Tapas: You’re getting it all wrong — starting with the meaning of the word

A few weeks ago, Spain announced that its Ministry of Culture will seek protective status for tapas, its prized culinary ritual. This protection would come by way of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, which aims to safeguard “traditions or living expressions” of cultural knowledge, practices and skills. Flamenco, for instance, is already listed. So is the violin making of Cremona, Italy; Chinese shadow puppetry; Estonian smoke saunas; Slovakian bagpipe culture; and the Mongolian coaxing ritual for camels.

Traditional foodways, to date, have made up only a small part of the UNESCO list: Croatian gingerbread, Armenian lavash bread, cuisine from the Mexican state of Michoac?n and the vaguely worded “gastronomic meal of the French” are all recognized. But more and more regions have pushed to list and protect their traditional foods. Naples, for instance, has been aggressively trying to add Neapolitan pizzamaking to the list.

“Tapas are the very model of food,” Rafael Ans?n, Royal Academy of Gastronomy president, told the Local, Spain’s largest English-language news network. Ans?n insisted that tapas are not a specific type of dish but a “way of eating” and a living cultural practice that deserves preservation.

Now, I’m all for safeguarding fragile practices and traditions, but this move by Spain sounded like a bad idea. Of all the world’s foods, tapas don’t seem as if they’d need protection. What makes tapas great and strong is that they are so open-source and open-ended, ready to be adapted by any culture.

Reading about tapas as a protected species led me to think about one of the strangest trips of my life, which took place several years ago when I was invited to be a judge at Spain’s national tapas competition — the Concurso Nacional de Pinchos y Tapas — in the city of Valladolid.

I was no expert. I didn’t even speak Spanish very well (or, like, at all). Regardless, I arrived in Valladolid and was whisked onstage in the city’s odd, fluorescent Millennium Dome, was fed more than a dozen tapas in front of television cameras, announced to the host that the plates in front of me were “?muy bueno!” and scribbled my opinions on very official score sheets. My panel was specifically judging the dishes of culinary students from around the world, from as close as neighboring Portugal to as far away as South Korea. Student chefs from Israel, Turkey, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Mexico and the United States sent out their best interpretations of tapas. As the plates arrived one by one, the bubbly television host boasted about how wonderful it was that tapas had become so “international” and that they were “Spain’s great culinary gift to the world.”

Among the judges there was much solemn discussion of what defined tapas. There was general agreement that they should be small enough to eat in one or two bites and should not require a utensil beyond toothpicks or fingers.

One of the key judging categories was “Productos,” with an asterisked explanation that this meant we were to judge the use of “products and ingredients typical of Spanish gastronomy.”

The winner was a young woman from Seattle whose tapa, “Delicias del Pac?fico,” was both Spanish and not. It was a trio of cured fish, skewered with potato spheres, that included traditional ingredients such as bacalao, saffron and anise. But it also invoked the flavors of the Pacific Northwest by using wild salmon, raising a few Spanish eyebrows.

After I returned from my experience as a tapas judge, I became hyper-aware of how the word “tapas” is used at home. Here, it has simply become a synonym for small plates, which years ago became a ubiquitous form of popular dining, even at decidedly non-Spanish restaurants. But real tapas are more than just small plates, and perhaps the Spanish have just finally had enough of the term’s misuse.

Even in Spain, however, there’s disagreement about the origin of the term. Tapa literally means “cover” or “lid.” Some say “tapas” was derived from the practice of covering a glass of wine with a bread slice or small plate to keep out fruit flies. Others say it dates to a 17th-century king who ordered tavern owners to cover wine servings with a snack meant to ward off drunkenness. Still others say unscrupulous innkeepers used to offer strong-smelling cheese bites to cover the smell of bad wine.

I decided to consult with someone who was a true tapas expert: the premier tapas expert in the United States, Jos? Andr?s.”

Andr?s really tried to get at the heart of the philosophical question “what are tapas?” “What is the box where tapas lives? How do you define it? If you ask 50 million Spaniards, they will give you 50 million definitions,” he said. “Is tapas a whole bunch of dishes, or a way of enjoying life? I would say both.”

Potato-Wrapped Chorizo With Membrillo Aioli

4 or 5 servings.

Think of these as tapas pigs in blankets, with a luscious dipping sauce.

You’ll need toothpicks and an instant-read thermometer for monitoring the frying oil.

To avoid any possible salmonella risk from raw eggs, use a pasteurized brand, such as Davidson’s.

Chistorra chorizo is a dry-cured, mildly spiced, Basque-style sausage available through various online purveyors, including LaTienda.com and Amazon.com. The links are thin. It’s not easy to come by in the Washington area, but you can cut standard-size cured chorizo links lengthwise into quarters to achieve the effect needed here. Membrillo (quince paste) is available in the cheese department of large supermarkets.

MAKE AHEAD: You’ll have leftover aioli, which can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in advance.

Adapted from “Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen,” by José Andrés (Clarkson Potter, 2008).

For the aioli:

1 large egg (see headnote)

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon water (optional)

½ cup vegetable oil

Kosher or sea salt

6 ounces membrillo (quince paste)

For the chorizo:

8 ounces cured Spanish chorizo, preferably chistorra (see headnote)

1 large russet potato, peeled

3 cups Spanish olive oil, for frying

For the aioli: Break the egg into a mini food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of the extra-virgin olive oil, the garlic and lemon juice. Puree until smooth.

With the motor running, gradually drizzle in the remaining extra-virgin olive oil. If the mixture seems very thick before you begin adding the vegetable oil, add the water to loosen the sauce. With the motor running, drizzle in the vegetable oil, blending until you have a rich, creamy aioli that’s a lovely light yellow color. Season lightly with salt; the yield is about 1 cup. This recipe calls for ½ cup; reserve the rest for another use.

Return the ½ cup of aioli to the food processor and add the membrillo; puree until creamy and well combined. Transfer to a serving bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 days).

For the chorizo: Unless you’re using chistorra chorizo, cut the links lengthwise into quarters, then cut each quarter into 2-inch lengths; you’ll need a total of 20. For the chistorra chorizo, simply cut into 2-inch lengths.

Fill a mixing bowl with ice cubes and water. Use a mandoline to thinly slice the potato lengthwise, transferring the slices to the bowl as you work. You’ll need 20 of the largest slices; reserve the small ones for another use.

Remove a potato slice from the ice water and pat it dry with a paper towel. Lay it on a clean work surface and place a piece of chorizo in the center. Fold the potato slice over it, like a soft taco shell. Pinch the slice closed around the chorizo, and secure it by threading a toothpick or two through the edges of the potato. Repeat with the remaining potato slices and chorizo, creating a total of 20 bundles.

Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat to 325 degrees. Working in batches, fry the bundles until the potatoes are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer them to the paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain as you work. Allow the oil temperature to return to 325 degrees between batches.

Carefully remove the toothpicks while the bundles are still warm, to prevent the potato slices from breaking. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep them warm until ready to serve.

Spoon some of the membrillo aioli onto small dishes; serve under or alongside the potato-chorizo bundles.

Ingredients are too variable for a meaningful analysis.

Smoked Salmon and Quail Eggs

6 servings

This was inspired by pintxos in San Sebastian. Quail eggs always delight; the steaming technique called for here keeps them from being overcooked and makes them easy to peel.

You’ll need toothpicks to hold the small piles in place.

Adapted from a recipe on the BBC GoodFood website.

6 quail eggs, at room temperature

Twelve ½-inch slices crusty baguette

3 tablespoons mayonnaise or aioli

6 thin, wide slices smoked salmon, each cut lengthwise in half (5 to 6 ounces total)

6 good-quality anchovies (drained), each cut into 4 equal pieces

Freshly cracked black pepper

Place the quail eggs in a small steamer basket. Seat the basket over a small saucepan of barely bubbling water; cover and steam for 6 to 8 minutes (depending on how well cooked you like the yolks), then remove the basket from the heat. Let cool for 10 minutes in cool water, then peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise.

Spread the baguette slices with the mayonnaise or aioli. Top each one with a piece of the salmon, piled to create a kind of nest/platform, then nestle a quail egg half on top. Garnish each tapa with anchovy pieces and pepper. Insert a toothpick to hold each portion together.

Nutrition Per serving: 220 calories, 19 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 380 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar

Stuffed Cremini Mushrooms

6 to 8 servings.

Those who eschew anchovies, a typical tapas ingredient, will be glad to know the filling here is fish-free – and quite piquant.

Serve with a glass of garnacha.

MAKE AHEAD: The mushroom caps can be stuffed and refrigerated a day in advance.

Mahón is a Spanish cheese that tastes like a salty Muenster, with a slightly grainer texture. It is available at some Whole Foods Markets and at Calvert Woodley in Cleveland Park.

Adapted from a recipe at TapenaWines.com.

12 ounces medium whole cremini mushrooms, cleaned (12 to 16 total)

2 ounces Mahón cheese, shredded (see headnote; may substitute a young Manchego)

2 to 3 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped

¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced, plus more for optional garnish

¼ teaspoon sweet paprika

¼ cup plain dried bread crumbs

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut off any woody ends from the cremini stems and discard them; finely chop the rest of the stems. Place in a mixing bowl along with the cheese, sun-dried tomatoes (to taste), minced thyme, paprika and bread crumbs. Stir until well combined, forming a mixture that just holds together when pressed.

Arrange the cremini mushroom caps, open sides facing up, in a shallow baking dish. Pack each one with the filling mixture, rounding the top. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until just browned on top.

Drizzle lightly with oil, if using, and sprinkle with a few fresh thyme leaves, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition Per serving (based on 8): 50 calories, 4 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 85 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar

Nectarines With Anchovies

6 to 8 servings

This bite-size tapa is adapted from one of chef-restaurateur José Andres’s favorite salads. Nectarines and anchovies taste wonderful together with the dressing.

Grilling the nectarines first (in a grill pan or on the grill) works best, but you can serve them fresh as well. You’ll need toothpicks for this recipe. If you’re using fruit that’s less than ripe, it may be easier to cut the nectarines into quarters (rather than halves) before you cook them.

Adapted from “Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen,” by José Andrés (Clarkson Potter, 2008).

2 tablespoons minced shallot

2 scallions (white parts only), thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing the nectarines

Kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 ripe nectarines (see headnote)

2 cups loosely packed baby arugula

3 to 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained

Whisk together the shallot, scallions, vinegar and oil in a medium bowl until emulsified. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Halve and pit the nectarines; brush the cut sides lighty with a little oil. Add them to the grill pan, cut sides down; cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until some char marks form and their flesh is lightly caramelized. Transfer to a cutting board to cool, then cut the halves into quarters.

Divide the grilled nectarine quarters among individual small plates, or arrange them on a platter. Top each quarter with a few baby arugula leaves and a small piece of an anchovy fillet; secure with a toothpick. Drizzle dressing over the bundles and serve right away.

Nutrition Per serving (based on 8): 80 calories, 1 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 1 g dietary fiber, 6 g sugar