Tapas Talk

For those Paella lovers,... try making a paella in a pressure cooker!! It saves sooo much time, it is very clean and it tastes DELICIOUS!

Campofrio Taste Passion Poster 

You know that tapas style eating is getting to every part of the USA when the Duluth News starts publishing Tapas Tips

Let's take the Fiesta to Fargo!

- W

The jamon serrano is being sliced thin and the sangria is being poured at a couple new cool tapas places here in Chicago. Janine MacLachlan wrote a great piece in ConciousChoice on Andalucia , a new neighborhood tapas restaurant. Paellas sound like the way to go, but the restaurant doesn't have it's liquor license yet which means that the sangria is actually not flowing just yet.

Anyway, if you want to drink the new bar/restaurant Sangria is the place to go. Metromix has a nice article on combo bars/restaurants. Sangria is open to 4:00am!!!! Not quite up to the all night fiestas that you can find in Espana, but better than anything you'll find in the States.

That's all for today. I'm off to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba to kick off what hopes to be a great Thursday night.

Saludos
W

Hola a todos (Hello to Everyone),

This blog is dedicated to the informal Spanish dining adventure known as "tapas." Originally in Spain, "tapas" referred to small portions of food included with the price of a glass of sangria, wine or beer.

Nowadays tapas is a fun, interactive eating experience where diners order or prepare at home a wide variety of small tasty Spanish dishes and serve them together. Tapas restaurants are springing up around the United States and the rest of the world. Tapas has even found its way to Las Vegas! at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

Some of the more imaginative chefs are coming out of Spain these days. Ferran Adria, the innovative Spanish Chef, is revolutionizing dining with his clever tapas dishes.

But Tapas is more than just the delicious foods from Spain. The style of eating, small portions shared by everyone facillitates dialogue, brings people together. Add a pitcher of Sangria and Tapas is key to a great night out.

In this blog, I want to talk about some of the great food that's coming out of Spain, tapas restaurants in the States and some delicious sites full of recipes. Spanish food products are slowly but surely becoming more available across the United States and I'll try to keep you posted on what's happening on the new product launches etc. One recent move is that the company Campofrio is starting to promote their Jamon Serrano in Chicago www.tastepassion.com. The site has some great Jamon Serrano based recipes with Manchego Cheese, artichokes, dates....I'm getting hungry.

Anyway, that's all for now.

- W

A little controversy this year at the parade with the tensions between Spain and US re: Iraq.

If the two sides would only sit down and enjoy a nice bottle of Rioja and maybe some dates or melon wrapped in Jamon Serrano, I'm sure we could work things out.

- W

Happy Day Chris Columbus! Read a little bit about his journey. Remember these Columbus inspired songs and poems?

Columbus's voyage played a key role in bringing important fruits and vegetables from the Americas like bananas, corn and tomatoes back to Europe.

- W