Oh well… or as a Spaniard would say: Oh-lée Oleoleoleeeée (…or do I mix this up with the football maniacs in the arena across the street?) Oh well… ;)
It is time again for a little blog special! “Los Wochos” on Bake to the roots! For those who are not familiar wit that spanishgerman term – it has been used by a big fast food chain here in Germany for their ads when they had special mexican burgers on the menu…. never mind – I think it only makes sense when you live in Germany… :P
Besides that poor explanation – the next couple days or better said weeks (that’s why I said “Los Wochos”…again never mind :P) everything is about a country in Southern Europe – yes it is Spain! ;) I thought I could bring the vacation home because I could not go myself this year – my short trips to Madrid and New York earlier this year do not count here – way too long ago and when I say vacation I mean summer vacation.
Anyways – it is all about Spain – and as you can see from the banner on top – this week is all about tapas! Yay! Small delicious snacks you get in many Spanish bars with your beer – most of the time for free. I love that – not only because it’s free :P
I was lucky to visit Madrid and Barcelona already – both beautiful cities with awesome people! A good reason to serve some nice Spanish dishes – especially since I have my own Spaniard at home.
What do the Spanish love as much as I do? Tapas, right! This week I will show you each day a little tapas recipe. Most of them are easy and quick to prepare, so you can easily enjoy them after work on your balcony with some beers and friends. Sounds good, right? The weather is still good, so let’s do it!
So what is all on the menu? Well – that is a secret right now… but we start with Albóndigas. No – not the dish you can see on the picture – that is something else ;) Every day a new recipe until Sunday – that day the table will be full with delicious tapas!
- Albóndigas – delicious meatballs with tomato sauce.
- Mojo Picón – hot sauce from the Canary Islands
- Pinchos Morunos – Moorish Pork Skewers
- Ciruelas y Dátiles con Bacon – Plums and Dates wrapped in Bacon
- Patatas Bravas con Alioli – Fried potatoes with hot tomato sauce and Aioli
- Marinated Olives – Marinated Olives ;)
- Pimientos de Padrón – fried green peppers
- Smoked Almonds aka. Almendras Fritas – fried almonds with the flavor of smoked paprika
- Tortilla de Patatas aka. Tortilla Española – a delicious omelette with eggs and potatoes
And now to end this post – a little lesson about the history of tapas!
Where do they come from? Well… it seems that Spanish bartenders started at one point to put a slice of bread (tapa) on beer or wine glasses to cover them so no fly could contaminate the drink – over the years the bartenders also put some olives and other stuff on that slice of bread until at some point you had complete little dish that was not keep the flies away anymore but to feed the people…
Very nice idea in my opinion! I wished Germans would have had a similar idea instead of creating dishes like “Eisbein mit Sauerkraut” or “Kutteln – Sour Tripe” – eeeew ;P
I have to say “I’m sorry” in advance for the pictures you will see – they all look like the have been cut out of a 70s cookbook – probably the combination of wood and the terra-cotta bowls that makes it a bit rustic – and the light that day made it even worse :P
¡Buen provecho!
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
