WEEKEND COLUMNISTS  |
| Patrick Morcas, joint-owner of El Parador in north London, with some of the restaurant’s tapas dishes |
My introduction to the world of tapeo – the Spanish custom of moving from one tapas bar to another before lunch or dinner – took place in northern Spain 34 years ago.
I was in Bilbao on a business trip, staying with a Spanish colleague and her husband in a nearby village. After church on Sunday morning, all the men gathered in the main square to begin their weekly ritual. We strolled to every bar in the village, ate tapas and drank in each one, and greeted anyone we met with great warmth.
As well as the fun, I can also recall one experienced tapas fan explaining a main principle: that good food in one bar is no reason to linger. Keep moving, he advised, you can always come back. Memories of this excursion return each time I see “tapas” written outside a bar or restaurant.
Today’s tapas scene is explored in two recent books. The Book of Tapas, with 250 recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega (Phaidon, £24.95), is a sequel to their successful book 1080 Recipes. The paperback version of Tapas by Carlos Horrillo and Patrick Morcas (Kyle Cathie, £14.99) offers an insight into the food served at their north London restaurant El Parador.
The Book of Tapas has easy-to-follow recipes with photographs, and an end section with recipes submitted by 10 top tapas chefs from around the world.
Tapas, meanwhile, exudes the passion for Spanish food that prompted Horrillo and Morcas to begin their restaurant careers, with inspiring photographs of dishes such as chargrilled octopus or half a dozen quinces in a paper bag waiting to be transformed into membrillo, that delicious quince paste. Strictly speaking, many of the dishes in this book are not really tapas at all, as virtually all require a knife and fork.
What neither set of authors addresses is the role of sherry in eating tapas. The word appears in neither index; there is not a single image of a sherry copita – small sherry glass – and the only reference in the glossary of The Book of Tapas describes fino sherry as a suitable aperitif because it does not affect the palate before the meal, when in fact the opposite is more accurate. Sherry stimulates the appetite like no other wine.
The books confirm the popularity of tapas dishes, which have been adapted to a new style of eating. Initially conceived to serve diverse flavours to lots of customers who have ample time to enjoy them, tapas are now used to serve much smaller tables of customers who want to eat well but in as short a time as possible.
Today the long-established tapas bars that dot the back streets of many Spanish cities provide a rare historic link to a way of life where eating and drinking are symbiotic.
More columns at www.ft.com/lander
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Tapas in London
Unpredictable weather makes the custom of tapeo less practical in London. But if a summer’s day inspires you to stroll, Spanish-style, from one tapas bar to the next, here are some suggested routes.
The City, heading north
Tapas Brindisa (www.tapasbrindisa.com) is on a corner site between Borough Market and London Bridge Tube station. A taxi ride takes you to bustling Moro (www.moro.co.uk) in nearby Clerkenwell, from where it is a 10-minute stroll to Pepito (www.camino.uk.com/pepito ), London’s only sherry bar, close to King’s Cross railway station.
Bloomsbury
Cigala (www.cigala.co.uk) occupies another corner site on pedestrianised Lamb’s Conduit Street, while Barrica Tapas Bar (www.barrica.co.uk ) and Salt Yard (www.saltyard.co.uk) are only a few doors apart on Goodge Street.
West End
Barrafina (www.barrafina.co.uk ) on Frith Street, in Soho, is convenient for shoppers on nearby Oxford Street, followed by Tierra Brindisa (www.tierrabrindisa.com) on Broadwick Street, further west in Soho, and Dehesa (www.dehesa.co.uk) on Ganton Street.
