What Are Tapas ? + How To Throw An Over-The-Tapas Party

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Tapas are the quickest and easiest way I know of to take a dinner party from a classy but unremarkable affair to an exciting and culturally diverse event. As a dining option, tapas are interesting, tasty, healthy, relatively inexpensive, and look great provided you have the right kind of small and tastefully-designed tapas dishes to serve them up. In this post, I’ll go over what exactly tapas are, tell you some good tapas recipes you can serve at a dinner party, and even reveal six of my very favorite tapas serveware sets.

About Tapas

Tapas are one of those foods most people have heard about but most couldn’t actually describe. And that may be because they are more a type of cuisine than a specific kind of food. In this section, we’ll dive into where tapas come from, why they’re so popular, and how you can make the most of them at your dinner parties.

What are Tapas?

Tapas are small dishes of food that originated in Spain. Traditionally, four or five tapas are eaten to replace a main course in a meal. The smorgasbord of foods in a tapas spread are comparable to a charcuterie board, although the foods in tapas are generally a bit heavier and more filling.

The three types of tapas are:

• Cocas de picar – Literally, “things to nibble.” They might include nuts, olives, small peppers, or other finger foods.
• Cazuelas – Cazuelas are Spanish Terra Cotta bowls, which are the traditional vessels for preparing the sauce-based dishes like thick stews or meat in juices that make up this type of tapa.
• Pinchos – Small bits of meatballs or cooked vegetable that are served on skewers or speared and eaten with toothpicks.

Of course, you can also serve tapas as before-meal aperitifs rather than as a replacement for the meal itself. In that case, the tapas are basically like appetizers. Whereas appetizers are usually eaten all at once, though, tapas are usually eaten little by little over a longer period of time.

What is the Meaning of “Tapas?”

Tapas is the Spanish word for “tops” or “lids.” Originally, tapas were included free when you ordered a drink at a bar or cafe. One tapa would be placed on a plate and put on top of the drinking glass so that the flies would not get at the drink while it was sitting on the table. Since the most popular alcoholic drink in Spain used to be a thick, sweet brandy that might attract bugs, it was a real concern. Of course, the tapa doubled as a nice little snack for the customer.

What are Some Typical Tapas Foods?

Since Spain is such an ancient and culturally diverse country, the types of tapas traditionally served in different parts of the country vary greatly. For example, costal towns in Spain might have lots of seafood dishes, flatland towns might serve more beef, and mountain towns might go heavy on vegetables. However, the following tapas are some of the most popular throughout Spain, and, consequently, with people around the world cooking up tapas for their own dining tables.

• Gambas al Ajillo – Prawns flash-fried in a spiced olive oil.
• Chopitos – deep fried calamari.
• Noodle dishes.
• Chorizo al Vino – Chopped Spanish sausage cooked in wine.
• Olives.
• Ensaladilla de Rusa – Basically, potato salad.
• Tortilla Española – Spanish potato omelet.
• Jamon Iberico – Cured ham made from acorn-fed pigs.
• Empanadas and other pastries.
• Pimientos de Padron – A kind of Spanish pepper fried in olive oil.
• Stewed meatballs.
• Bread with jam.
• Patatas Bravas – Thick-cut fried potatoes.
• Shellfish in sauce.
• Croquetas – Fritters with a crispy, crumbly fried shell that surrounds a filling of cheese, veggies, or fish.
• Fresh cheese.

Serving Tapas

Tapas were traditionally served in their own individual dishes. Tapas cuisine has evolved as time has gone by and more of the world has adopted the culinary trend, though, so there are now lots of larger, sectioned-off dishes that are specifically meant for tapas. There are still more without the word “tapas” on the label that make excellent tapas serving dishes. The first step in serving tapas is to get ahold of several of those dishes – you might consider my recommendations below.

Second, prepare the individual tapas. Many tapas, especially those of the type cocas de picar, do not need to be cooked and can be arranged straight from the package onto the serving dish. The ones that require cooking are obviously a bit more work, but the good news is that tapas are generally very quick and easy to make compared to most other cuisines. If you are cooking tapas for lots of people, all the better; you can just cook a regular-sized portion of several meals and then divide them into smaller tapas-sized portions on the serving dishes.

Third, get some Spanish wine to serve with the tapas and some candles that will create a more interesting ambiance for the diners.

Fourth, when it finally comes time to serve the tapas, do not put them all out at once. Instead, bring out one tapa for each diner every 15-20 minutes to keep things interesting and make the experience last the whole evening. Of course, the Spanish wine should be flowing freely the whole time.

Tapas Serveware

Having beautiful tapas dishes that keep each mini course separated helps create the classy, adventurous “fiesta” vibe that will make a tapas party a hit. So without further ado, here is a table with six of my favorites, along with how many tapas can be served in each of them and their respective price ranges on a scale of $ to $$$$$. Below the table, you can read a bit more about each model mentioned.

Name	# of Tapas	Price Range
Sicily Outdoor Melamine Chip & Dip Bowl	5	$$
Sicily Outdoor Melamine Small Mixed Dipping Bowls	4	$
Marrakesh Melamine Sectioned Serving Platter	6	$$$
No products found.	5	$$$
Marrakesh Melamine 3-Piece Serveware Set	8	$$$$
Boska Tapas Extra Large Cheese Board	8+	$$$$$

1. Sicily Outdoor Melamine Chip & Dip Bowl

by Williams Sonoma

It may not be a traditional tapas dish, but it’s a compact, durable, and visually attractive way to serve lots of small dishes that need to be kept separate. The dish consists of four oblong wells with capacities of 20 ounces each surrounding a circular well in the center of the dish with a capacity of 10 ounces. What really puts this dish above other similar designs is how high the walls between the wells are. At almost 2.5” high, the walls will help ensure your tapas don’t run into each other when you’re transferring them into the tray.

I love the plastic used to make the tray as well. It’s super light and this, and the exciting blue, green, red, yellow, and white paint job makes the dish look really nice.

2. Sicily Outdoor Melamine Small Mixed Dipping Bowls

by Williams Sonoma

This is the least expensive item on this list, but the four 10-ounce bowls that come in the set definitely do not look or feel cheap. The material is melamine, a hydrogen-based plastic. The bowls look like real ceramic, thorough, especially with the vibrant designs that look like hand painting. Since melamine is extra-durable, the dishes are also great for outdoor tapas parties. The material also makes the dishes quicker and easier to clean than most bowls, which is very much appreciated when you have dozens of similar dishes to wash after a tapas party.

Perhaps the best feature at all is that these dishes are part of a larger line of servingware, all of it with a similarly low price and with vibrant color schemes that really give off that “fiesta” vibe lots of dinner party hosts look for.

3. Marrakesh Melamine Sectioned Serving Platter

by Pottery Barn

The “base” of this set is a 15” diameter, 2.25” deep dish that could be used as a salad serving bowl. When the included smaller dishes are arranged inside the larger dish, though, it becomes a sectioned tapas tray similar to the first item on this list. The circular bowl at the center holds 20 ounces, and each of the five oblong bowls surrounding it hold 13 ounces each. Because the bowls inside the bigger bowl are not held in place, they can ba rearranged or pushed to allow access to any of the tapas from any side.

I should also note that the removable bowls combined with the sleek melamine material make this tapas set extremely easy to wash by hand.

4. Cactus Canyon Ceramics Tapa Plate Set

by No products found.

No products found.

The five plates in this set each measure 6.1” in diameter, and they look right at home in the middle of a Spanish-themed soiree. The dishes are made from real Spanish Terra Cotta, which gives them an authenticity that will add to the tapas dining experience. The center of the plates are the natural red color of the clay, and the border of each plate’s upper surface is hand-painted with a unique design by artisans in Andalusia, a region on the Southern Spanish Coast. I would say these tapas dishes provide a more authentically Spanish feel than any other competitors I’ve seen.

5. Marrakesh Melamine 3-Piece Serveware Set

by Pottery Barn

This set includes the same 6-section dish described fourth in this list, but it also comes with two other serving bowls of 15” and 15.5” in diameter. The additional bowls are obviously too large for tapas, but they’re great for filling out your tapas party menu with something like pasta, salad, or soup. Plus, they have the same light, portable build of the sectioned bowl, which makes them easy to store and ideal for bringing to a potluck or picnic.

6. Boska Tapas Extra Large Cheese Board

by Williams Sonoma

A cheese board may not be what pops into your head when you think of tapas dishes, but this one was designed with tapas in mind. It’s made from pure European oak, which is totally odorless and flavorless so it will not mess with tapas’ delicate flavors. It has a long, thin shape that’s great for arranging dry tapas without letting them mix together, and it has a smooth, easy-to-clean surface.

Tapas Recipes

Here are a few great tapas recipes I’ve tried and really enjoyed.

• Gambas al Ajillo
• Mushroom Croquettes
• Pan con Tomate
• Chorizo al Vino Tinto
• Fried Padron Peppers

Tapas are an excellent way to inject some life and excitement into a dinner party that does not yet have any particular theme. Serving them will really impress your guests by showing them your international culinary flair, especially if you learn to pronounce the Spanish name for each dish correctly. So what are you waiting for? Get ahold of some of the tapas dishes recommended in the table above and get cooking!

Last update on 2024-04-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API