Tapas For Two

If you wanted a bar snack, the bartender would reach his hand into the crocks, at his discretion, and serve the assorted bits on one of the greasy plates covering the crock.

Alhambra Palace. Granada, Spain. Photo Credit: Unsplash.

All of the photos of destinations in Spain here are similar to photos I took during my travels to these places. Those photos are now stored away in albums and on film negatives. Thanks to Unsplash, a free photo repository, I was able to find what I wanted to show you.

Spain was one of my favorite destinations back when I wasn’t a parent. The Kid hasn’t been to Spain yet, but I hope he goes some day.

1991 was the last time I got to go.

There are so many different versions of this country that it’s difficult to choose locations to write about.

But there is one thing that is common everywhere in Spain.

“Tapas”.

Tapas didn’t used to be a thing that everyone knew about, in fact when I traveled there, tapas were a complimentary bar snack rather than a sanitized, frenzied, main event.

You would go into a bar and there would be crocks of salty stuff, olives, pickled things, fish, hard cheese cubes, sitting on the bar, with a stack of plates acting as a lid on each of them. Above the crocks would be what looked like a smoked leg of an animal, with juicy fat dripping onto the plates that were on the crocks.

It was the heat of the day that caused the fat to drip, there was no air conditioning in most of those places then.

If you wanted a bar snack, the bartender would reach his hand into the crocks, at his discretion, and serve the assorted bits on one of the greasy plates covering the crock.

The grease added to the flavor of the snack.

Really.

This wasn’t the case everywhere, but it was like that most places I traveled to in Spain back then.

If they gave you free, salty food, you’d drink more alcohol, was the philosophy.

Left: Carmona, Spain. Center and right: Segovia, Spain.

What are tapas?

In many places in Spain, tapas are traditionally considered a small snack or appetizer that people would eat in bars before their dinner. Many people in Spain eat dinner at a later time than in other European countries (around 9 or 10PM), because of the heat, especially in Andalusia (Southern Spain).

Serrano ham. Photo Credit Unsplash.

In the bars, back then, every tapa plate would also get a nice slice of the leg of the animal hanging above the plates. This ham I learned was called Serrano ham or Jamón Serrano.

It was salty with an incredible, rich flavor, similar to prosciutto, but not really.

One of a kind.

Memorable if you ever get to try it.

It’s expensive to buy today, but it was fairly reasonable then.

Serrano is a raw ham, dry-cured with salt and air-dried for at least nine months. It was originally produced in curing sheds in the mountainous areas of the Andalusia region of Spain. It’s now produced commercially, under controlled conditions in most parts of Spain.

And I bet there’s no fat dripping on the plates to be used, or bartenders dipping their hands into crocks on the bar anymore.

Left: White Villages of Spain. Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz. Right: Mosque-cathedral in Córdoba, Spain. Photo Credit Unsplash.

While I left authentic tapas in Spain, I still like to have a tapas night every now and then.

What could go wrong with cocktails and snacks for dinner?

Here are three tapas for two that I like to do for us on those nights. Two of them use Serrano ham, but prosciutto also works.

I grow figs and shishitos (peppers) and I love mangoes, good Caribbean or Florida mangoes if I can get them.

Prepare them in the order I have listed them here so everything is ready at the same time and nothing gets too cold.

La Ensalada Mango, Serrano, Manchego (Mango, Serrano, Manchego salad). Photo Credit: Collette Greystone.

La Ensalada Mango, Serrano, Manchego (Mango, Serrano, Manchego salad)

Manchego is a Spanish hard cheese like Parmesan, or Romano, well again, not really, but they can be used as a substitute. You want a block of the cheese, not the stuff that comes in the green can.

For tapas I use one mango. This is also a nice summer salad, in that case I use two mangoes and the rest of the recipe stays the same.

Ingredients:

• 1 t kosher salt

• 1 t paprika

• 1 t cracked black pepper to taste

• 1 large mango peeled and cut into cubes

• 4 very thin slices Serrano ham, diced

• 1⁄4 lb piece manchego cheese, shaved and curled with a vegetable peeler

Process:

1. Combine salt, paprika and pepper, mix well.

2. Arrange mango cubes on individual plates.

3. Sprinkle the paprika mixture over the mangoes.

4. Drop your diced Serrano ham onto the mango layer.

5. Top it off with the shavings of Manchego cheese.

Tostas de Higos con Jamon (Fig Toasts with Ham)

Tostas de Higos con Jamon (Fig Toasts with Ham)

I planted a Chicago hardy fig tree several years back. They are prolific (producing young or fruit especially freely). We wanted to offer figs at summer farmer’s markets, but if you’ve been reading along here with me, you know that story. 

Late summer brings the pile of figs I wanted to take to market. After eating them fresh, right off the tree, I make fig preserves. When the tree continues to produce after I’ve used the bulk of them, I make these tapas.

This recipe uses vinagre de Jerez or sherry vinegar. Sherry vinegar is a gourmet wine vinegar made from sherry. It is produced in the Spanish province of Cádiz, which is the beginning string of the white villages of Spain in the Southern region. Apple cider vinegar can be substituted.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese  

• 4 tbl walnut halves

• 4 slices rustic baguette toasted  

• 8 ripe figs  (they’ll be soft and sweet)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbl brown sugar

• A splash of sherry vinegar

• A pinch of course sea salt

• 8 thin slices Serrano ham 

Process:

1. Mix the cream cheese with three-quarters of the walnuts, crumbling the walnuts between your hands and stirring them into the cheese with a fork. 

2. Spread cream cheese blend generously over the toasted bread. 

3. Open your figs by slicing off the stem then, cutting a cross in the pointed end and opening them out like a flower with your fingers keeping the base of the fig in tact.

4. Drizzle some olive oil, about 2 tbl, into a frying pan over a medium heat and add the brown sugar. Stir to blend.

5. Add the figs and fry just the bases of the figs, without turning them, for 1-2 minutes as we only want to cook the bottoms. Watch that the caramel that forms in the pan doesn't burn. 

6. Add the sherry vinegar, whisk to blend and turn off the heat. This makes your vinaigrette. 

7. Place your hot figs on the toasts and drizzle them with the hot vinaigrette from the pan. 

8. Top with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of course sea salt and the slices of Serrano ham. 

9. Sprinkle with the remaining walnuts and serve.

Blistered Red Shishito Peppers. Photo Credit: Collette Greystone.

Blistered Red Shishito Peppers

I planted a whole bunch of shishito peppers for our farmer’s market in 2020. Since we didn’t go to markets, I kind of ignored them - so they turned red.

Boy were they good! Better than the green version, sweet with that occasional pepper packed with heat.

You can find shishito pepper seeds online if you want to grow them in your garden.

In the midwest we start them indoors in February/March and transplant around Mother’s Day. They take 2 months to produce the green peppers, which can be used instead of the red ones in this recipe. The red ones will take about 2 1/2 months from transplanting to mature.

You can also find them at Farmer’s markets in July in the midwest, that’s when we had them. They’ll probably be the green version.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbl extra-virgin olive oil

• half pint (about 20) whole shishito peppers

• Flaky sea salt

• Lime quartered (lemon can substituted)

Process:

1. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat to very hot. Drop the peppers in, it will splatter so stand back.

2. Cook peppers, turning occasionally, until they begin to blister on all sides. Sprinkle with salt and lime and serve immediately.

Enjoy!