Jun 01
Tapas bar | Traditional Spanish Recipes
Tapas from Spain! A Taste Of The Mediterranean.
Tapas… who has never heard about them? For those of you new in the foodie world, Tapas are a Spanish invention; a small gastronomic taste; something that you find in every single Bar here in Spain; in cities and in villages; in rustic and in glamurous bars. They can be as variated as imagination; traditional and new… get your glass of wine or beer ready and join the feast!!! Wikipedia says this about tapas. 
Tony Tahhan from Olive Juice has asked me to represent Spain in his ATOM Contest and of course I said Yes! So if you also want to participate, have some fun and get a prize, this is how it goes: I will show you some Spanish Tapas in this post and then, you can make your own in your blog. Get inspired with these ones if you want and give them a twist or invent new ones. Post about them and send to Tony. The winner of the contest will get a 50$ gift from iGourmet. Get all information to participate here.
And now, I want to see you all showing your talent and preparing the best Tapas ever!!! I’ve chosen some that I already posted about and some new ones. Enjoy!
Let’s start with:
Patatas Bravas – Hot Potatoes
Peel, cut and boil the potaotes at medium heat or fry them at medium low heat. The last 5 minutes fry them at high heat. Prepare a sauce with: 6 table spoons of olive oil, 1 tomatoe sauce can (200-250 grs.) 2 or 3 cayene red hot small dry peppers, 2 garlic cloves, salt and black ground pepper.
Heat 6 table spoons of olive oil in a frying pan, add the peeled garlic and the cayenne. Golden them up. Add the tomatoe sauce, cook at medium heat and stir for 12 minutes aprox. Pour over the hot and strained potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you want it hotter cut the red hot peppers and leave the seeds in the sauce.
Gambas en Gabardina – Coated shrimps
Peel the fresh shrimps (500 grs), leave the tails on. Prepare the coating in a bowl: 1 egg’s white, 150 grs of flour, 1 table spoon of vinegar, 1 cup of water, olive oil and salt.
Mix the coating ingredients in the bowl and whipe until you get an homogenous mixture. Heat enough oil to fry the shrimps. Get them into the coating and fry at high heat. When golden, reserve in kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt. Serve with a tartar sauce.
Cojonuda – Rice Sausage and Quail egg
Cut the rice morcilla and peel. Place in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Cook for a few seconds each side. Place over some toasted bread. Fry a Quail’s egg and place on top. Sprinkle with thick sea salt.
Champiñones al ajillo – Garlicky mushrooms
Clean and cut the mushrooms. Dry them. Prepare a frying pan with a bit of olive oil, fry them at medium heat until they become golden. Add some chopped garlic and stir until fragant, add the chopped parsley and stir for a few more seconds. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Tortilla de patatas – Potatoes Omelet
Cañaillas – Sea snails
Get a deep big pot ready with salty water. Bring to boil and add a bay leave. Pour the fresh sea snails in. Cook for only 5 to 8 minutes. Strain. Let cool down and serve. A green sauce would pair perfectly here, or some allioli… or maybe you just want to feel the plain sea in your mouth.
Berberechos a la plancha – Grilled Cockles
Leave the cockles in salty water for a while. Change the water a couple of times so that they leave the sand there. Get a frying pan ready with some olive oil. Heat and pour the cockles in. When they open, sprinkle with salt and black ground pepper. Serve hot.
Mejillones al vapor – Steamed mussels 
Clean and steam the mussels. Prepare a sauce with your favourite veggies and get the steamed mussels in. Stir for some minutes. Add salt and serve.
If you still want more… find them here!
Chipirones – Tinny squids in its ink
Pulpo a Feira – Octopus Galician-style
Boquerones en vinagre – Anchovies in vinegar
Croquetas de pollo – Chicken croquettes
Pimientos rellenos – Piquillos stuffed with Cod brandade
Sardinas marinadas – Marinated sardines
I hope you all participate with some delicious tapas!!!! Buen provecho :D
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I would love to be sitting overlooking the valley in Spain, relishing these delicious tapas and drinking some Spanish wines:D
Gracias por este maravillosos elenco de tapas gloriosos! La cosa que mas me gusto cuando estuve en Espana fue apreciar los cambios locales en las tapas. Cuanod te mueves de region en region, cambian drasticamente, reflejando las variacion culturales a nivel provincial. Quede enamorada!
What a great array of tapas Nuria! Once again, we can’t compete with that spread you’ve featured here … but at least we’ll try!
I think I want to move to Spain.
Now.
Que amazing chica! There is so much to choose from! Where does one start? I look forward to doing something for this event.
I feel like I’m missing out on some of the most interesting food ever. I really need to learn more about tapas. ….after the wedding…(if psychgrad doesn’t kill me before then :)
Fabulous tapas! I would love to have a taste of each one! The photography is so gorgeous!
Holy Cow! When do you find the time to do all this? Every dish looks fantastic!
Hello Núria.
I discovered your blog googling “marmitako”.
& see you have my favourite tapa to tempt me, amongst others, “almejas/ mejilliones/ beberechos al vapor”.
Super tapas stuff, thank you kindly.
PS – I’m the same age as you too. & for my 40th birthday, I visited amongst other things the Barça stadium in Barcelona when I was celebrating there.
It’s quite haunting up there.
& I’ve attached your blog to my blogroll.
Gillian.
Yum Patatas Bravas looks delicious even though I’ve never made em (heck I love potatoes)I’ve seen pictures where they are drizzled with alioli after the sauce, so what do you think of drizzlng them with alioli? is that good or not?
I also saw your recipe for “Patatas a la Riojana” and I must say it looks like one of the best (since it has a sofrito of garlic, onions, bell peppers, lots of chorizo and hot smoked paprika and or ñoras who can beat that?)
Núria, how did you know that I am planning a tapas evening this Saturday? :-) Thanks so much – I’ll be using a fair amount of these, except maybe the sea snails (I don’t think I can find any).
Nuria, this is a wonderful selection of tapas! Great photos and nice dishes, this is one meal I am sorry I missed! (That is, if you served all of it in one sitting). In Greece we have our own version of tapas which we call meze. Very nicely done!
Those are some amazing goodies. Oh! i would like to have a vacation & fill myself with these:-).. lovely pictures too.
Hola Val, you know that you are more than welcome here :D.
Muchas gracias Marta! Tienes toda la razón :D. Y eso es lo que me gusta más de este país… la variedad y las diferentes maneras de cocinar y de ser :D.
Maria, darling, I’m sure you will leave us all with the mouth open and the tummy happy!!!!
Hola Jen, there’s a chair by the kitchen table in my house waiting for you :D.
Can’t wait to see what you will come up with Peter… something delicious for sure :D
Ha, ha Giz! Maybe you and Psychgrad could surprise us with a lime tree tapa infusion ;D
Thanks so much 5 Star!!!! I wish I could hand you some through the screen :D
Hola Susan. I did it during the weekend: 3 tapas on Saturday and 3 on Sunday… no left overs ;D
Hola Gillian and welcome to this blog! Thanks for your kind words and for adding me to your blogroll, I will do the same in short. I’m happy you found here some of your tapa favourites :D
Hola Nathan! As usual, there you are with your smart questions :D. Yes, in some bars they also add allioli to the bravas and I love that addition. You should taste them :D.
I came up with a different Patatas a la Riojana recipe which I haven’t posted yet but will do soon… they are sooooooo good chico! Yeap… hard to beat! ;D
Ha, ha… I have a magic ball Taste Traveller :D.
Glad I provided you with some “material” ;D
Thank you Sam! I had them during the weekend… some on saturday and some on sunday :D. I know about your mezes a bit… fantastic idea… isn’t it?
Thanks Soma :D. If you ever come here for vacation, please let me know and we can have some together :D
OH MY GOD! This one of the best posts you’ve shared with us! I would be at the table nibbling, drinking and chatting all evening. A feast for the eyes and palate.
snaps are awesome…and after seeing all those food items, im drooling here..i think i hav to move to spain nw.. :)
Dios mio – hay muchos platos buenos en este post! Me gustan muchisimos! Que buenos.
LOL – showing you I know a little Spanish.
Nena, quines tapas!!! m’agraden totes. La truita brutal i la foto molt maca.
Jo menjaria així cada dia, llastima la dieta.
Petons
Ha, ha Peter…. I can imagine the scene :D. I would love to do that! Maybe one day… Mediterranean is our meeting point ;D
Hi Lena and welcome to this blog! Glad you like tapas :D. They are quite easy to perform. Thanks for commenting!
Lol Darius! Your Spanish sounds great :D. Thanks for your kind words!
Sí Marta… llàstima de dieta… tot i que aquest estiu no hi ha manera de rebaixar la panxeta :(… però que punyetes, aixó és vida ;D
Jopetas, Nùria, que no tengo tanto tiempo! Esto es un sinvivir, con el tema de la tortilla no fui capaz de decidirme… todo lo que se me ocurría me parecía muy trillado… snif, bua.
I love each and every one of these dishes Nuria! I love tapas – one of the greatest inventions! Big flavor, small plate – my kind of food!
Uauuuu eso son tapas!!!! niña pero que nivelazoooo…porfiii invitame a tu casa de tapeo que se me han puesto los dientes largso…ummm…no se por cual decidirme…besitos
Everything sounds delicious but I would love some of those garlicky mushrooms :0
oh my goodness, our favorites! i’m definitely going to have to submit something to the ATOM in june!
Wow is that a fine example of tapas or what? Each recipe sounds better than the one before. Never tried sea snails, very intrigued, as we love escargot.
Thanks again for participating in MLLA, the round up will post on Sunday.
LL
When can I get an invite to taste all this goodness ;) Everything looks so good. Love the rustic feel with the terra cotta ramekins.
I love tapas and think that is it one of the best ways to dine.
OHHHH nuria. you know how to get my tastebuds going. this is the perfect post in my opinion. we’ve got one for this contest!
I would love to make Cojonuda, still have morcilla in the freezer. Your bite size Tortilla de patatas looks very cute, like in some comtemporary restos I have seen in UK.
Klasse gemachte Homapage, das Layout gefaellt mir sehr
gut! War bestimmt ‘n haufen Aufwand.