Tapas & Tapapiés: Why Andalucía Has Ruined Me!

I Think I’ve Been Spoiled…

When I first came to Spain back in 2007 I was studying abroad in Granada— you know, that beautiful student paradise where every drink comes with a free tapa. The quality of the free tapa varies a lot, but did I mention that it’s free!? By the time I left Granada I’d tried my share of tapas, and, although there was nothing mind blowing that I recall, I went home happy with plenty of savings still in the bank!

 

Yes, those are tapas!

Hungry in Granada = 3 beers/glasses of wine + 3 free tapas = 6,00€ (como mucho)

A couple of years later I graduated from college and decided to avoid a 9-5 by moving to Seville. At first I was disappointed that this bigger city didn’t offer the same deal as Granada. But it turns out it was better that they didn’t! The lack of free food forced me to choose my tapa and, as a result, I began to truly appreciate Spanish products and Spanish cuisine. The night I met my husband I fell in love—but it wasn’t with him (yet) and rather with Spanish food! That night he introduced me to Iberian pork, fried fish from Cadiz, and the most amazing cold soup I ever imagined. I spent two years in Seville eating out around four times a week. Was I rich? Absolutely not! But the tapas there are often almost the same price as buying the ingredients to cook them at home. Needless to say we took advantage of this.

Galician Style Octopus-- Amazing!

Hungry in Seville = 3 beers/glasses of wine + 2-3 amazing tapas = 7,00€ – 10,00€ (on average)

Now I’m living in Madrid. I can’t say I have ventured out too much—we’ve been busy and cooking mostly at home. But when I have gone out I’ve seen tapas ranging from 3,50€-10,00€ each! And while I’m sure they are great (in one bar I had the most amazing tortilla of my life) the price (that slice of tortilla cost 6,00€!) makes me think twice before ordering them!

Hungry in Madrid = 1 beer/glasses of wine + 1 tapa = what I can afford right now!

Tapapiés

When I heard about one of Madrid’s tapas festivals I was excited to try it out. Tapapiés took place in the Lavapiés neighborhood, a very international barrio close to my house. The participating bars featured one tapa that cost 1,00€ not including any beverage. International tapas? Close to home? 1,00€? It had potential!

Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver. I went on a Thursday night with some great company—the husband and two Madrid language assistants/bloggers, Shana and Cassandra. It was great to meet the girls and, lucky for me, they knew the area quite well. We visited 6 of the 31 establishments, and maybe I just had bad luck, but I doubt it.

Why didn’t Tapapiés impress?

Crowds: It was a Thursday night towards the end of the festival. Obviously I expected it to be crowded, and it was. But I didn’t expect some of the bars to be so unorganized and for the waiters to be rude. If ever there was a time to smile it was then—I was assessing these places for future dates, drinks, visitor spots, etc. Not impressed.

Quality: I dream of owning a restaurant. I love working in them, eating in them, reading about them… If I had a restaurant I would use a festival like Tapapiés to really shine. I would present something well executed and creative. I would showcase the best my staff could do, hoping to attract more business. I don’t think these places had that kind of mentality. The majority of the tapas were boring and basic. Many were poorly executed—cold when they should’ve been hot, lacking salt, super greasy… They didn’t take advantage of this opportunity and that makes me sad!

Price: 1,00€ tapas sound pretty cheap but they were all as tiny as a tapa could be. I normally eat 3 tapas when I’m really hungry and here I ate 6! Add that 6,00€ to the 3 glasses of wine I drank at around 2,20-2,50 each (and I always ordered the house wine) and it comes to a not so cheap dinner of about 13,00€.

Conclusions

Once again Spanish businesses have proven to me that they don’t care enough about attracting new clients and being even the least bit creative. I hope (for the sake of this economy) that people wake up and start being a little bit competitive. Raise the damn bar already!!! (If anyone wants to loan me 1 million euro I’ll open an awesome business here, I promise you!)

 Photos

Please excuse their quality!

a)     I’m learning… it’s slow progress but I enjoy it!

b)    Lighting?! How on earth do people take good food photos at night!!!???

If anyone has any photography advice please leave it in the comments; I’d really appreciate it!

And if you went to the festival what did you think? Am I just being spoiled? Let me know!

La Otra Casa: Doblez de Berenjena-- Not a bad try (one of the best of the night in fact) but definitely bite sized and swimming in grease!

 

It was filled with ground beef, eggplant, and onion.

 

Lo Máximo: Chile Con Carne-- Why did we try a "Mexican" place? I don't know. I could make better chile in my sleep! It was bland, boring, NOT spicy, and not quite hot enough...

 

The bar at Lo Máximo was nice enough to give another shot... for a beer!

La Inquilina: Papas Con Mojo-- This place was packed and had a cute atmosphere. Ale made fun of us for wanted to try such a "basic tapa" but I know that when done right this can be delicious. Mojo is like a beautiful homemade barbeque sauce and over potatoes it's delicious. Unfortunately served cold it's kind of gross...

La Inquilina did have a cool wine boat!

The cold papas... 😦

Eucalipto: Dos Quesos Con Piña-- Everyone knows I love goat cheese served almost any way... but with canned pineapple on soggy bread it wasn't quite appealing. Unfortunate because the bar was cute.

Yum, soggy bread!

Automático: Salmorejo con Bacalao... wait, where's the bacalao?! -- Good... but why wasn't there any bacalao? I came to try something new!

 

When Life Gives You Pumpkins, Make Pumpkin Bisque!

It’s Halloween time again and the stores in Madrid are halfheartedly decorated with a pumpkin or two. It’s not quite as obvious as in the US, but the eager Spaniards are quickly catching on—advertisements for haunted theme parks crowd the metro and Halloween costumes are sold at every neighborhood Chino. I’m not a big Halloween lover. When I was a kid I liked it—costumes, candy, school parties… what’s not to like? I dressed up like everyone else I knew and went trick-or-treating in the bitter cold. Later, we spent months eating our pillowcase full of Halloween candy (my kids are donating that ish…!). In college I went to a costume party or two, but I never got really excited about dressing up and thought think that spending a lot of money on a costume is kind of a waste of money. It just isn’t my thing.

So here in Spain Halloween doesn’t bring that homesick feeling I get with Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, I somehow always end up celebrating it! I always meet someone who loves Halloween—its creepy music, scary movies, ridiculous costumes, and abundance of candy. In fact, I’ve carved more pumpkins in Spain than in the US! And Spaniards (although they misinterpret the holiday a bit) seem to love Halloween too.

One Spaniard's Interpretation of Jack-O-Lantern

This year was no exception. I may have just arrived in Madrid and not really know anyone, but due to today’s amazing technologies (facebook, twitter, gmail, wordpress) I was somehow invited to a fantastic pumpkin carving/seed roasting Halloween party with a group of super cool American expat ladies!

There were American sweets! Pumpkin spice cupcakes, rice crispy treats, a chocolate almond tart, M&Ms…

The house was wonderfully decorated (It felt like home!) and there was Halloween music playing in the background.

Equipped with a sharp knife and a book of potential pumpkin carving designs, 10 American women went at it (and I’d say we were successful!)

Scary Cat

Friendly Cat

While we carved we shared our experiences in Spain, our stories, our relationships. It was great to connect with others in similar situations.

I left the party with a carved pumpkin, some roasted pumpkin seeds, and a bag of pumpkin (I couldn’t let it go to waste!)

There was only one thing to do… make some mashed pumpkin and some pumpkin bisque! Mashed pumpkin (Puree de Calabaza) is a delicious side dish and it reminds me of home. It’s also the base for my version of Pumpkin Bisque (a lighter version that doesn’t use any cream).

Here is the step-by-step recipe. It’s easy—try it and let me know what you think!

I took the bag of fresh pumpkin left over from carving. The pieces were all shapes and sizes– so I tried to cut them more evenly!

After cutting, I rinsed them under cold water.

Then, into a pot of cold, salted water and boil until a knife pierces through easily.

When fully cooked, strain and return to the pot.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup milk, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and paprika. Adjust the butter and milk depending on preference.

And, there you have it! Mash it up and you have mashed pumpkin.

If you want to turn this into a “lighter” bisque (if there is such a thing) just add the puree to the blender and add a bit more low-fat milk while blending. When it is at your desired consistency reheat and enjoy!