Tapas - online puzzles

A tapa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtapa]) is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine and translates to small portion of any kind of Spanish cuisine.

Tapa may be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as chopitos, which are battered, fried baby squid ).

In some bars and restaurants in Spain and across the globe, tapas have evolved into a more sophisticated cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal. In some Central American countries, such snacks are known as bocas. In parts of Mexico, similar dishes are called botanas.

History

The word "tapas" is derived from the Spanish verb tapar, "to cover", a cognate of the English top.In pre- 19th century Spain tapas were served by posadas, albergues, or bodegas, offering meals and rooms for travellers. Since few innkeepers could write and few travellers read, inns offered their guests a sample of the dishes available, on a "tapa" (the word for pot cover in Spanish).According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were thin slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry (see below for more explanations). The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst.