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.......La
Tapa so as to be meaningful, has to be eaten between
main meals as food that allows the body to survive
until lunch or dinnertime.
Some authors assert that
the tapa was born when, due to an illness, the Spanish
king Alfonso the 10th, the Wise, had to take small
bites of food with some wine between meals. Once recovered
from the disease, the wise king decreed that no wine
was to be served in any of the inns in the land of
Castile , unless accompanied by something to eat.
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La Tapa so as to be meaningful,
has to be eaten between main meals as food that allows the
body to survive until lunch or dinnertime.
Some authors assert that the
tapa was born when, due to an illness, the Spanish king
Alfonso the 10th, the Wise, had to take small bites of food
with some wine between meals. Once recovered from the disease,
the wise king decreed that no wine was to be served in any
of the inns in the land of Castile , unless accompanied
by something to eat.
| Once the “botillerias”
(bottle-shops) and “tabernas” (taverns)
became established throughout Spain , the wise King’s
decree remained in place. For that reason, the glass
or jar of wine was served covered with a slice of either
smoked ham or cheese, for two reasons: first to prevent
insects or other impurities falling into the jar and
secondly, for the guests to soak up the alcohol they
had drunk with something solid, as King Alfonso had
advised.This was the origin of the tapa, a solid food
that covered the wineglass and a word rooted in Spanish
tradition. And so the tradition of the tapa spread throughout
Spain , and continues right up to the present day. Many
other countries have adopted the tapa, serving it in
many different ways. |
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