, rub it with a piece of garlic, then dip it in some olive oil , poured out on your plate with a tiny bit of (sea) salt... You won't leave the bar or restaurant anymore. Gordeous ! Que aproveche !

 

[SabsP]

Live today...pintxos at Irati in Barcelona.

 

[fraluchi]

[...] they ate whatever we were served - fried crickets, live wriggling maggots, lamb's tail tea, buffalo stew, something we called "Mekong Sludge", camel, garlic milk, vegetables fermented on the side of the road (literally on the road) - they try anything. Next will be manteca colora!

When walking in our side of the world map, try dried Colombian jumbo ants: full of protein and crunchy.

 

[J Willhaus]

How do you pronounce Txakoli?

try ordering Txakoli, the young Basque white wine that is 1) amazing 2) ubiquitous in the Basque Country.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

How do you pronounce Txakoli?

Tchakolee.

 

[Bradypus]

How do you pronounce Txakoli?

This might help:

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/01/where-txakoli-is-made-spain-basque-country-vineyards-wine.html

 

[J Willhaus]

Thank you Anemone del Camino and Bradypus. I look forward to trying this on our journey.

 

[Kanga]

I think of it as "chocolate" wine - chokolee. Not sure if that is the right pronunciation but people seem to know what I mean.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Thank you Anemone del Camino and Bradypus. I look forward to trying this on our journey.

The X is pronounced ch in the Basque country, like you will see it used in the Yucatan peninsula.

 

[J Willhaus]

We can buy this wine here in Boise (Txakoli) because there is a strong Basque community here. Phil and I bought a bottle last night to try with cheese and crackers and it was quite good. Thanks for the tip on that waveprof!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Boise? Really? The things you learn on this Forum.

 

[movinmaggie]

This might help:

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/01/where-txakoli-is-made-spain-basque-country-vineyards-wine.html

This is very helpful bradypus, thanks....off topic, may I send you a PM? I have a question regarding Scotland.