Westerly Sun Column | Tapas is About Spending Time With Friends

Last weekend my husband and I went out with friends for a lovely dinner. Lovely aside from the fact that they replaced one of our favorite beers with a pumpkin ale. A pumpkin ale in the middle of August? But I digress, because what I want to focus on is how fabulous the food was! We had an eggplant caponata with some crusty bread, gorgeous patatas bravas, shishito peppers, and lovely Brussel sprouts. It was wonderful!

Tapas are small Spanish savory dishes that are typically served with drinks at a bar. While we had tapas as our meal, that is not typical in Spain. I learned in “The Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking” by Teresa Barrenechea that tapas rarely substitute for a meal and that the term itself implies going out. The idea is to socialize with friends and family and graze. There are some gorgeous-looking recipes and the best part is that many use very simple ingredients!

Yasmin Khan in her book, “Ripe Figs,” includes stories and recipes from Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. In it she explains the concept of mezze, which is similar to tapas. Over the course of several hours, you order small dishes and “leisurely eat, savoring each dish as it comes out.” One of her recipes that looks amazing includes garlicky eggplant salad and halloumi saganaki, which obviously has halloumi as well as figs.

“Small Bites” by Francois Payard has lots of recipes for appetizers, canapés, and light bites. Some of the reviewers contend that many of the recipes are labor-intensive, but that’s always the case with some cookbooks. Just find the ones that work for you! The morel ragout in gorgonzola cream looks yummy as does the sesame tofu with sour cherry topping. My favorite recipe in “Bite By Bite” by Peter Callahan is the twice-baked stuffed potatoes that use baby new potatoes. Adorable, and who doesn’t love potatoes!

What struck me most while perusing these books is that while the food is important and should be enjoyed, the focus should be spending time with family and friends. Maybe not every night, but some nights. While it is sometimes difficult to carve out time to do this, it’s something I want to strive for at least every so often. Let’s face it, you can cut up a pizza into bite sizes and you’ve got yourself some tapas! For more recipe ideas come check out our fabulous cookbook section!

by Caroline Badowski, Head of Adult Services