Everyone knows these “spanish small plates” of food served in bars and cafes but tapas means literally a lid, a top or a cover. So how did the word come to embrace a whole culinary tradition common not only throughout Spain but now around the world? There are almost as many explanations as items on the tapas menu of a typical Spanish bar. These involve diverse influences such as the need for labourers, both agricultural and industrial, to snack during the long mornings to enable them to work up until the much heavier midday meal (longer working mornings helped to offset less productive post-lunch efforts in the afternoon heat and gave rise to the culture of siesta). Another theory has it that tapas enabled workers to “cover” the hungry hours between end of work and the late evening meal – typically taken at 9 or 10 o’clock. Or more colourfully, there is a traditional belief that more than a hundred years ago an Andalucian barkeeper started to place slices of ham on top of sherry glasses to keep the flies out. The saltiness of the ham promoted greater thirst, increased sales of beverages, and the rest is history! A variation of this suggests that tapas originated around the 16th century when sly barkeepers in La Mancha found that a slice of well-matured cheese placed on top of a wineglass could help to disguise the sour taste of its contents.

However, predating all of this by a long way, and much more romantically, is a story that King Alfonso X of Castile, 1221 – 1284, had to take small bites of food with wine when suffering from an illness. On his recovery he decreed that no wine was to be served in the inns of Castile unless accompanied by food.

These days the taking of a nap during siesta is impossible for many workers unable to get home during the afternoon break. Instead, the break (or the early evening) has become an opportunity to socialise for 2 or 3 hours, with the small plates and drinks being passed around groups of friends and colleagues conversing or just watching the world go by.

The tapas tradition has been echoed as appetisers in other countries around the Mediterranean: the French have hors d’oeuvres and entrees, the Italians their antipasti, and in Greece, Turkey and the Middle East the plethora of small dishes known as meze is widely enjoyed.

Foods commonly served as tapas include olives and nuts – often free of charge to accompany drinks – salads, cheeses, meats, fish, vegetables, bread, and the ubiquitous Spanish tortilla. Many restaurants offer tapas-sized portions of all or most of their full menu items.

So try a tapa, try two or three or more, but not all at once. Fall in with the local pace of life, the siesta culture, and, above all, enjoy!