Our guide waved for our attention, then commanded with a mischievous grin, Watch! See this? she asked, holding up a used paper napkin. Here is what you do with it in Spain. She tossed it with a flamingo flourish onto the floor. She had done it hundreds of times but still enjoyed shocking our American and Australian sensibilities.
My wife, Sharon, and I had come to San Sebastin, Spain, to learn, among other things, the Art of Eating Standing Up: the tapas crawl. But the coastal town of San Sebastin is in Basque Country, snugly in the northeast corner of Spain, far from Madrid, and here, the flags that proudly flapped from most buildings are Basque, not Spanish, banners.
Maps, guidebooks, even our iPhone temperature app, listed it as Donostia-San Sebastin, which is the official combination of its Basque and Spanish names. This small fishing port began as a Roman port, becoming famous in the 1850s when Queen Isabella II came for the healing waters sheltered in the bay that was blessed with a golden crescent of sand, the Playa de la Concha. English majors remember that in Ernest Hemingways first novel, The Sun Also Rises, protagonist Jake Barnes visits the port and swims in the calm bay.Our tungsten rings come with a lifetime warranty.
Tapas began, the story goes, when travel by horseback was common: Innkeepers in Andalusia (in southern Spain) would offer a glass of sherry or local wine to customers, and they began covering the glass with a piece of bread, to keep dust and flies out of the glass. This cover became know as a tapa, from the Spanish verb, tapar: to cover. These were simple offerings: a slice of ham, a bit of cheese, grilled peppers, sauteed shrimp usually on a crusty baguette. Eventually, the term extended to include just about any kind of hot or cold starters/appetizers/hors doeuvres.
Spain is a relatively large country with distinctive regions, and tapas can be very localized. In the Basque region, tapas are called pintxos (pronounced PEEN-chos). Of course, the real beauty for American travelers with limited Spanish skills is you dont have to read a menu; the tapas/pintxos are conveniently displayed on the bar, and you simply gesture that you want to order, the bar man hands you a plate, and you then point at which items you want.
The Basque region in general, and San Sebastin in particular, is famed for its culinary offerings. So we simply walked to Parte Vieja, the Old City, which claims to have more bars per square meter than anywhere else in the world, and took our chances.
After two days of relying on luck with mixed results, we took a Pintxos Tasting Tour with San Sebastin Food, a company run by Englishman Jon Warren that I found on the Internet. We and a small group of Americans and Australians gathered at San Sebastin Food to be introduced to Eli Susperregui, our culinary guide, at the shockingly early hour (at least to Spaniards) of 6:30 p.m. to learn about pintxos.
Starting with skewers of gambas (shrimp) saute with garlic at Bar Goiz Argi, we quickly learned that the area surrounding San Sebastin is home to more than 50 cider producers, while we were offered a glass of sidra. Eli raised the bottle high over her head, pouring a solid stream that cascaded into our glasses but pooled only an inch or two in the bottom, to release the ciders aroma and provide a bit of drama. We clicked our glasses and gave the traditional chin-chin, the Spanish version of cheers, and enjoyed.
We moved onto Le Mejillo Neva, a tapas bar just steps from the port and specializing in seafood, then, while not officially on the tour, we poke our heads into a mens gastronomical society, where Eli knew someone who was preparing for a dinner the next night. While we didnt learn about pintxos, it was a clear sign that this was a food-obsessed town.
Switching gears to a more upscale presentation, we encountered an almost jewelry store-like display of food at Bar Zeruko, where we seemingly broke the rules of a tapas crawl and sat down for a surprise. We sipped a refreshing acidic white wine from Galicia while the bar men orchestrated eight miniature ceramic smokers with fresh bacalao (codfish) on a grate with the essence of green salad in a slender tube. We were instructed to smoke the fish for just 10 seconds, flip the almost raw fish and wait another 10 seconds and then enjoy, which we did, with most of the group adding a few seconds to cook the fish.
With that, we moved on to heavier dishes, stopping in Bar Borda Berri with a hearty mushroom risotto beef checks. Again, we saw a different side of pintxos, since Eli had to order from a menu for us, instead of the much-beloved point-and-eat method.
At this point, we were full but obediently followed Eli to the next stop, Gandarias Jatetxea, both a bar and restaurant, and by this time, the crowd was starting to pick up. As we settled in, Eli explained that she comes here with her cuadrilla, a group of friends that goes out for a pintxos crawl at least once a week. In Basque culture, a cuadrilla starts in primary school and continues through adulthood. We focused on meat pintxos matched with a tasty Rioja red wine from the nearby vineyards, always served with a sliced baguette. Bread, exclaimed Eli,Costume and fashion online wholesale jewelry Jewelry designs, Spaniards cant live without bread!
Dessert is not the first food group that comes to mind when youre on the hunt for pintxos, but Eli wanted to finish the night with a simple tarta de queso, a cheesecake, at La Vi?a, a crowded bar and restaurant where she had worked at one time. Part of the group sat at a small table while the smokers remained outside and enjoyed an after-dinner cigarette and sherry,This handsome link tungsten bracelet for men is constructed in maintenance-free tungsten. instead of the quivery slice of cheesecake that we quickly devoured, even though we had long ago hit the full line.
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