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• Tapas are Spanish appetizers usually eaten in the time between leaving work and dinner. The United States has adapted tapas, or little plates, into full meals, with tapas bars or restaurants growing into widespread popularity.

• Fast Facts

  1. Some served cold, such as Olives or Cheese
  2. Tapa means "lid", or "cover" in Spanish
  3. Seafood dishes very popular

• Brief History

  Tapas, which means "covers" in Spanish, were originally slices of bread used as covers to protect sherry from fruit flies. Tavern owners then began to top the bread with snacks. Another explanation is that when King Alfonso XII stopped into an Andalusian inn for a drink of sherry, the waiter covered his glass with a slice of ham, to prevent the wind from whipping sand into his glass. Once he drank the wine and ate the ham, he ordered again, asking for the same cover, or tapa.

• Notable Nibbles

  1. Olives
  2. Cheese
  3. Calamari
  4. Sauteed prawns
  5. Stuffed mussels
  6. Meatballs
  7. Chorizo Sausage
  8. Fried pork
  9. Fried potato
  10. Kebabs

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Spanish Food | Pork | Onions | Olives | Chicken | Spanish Wine | Sangria | Wine | Cheese | How to Make Paella

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