Tapas

Small Plates, Big Personality

Tapas are small dishes meant for sharing, and they’re one of the most famous parts of Spanish food culture.

You might order a couple as a snack or combine several into an entire meal. What you’ll find varies enormously depending on the bar, city, and region.

The exact origin of tapas is debated, but one popular legend says the tradition began when bartenders covered glasses with small pieces of bread or ham. The Spanish word tapa means “cover” or “lid.”

However they started, tapas eventually became an entire way of eating.

Tapas Worth Trying

Patatas Bravas — Crispy potatoes usually served with a spicy tomato-based sauce and sometimes aioli.

Croquetas — Crispy on the outside and creamy inside, with fillings such as ham, chicken, cod, or cheese.

Tortilla Española — A thick Spanish omelet made primarily with potatoes and eggs. Whether it should contain onion is a debate you probably shouldn’t try to settle.

Pan con Tomate — Bread rubbed or topped with tomato and olive oil, especially associated with Catalonia.

Gambas al Ajillo — Shrimp cooked in sizzling olive oil with plenty of garlic.

Pimientos de Padrón — Small green peppers, usually fried and sprinkled with salt.

Jamón Ibérico — Spain’s famous cured Iberian ham, sliced incredibly thin.

Teen Tip: Don’t feel like you have to recognize everything on a tapas menu. Pick something you know, something you don’t, and share.

Paella

Spain’s Most Famous Rice Dish

Say “Spanish food” and there’s a good chance someone will immediately think of paella.

But there’s something important to know before you order it:

Paella comes from Valencia.

Traditional paella valenciana developed as a rural dish made with rice and ingredients available locally, including chicken, rabbit and beans. Today you’ll find many other versions, including seafood paella and vegetable versions.

One of the best parts is the socarrat, the toasted layer of rice that can form along the bottom of the pan.

And although saffron is famously associated with paella, the dish is about much more than simply turning rice yellow.

Teen Tip: If you’re going to Valencia, that’s the place to get serious about trying paella.

Spain Tastes Different Everywhere

One of the best things about traveling around Spain is discovering how much the food changes from region to region.

Andalusia

Look for gazpacho, salmorejo, and pescaito frito—small fried fish especially popular in southern Spain.

Basque Country

This is pintxos territory. These small bites are displayed across counters in bars, particularly in places such as San Sebastián.

Catalonia

Try pa amb tomàquet (pan con tomate in Spanish): bread with tomato, olive oil and salt.

Galicia

Seafood is a major part of the food culture. One famous specialty is pulpo a la gallega, octopus seasoned with paprika and olive oil.

Canary Islands

Look for papas arrugadas, small salt-crusted “wrinkled potatoes” served with mojo sauce.

Balearic Islands

One famous sweet is the ensaïmada, a spiral-shaped pastry particularly associated with Mallorca.

The point isn’t to memorize all of these before your trip. It’s to try something local wherever you are.

Spanish Mealtimes

Your Stomach May Need to Adjust

If you’re used to lunch around noon and dinner around 6:00, Spain may require a little recalibration.

Meals commonly happen later than they do in the United States, particularly dinner.

A typical day might include:

Desayuno — Breakfast, usually fairly light.

Almuerzo — A midmorning snack.

Comida — Lunch, often the main meal of the day and commonly eaten in the early to mid-afternoon.

Merienda — An afternoon snack.

Cena — Dinner, often beginning around 9 p.m. or later.

Exact schedules vary by family, region, work or school schedule, and season, so don’t expect every person in Spain to eat according to one national timetable.

What you can expect is that eating is often less rushed than you may be used to.

Save Room for Something Sweet

Spain has plenty of reasons not to skip dessert.

Churros con Chocolate — Fried dough served with thick hot chocolate for dipping. You’ll find them at breakfast, as a snack, or late at night.

Tarta de Santiago — A traditional Galician almond cake usually decorated with the Cross of Santiago in powdered sugar.

Crema Catalana — A Catalan custard with a caramelized sugar top, traditionally flavored with citrus and cinnamon.

Flan — A smooth custard dessert topped with caramel.

Turrón — An almond-based sweet especially associated with Christmas.

And if you’re walking past a bakery and see something you’ve never heard of?

That’s usually an excellent reason to go inside.

Olive Oil, Seafood & Spanish Staples

Olive oil is one of the foundations of Spanish cooking. It’s used for frying, cooking, dressing vegetables, drizzling over bread, and finishing dishes.

Spain is also one of the world’s major olive-oil-producing countries, so you’ll encounter it constantly.

Seafood plays a particularly important role in coastal regions. Depending on where you travel, you might find grilled sardines, squid, clams, anchovies, shrimp, octopus, or whatever arrived fresh that day.

Then there’s jamón. Cured hams such as jamón serrano and jamón ibérico are fixtures in markets, restaurants, and specialty shops.

Spain also has excellent regional cheeses. Manchego, made from sheep’s milk in La Mancha, is probably the best known internationally, but it’s only the beginning.

What Do Spanish Teens Drink?

You don’t need sangría to experience Spanish food culture.

There are plenty of alcohol-free drinks worth trying.

Horchata de Chufa — A sweet, refreshing drink made from tiger nuts and strongly associated with Valencia.

Granizado — An icy drink that comes in flavors such as lemon.

Hot Chocolate — Spanish hot chocolate can be extremely thick, especially when it’s waiting for you beside a plate of churros.

Refrescos — The general Spanish term you’ll see for soft drinks.

And, of course, water. You’ll do enough walking to need plenty of it.

A Few Food Habits Worth Knowing

Spanish dining isn’t built around an intimidating list of etiquette rules. A few things are simply useful to know.

Meals can last longer than you expect, particularly when people are eating socially.

Sharing food is common, especially with tapas and other small plates.

Don’t expect every restaurant to serve dinner at the time you’re accustomed to eating it at home.

If you’re trying tapas, ordering a few things for the table lets everyone taste more.

And don’t rush away the second everyone finishes eating. There’s even a Spanish word connected to lingering at the table after a meal to continue talking:

sobremesa.

It’s one of those words that tells you quite a lot about Spanish food culture without mentioning food at all.

10 Things to Try in Spain

See how many you can check off during your trip:

□ Patatas bravas
□ Tortilla española
□ Croquetas
□ Pan con tomate
□ A regional tapa or pintxo you’ve never tried
□ Paella in Valencia, if you’re visiting
□ Churros con chocolate
□ A Spanish cheese
□ A local pastry or dessert
□ One regional specialty you’ve never heard of before

Bonus Challenge

Visit a food market and find three foods you don’t recognize.

You don’t necessarily have to eat all three.

But bonus points if you try one.

The Best Way to Eat in Spain

You don’t need to know the names of dozens of dishes before you arrive.

Try tapas. Taste something that’s specific to the region you’re visiting. Wander through a market. Split dishes with your family. Try the weird-looking pastry. Notice when people eat, what they order, and how long they stay at the table.

Because Spanish food culture isn’t only about what’s on the plate.

It’s about sharing it.