X Marks the Spot

Basque sign

The official language of the Basque country of northern Spain and nearby France is Euskara, rife with x’s and z’s. (Look at the sign above: the only obvious words are “San Sebastian,” the city.)

In Euskara, what I knew as ‘tapas’ are called pinxtos, pronounced “peenchos” and eating them is one of the national pastimes. Pinxtos can be simple, cold bites like olives and a slice of cheese or more complex hot snacks such as Tortilla Espanola,  an omelet laced with diced potato and chorizo. When you order a drink, it often comes with a simple pinxto on a plate (and one of the itsy-bitsy waxed Spanish napkins that don’t mop up anything.)

‘Tapa’ means ‘lid’ or cover in Spanish. Legend has it that long ago an enterprising barkeep covered a drink to keep off flies, using a piece of ham or bread.  Over time, the custom  evolved into a snack to accompany a drink.  Going ‘tapas hopping’ before the late Spanish dinner or lunch on weekends is very popular. Eating several substantial –you say tapas and I say pinxtos– at eight or nine at night along with ample sherry or wine often killed my need for a real dinner later.

Hondarribia, a former fishing village on Spain’s eastern coast, has a street entirely devoted to bars offering pinxtos. Nibbling along the street from bar to bar,  having a pinxto there, another here was fun. Afterward, we walked up the hill to the parador,  a treat itself as the hotel was originally a tenth century castle.

A few days later we moved on to a parador in easy driving range of both San Sebastian, pinxto heaven, and Bilbao. The Guggenheim museum in Bilbao was between exhibits but the monumental  work by Richard Serra is always on view and the building itself is incredible. So too were the designer pinxtos at the museum’s restaurant.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

The easiest recipe for tapas/pinxtos I can think of is top quality bread, brushed with Spanish olive oil and topped with a slice of  Jamon Iberico.  Despana, a restaurant-cum-grocery store on New York’s Broome Street in Soho, sells terrific jamon as well as Spanish cheeses and other foods.  Many people eating there  are chatting away in Spanish; everyone I asked gave the place high marks.  Call them tapas or pinxtos—when in Spain (or at a real tapas bar elsewhere) just enjoy them.

Jamon Iberico at Despana

Tapas