Tapas, Pinchos, Botanas: Food culture in Spain

When you ask about food in Spain the main things people will mention are eating times, paella, and tapas. As many people looking into coming to Spain will learn, gastronomy is a big part of the culture. From jamón to wine to tapas. In Spain you will never be hungry. 

The first thing everyone asks is what tapas are. Tapas are small dishes. They are seen appetizers and snacks. These small dishes are usually had with friends, an alcoholic drink, or eating many small servings of foods. 

Here is a very quick overview of things to know as you go tapear with your friends. 

Tapear, pincho, are these the same? They are. These are different ways to call tapas. These are the following terms all related to tapas. Tapear is going out to eat tapas with friends. So, if I want to invite friends to have tapas somewhere I could say, “Vamos a tapear por Van Dyke o Plaza Mayo” Tapas can also be called pinchos. Pinchos is used more when saying you are getting a small bite to eat. Botana is like a tapa, but it is something you carry with you. Like carrying a snack on the train or getting botanas to have some snacks while you commute to work or hangout with friends. 

I went out to eat tapas a few times, mainly through IES Abroad Salamanca’s events. The events events being “Intercambio de Lenguage”, an ENGAGE session, an El Club de Español outing, and our graduation. Aside from those I went to get tapas with a friend twice and by myself a few times. With IES Abroad the tapas had more variation. Such as foods with cured meats and how the bread was presented. While when I ate it was mainly tortilla de patatas, croqetas, a small pasta serving, papas fritas or something that looked delicious and intriguing. My favorite tapa to share was huevos rotos. This was a tapa with fries, jamon, and fried eggs. You would cut the fried eggs making them huevos rotos or broken eggs. This was fun to do especially trying to convince someone to the honors. The combination of fries, jamon, and eggs was also interesting since it looked like an American Breakfast Spanish style but was actually just a simple dish had anytime of the day. 

For my Spanish class I had an assignment where I asked people about the tapa culture in Salamanca. I went to a tapa bar not too far from the residence hall called “Caminito Bar” and while there I had some tapas with a friend. We asked when most people have tapas and what was the most popular item there. The waitress told us that many people come on Sundays after church or while watching soccer matches. She also told us that most people get tortilla de patatas and they sometimes change what tapas they have in the display case. As time went on, I could see how tortilla de patas was a staple food in Spanish cuisine. From going to a kid’s birthday party with a family friend in Madrid to having a picnic on “Lunes de Aguas” wherever there is a social gathering and food is needed tapas are there to eat and enjoy.