The tapa tradition is as important for the conversation and company as for the delicious food. Every Spaniard has his favourite tasca, as the tapas bars are often called, where he goes regularly to meet his friends or business acquaintances. Tapas can be found in even the smallest bar in a tiny village. The word tapa, meaning cover or lid, is thought to have originally referred to the complimentary plate of appetizers that many tascas would put like a lid on one's wine glass. The word "Tapa" means, "cover" in Spanish anda commonly cited explanation is that Tapas were placed on the top of a drink to protect it from flies. . For that reason, the glass or jar of wine wasserved covered with a slice of either smoked ham or cheese, for two. Having been cured of his ailments, the king, known as.lfonso the Wise (1252-1284), advocated that no wine was to be served in the inns of the land unless accompanied by something to eat. This was to counteract the effects of alcohol on the people who for lack of money to buy a meal would drink on an empty stomach and be unable to work. So the tapa (usually a slice of sausage) was placed on top of the glass and had to be eaten before the touching the drink.Several centuries later another great monarch, King Felipe II, went so far as to pass a royal decree requiring tavern keepers to accompany each glass of wine with a tapa or "cover" - a round slice of sausage served on top of the glass like a lid - to reduce public drunkenness. Indeed in Granada, even today you still get a free tapa with every glass of wine or beer! Step out of the Andalusian sunshine. Just follow the crowds through this little doorway, into the cool interior of a typical bodega or wine bar. Plates of food are tapas, the best introduction to authentic Andalusian food. Tapas are small portions of foods, both hot an cold, served in bars, bodegas and tascas to accompany a copa of fino-- dry Spanish Sherry--or draught beer. You can enjoy tapas in most bars before the lunch hour (in Spain this is very late--tapas at 1 pm, lunch at 2 pm or after), and again before dinner (8-9 pm, with dinner later yet). Tapas were invented in Andalusia. The word means "cover." In Andalusian wine-making regions, a saucer is customarily placed tocover a glass of wine in order to keep the little fruit flies from swarming in. Tapas can vary from simple to complex and include cheese, fish, eggs, vegetable dishes, dips, canapés, and savoury pastries. A quantity of tapas can make an excellent meal.tidbit of food placed on the dish helped attract clients to the wine bar, so the cook--usually the owner's wife--would out-do herself to make more and better ones. Tapa-hopping is part of the convivial Andalusian way of life. With a few friends you stop in at several bars to have a glass of wine and sample the tapa specialities of each. It's customary to stand up at the bar.

Here's a tantalizing taste of some of the dishes--hot and cold-- you might find in a tapa bar in southern Spain. Certainly the superb ham, both serrano,which just means mountain-cured, and the priceyiberico , produced from special Andalusian pigs which grow sweet on acorns. This salt-cured ham is served raw, very thinly sliced. It makes a marvellous combination with fino Sherry. And, of course, Andalusian olives. They can be the famed Seville olives, sweet, meaty manzanillas ; or gordales , the size of small plums; or home-cured ones, slightly bitter, flavoured with herbs and garlic, or olives stuffed with anchovy. A tapa of mixed olives might include fat caper-berries too. Wine was the natural accompaniment to this snack, as it induced a mellow mood and increased strength, while in winter it warmed the body as protection against very cold days in the fields and in the workshops of the Middle Ages.In the Summer, the drink taken in the South was “gazpacho” (cold tomato soup), instead of wine, which increased body heat rather than providing the necessary cold refreshment. The snack is called “alifara” in northern Spain , Aragón and Navarra; and later, in the Vasque Country, it began to be called “poteo”,because the wine had to be drunk in “potes” (jars). 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.