Crisp croquetas filled with gooey bechamel; succulent squid, charred and glistening under a coat of olive oil; a slice of lightly browned tortilla, packed with perfectly cooked potato. Spanish cuisine is mouthwatering wherever you eat it, but it’s at its best in context and on location. The country’s flavours and traditions come to life when you’re hopping from tapas bar to tapas bar in Granada, sitting among new friends in a Galician home that doubles as a restaurant, or sipping something dry and delicious in the sunshine: cider in the Basque Country, sparkling wine in Catalonia. These are Spain’s essential culinary experiences, and while you’re there, you can learn the tricks of the trade to continue the feast — and the fiesta — back home.
TAKE A TAPAS CRAWL IN GRANADA
You’ll find the true taste of this Andalusian city in its small plates, from seafood salads to croquetas and meatballs. Words: Jessica Vincent
Previous pages, clockwise from top: Almond curd with 100% Venezuelan Araguani cocoa mass at Noor, Córdoba; Placa de la Virgen in Valencia’s historic centre; tortilla at Furancho Chipirón, served with local bread and wine; deep-fried padrón peppers at Furancho Cadaval
Eating tapas has brought Spaniards together for centuries, but determining its origins can be divisive. Some believe the clue is in the name: the word ‘tapa’ comes from the Spanish word ‘tapar’, meaning ‘to cover’; the story goes that when King Alfonso XIII stopped for a drink in a beachfront bar in Cadiz, he needed something to protect his wine from the flies and sand, so a waiter put a slice of ham on top of the glass. Another theory has it that an earlier monarch, King Alfonso X, invented the tapa after being prescribed alcohol for an illness — he used the small portions of food to help him stay sober.
Much like its history, the definition of tapas depends on where you are in the country. But in Granada — an ancient Andalucian city with one of the largest student populations in Spain — it can only mean one thing: a free plate of food with your drink. While raciones (larger sharing plates you have to pay for) are chalked on blackboards across the city, the best way to enjoy Granada’s tapas scene is to bar hop from bodega to bodega, letting the food flow as slowly — or as quickly — as the vermouth.
Night one
Start the evening at Bodegas Castañeda, a tavern in Plaza Nueva where ham legs hang from the ceiling and vermouth and moscatel are served straight from the barrel. The best place to stand is at the bar, where lightningfast waiters dish out saucer-sized plates of salpicón (a vinegary salad of octopus, crab sticks and onion), habas con jamón (
