Let’s go back to the time of King Ferdinand VII. He used to visit the ‘Ventorillo del Chato’ in Cádiz, where he enjoyed the delicacies of the time with his entourage. One day, the regent of this place, known as El Chato, served wine in glasses with cheese on top, yes, on top of the glass! Do you know why? In those days, there were a lot of flies and dust in the air because of the roads. Putting the cheese on top of the wine protected the drink from unwanted particles.
Curiously, the king did not realise why, but from then on, wherever he went, he would ask for “a glass of wine and a lid”, in honour of that layer of cheese that covered his drink. This is where the history of tapas begins, which the Royal Spanish Academy defines as “small portions of food that accompany a drink”.
For its part, the “pintxo”, a delicious morsel of Spanish gastronomy, has a captivating origin. In the north of Spain, in rural taverns, customers used to place a slice of bread on top of their glass to protect their drink from flies. The astute owners began to add ingredients on top of the bread to enhance the flavour. Thus, the “pintxo” was born, from the Spanish verb “pinchar”, as the ingredients were held with a toothpick. Today, this tradition has become a unique culinary experience in which flavours are explored in each small portion.
At Tast Culinary Projects we are passionate about the art of combining flavours and sensations in the form of tapas and pintxos. From the traditional tapas of Iberian ham, cheese, padrón peppers, patatas bravas, octopus, etc; to carefully prepared pinchos such as tempura with chistorra sausage and cheese, cod bomb, a prawn brochette or a mini burger. Come to our restaurant Tast Unión and savour the best history of Spanish gastronomy.