Tapas

Tapas are essentially snacks. In many regions of Spain they are often included in the price of drinks (beer, wine, not spirits) served in bars. In this case, they amount to as little as a few olives, a piece of cheese, etc. Bigger portions that are ordered to make up a meal are also called tapas. It is customary to share them.

Tapa means "cover" in Spanish. The name comes from the card that used to be put on top a drink to protect it from flies; at some moment it became a habit to top this "cover" with a snack.

In southern Spain (Andalucia), usually when you go to a bar you get a tapa for free when you ask for a drink. This happens mostly in the province of Granada but it is not very common in the rest of Andalusia. You have to pay for both, the drink and the tapa. They are also called pinchos, because many of them have a pincho, or toothpick through them. This is used to keep whatever the snack is made of from falling off the bread it's attached to. Another name for them is banderillas.

It is very common for a bar or a small local restaurant to have 6-8 different kinds of tapas in warming trays with glass partitions covering the food. Commonly they are very strongly flavored (for American tastes at least). Often one or more of the choices is seafood or mariscos, often including anchovies, sardines or mackerel in olive oil or squid or others in a tomato based sauce, sometimes with the addition of red or green peppers or other seasoning. It is rare to see a tapa slection not include one or more types of olives, but it does occur. One or more breads is usually available to eat with any of the sauce based tapas.