Pinxtos, Tapas and a Feast of Stories!

Having learned a little about the Spanish Inquisition’s role in developing Spain's cuisine and then hearing that Madrid holds the GuinessWorld Record for the "Oldest Restaurant in the World", we developed a renewed interest in Spanish cuisine and signed up for a “Tapas Tour”. 

We arrived at the tour to find ourselves the oldest participants by about 15 years.  We felt ridiculously out of place (and seriously overdressed!) but managed to gain some serious street cred and respect when Geoff showed off his incredible ability to drink wine from a bag without getting splashed.  

Nonetheless, we did gain a new appreciation for the development of tapas and pinxtos (the Basque Country version of these shared plates).  

Tapas developed hundreds of years ago as a means of promoting work efficiency.  As wine was safer to drink than water and cheaper to consume than food, many workers would go to the local inn at lunchtime and have only a liquid lunch.  Concerned about worker productivity and afternoon absenteeism, the King ordered that every drink must be accompanied a snack of some sort.  This created the concept of tapas and also helps to explain why many of the traditional tapas are so carb-heavy…better to soak up the booze!

Tapas means “cap/top”.  The name was apparently created during a King’s visit to a local tavern.  The doors had been opened and a huge gust of wind came through bringing with it a huge pile of flying sand.  To prevent the sand from getting into the King’s beer, the server grabbed one of the snacks and put it on top of the drink as a cover.  From that day forward, the King called the snacks "tapas" and a new name was born.

It seems that every dish has a story – patatas bravas was created by bull fighters who liked to prove they could serve the strongest sauces, paella was developed by sailors to use up leftovers, croquettes were a way of getting people to eat ham without them knowing  etc. etc.  Some stories seemed reasonable and others far-fetched.  Nonetheless, it’s wild to think that everything you eat around Spain (much like everything you see!) - likely has some sort of history behind it.   

Getting hotter...

Having both been to Madrid a couple of times before, our trip here was to be primarily focused on work.

And work hard we did.

But, luckily, we managed to carve out a little bit of time to experience some of the city.

Some unexpected learnings –

Plaza Mayor

Toledo was actually the original capital of Spain.  Before Phillip II moved his court and thus the political heartland to Madrid in the early 1600s, Madrid was considered a wasteland. After 5 years, Phillip II decided to move his court back to Valladolid but the transformation of the city had already taken hold and saw exceptional development during the reign of Phillip III & IV.

Madrid was originally a walled city with four gates offering entrance to the city.  The Plaza Mayor – one of the city’s key squares – was actually outside the city wall.  Nonetheless, it was a key meeting and trading hub even then because people could sell goods there without having to pay the city tax.  On a related note, people who did not want to pay the toll to enter the city, would simply climb the wall like cats, creating the common Spanish nickname "gatos".

The kings that ruled Spain during its glory years were from the Habsburg family and were originally from Ghent!  They seemed to all be named Carlos and Phillippe and the monarchs were all in-bred.  With so many generations of in-breeding, many believe that the family actually caused its own downfall when the final King was regarded as stunted and impotent.

The Palacio Real de Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family. The family, however, does not live there, preferring a more modest residence outside of town. The Palace was originally built in the 16^th century but mysteriously caught fire in 1734 when newly crowned King Philip V was out for a Christmas dinner with his family.  The King, from France, then ordered the Palace to be rebuilt in French style to mirror, but also dwarf, the Palace of Versailles.  The French influence can now be seen all around the city.

The Palacio Real de Madrid

Many of the historical buildings in the city have a Moorish feel, even though they belonged to Christians and Jews.  Apparently, homeowners at the time were looking to hire skilled and affordable builders to design their homes and the Muslim builders were the best.  As such, the landowners were happy to embrace the Moorish style.

For many years, people from diverse religious backgrounds lived peacefully together in Spain.  Religious persecution ran rampant, however, during Ferdinand and Isabella’s rule in the mid-1400s.  Jews and Muslims who were unwilling to convert to Christianity were expelled from the city or killed.  Oddly, many of today’s prime Spanish most notable traditions developed as a way to test whether those who converted really believed.   For example, many of Spain’s food traditions were developed to expose those who did not practice.  Jambon, for example, became a popular dish and cooking with animal fat became common place because it was an easy way to test those who wouldn’t eat pork for religious reasons. 

Another Spanish tradition that developed from unexpected beginnings is Flamenco.  This is actually a gypsy tradition – the way the gypsies expressed themselves and voiced their frustrations to their families against the community.  As gypsies frequently moved around, Flamenco was something they could also do on the road to make money.  Its intense sound and flair made it appealing to visitors and the country embraced it going forward.

Finally, the legend of Zorro initiated in Spain and many believe that he lived for a time in one of the houses in Madrid's Old Town.  This house belonged to one of his mistresses and had secret exits that allowed Zorro to escape capture.  We also learned, however, that contrary to the legend, Zorro was actually captured, tried and then executed.  A little less glamourous than the original story…

At the end of the visit, we felt almost overwhelmed by all of the city's history.  And yet we knew our history lessons barely even scratched the surface of this complex city...