Tapas and Hungover Kings
A prelude to the Islamic Golden Age in Spain and a King that partied too hard.
Now this is a story I’ve told to several people a few times, someone told me but I never verified the truth of the tale. So here I am to rectify a historic rumour that I have blatantly abused through word of mouth. This rumour is about a hungover Spanish King, and the beginnings of Tapas.
Let’s introduce Spain and its beautiful culture, one so rich with a mix of different worlds. Spain was conquered left and right and Spain also conquered and colonized quite a bit. The numerous influences from conquests and the presence of clashing entities created a unique country that adapted and lived through so many cultural assimilations, therefore so many culinary cultural blessings.
From Roman conquests to invading Germanic tribes like the Vandals and Visigoths, to the North Africans, Catholic Kings and Caliphates and later on with the Spanish conquest in the Americas — just to name a few of the major players.
Spain or Hispania named by the Romans who expanded their Republic between 210 and 205 BCE which took almost two centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and then retained control for six centuries. Hispania was basically a huge granary for the Roman market and its harbours exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine. Agricultural production blossomed with the introduction of irrigation projects from the Romans, as well Hispania’s introduction to Christianity in the 1st century BCE.
Then came the Germanic tribes who probed the Western Roman Empires rule over Hispania around 410 CE. So much so they reached the south of Spain where the Vandals created their stronghold in the south of the peninsula in 420 CE and eventually crossed into North Africa by 429 CE.
Fast forward to 710 and 780 CE with the Muslim conquest from the Umayyad Caliphate that conquered most of Spain and collapsed the Visigoth Kingdom. It started with the spearhead motion by the famous general Tariq ibn Ziyad who led an army across the Strait of Gibraltar from the North African coast to reorganise his troops and start a conquest for his Caliph, Al-Walid I. Gibraltar is a Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Tariq which means “Mountain of Tariq”, named after him.
Just a little later on, Spain as we know it became Al-Andalus under the Caliphate which occupied most of the Spanish peninsula and part of present day southern France. In turn, this led to a near 780 year rule from 711 until 1492 AD (CE)!
Al-Andalus became a center for learning under the Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031 CE). It was a hub for the arts, medicine, science, music, literature and philosophy. Cordoba was the home for plenty of major advances in science, trigonometry, pharmacology, astronomy, surgery and agronomy. The resources and educational centers sprouted countless world renowned philosophers and scientists. People from all walks of life came often from abroad to study at the libraries and universities of Al-Andalus.
A noteworthy mention is the several translation institutions created, such as the Toledo School of Translators that translated Arabic books and texts to Latin. Later on notable figures brought some translated works to Italy which shared ideas and philosophies that affected the formation of the European Rennaissance. After all, the Islamic Golden Age (Circa 700-1200 CE) had an immeasurable fountain of knowledge to offer and was smack in time during the Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031 CE).
The fact that Cordoba and Al-Andalus became such a powerhouse center for knowledge and science which led to cultural exchanges between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Mixed with extensive trade routes to other parts of the Mediterranean and across the long reaching arm of the Umayyad Caliphate to its capital of Damascus it brought luxury items, food and spices to Al-Andalus.
I believe it is safe to presume not only sciencitific knowledge was shared and taught but culinary knowledge from such a diverse cast of people gave Spain so much of its flavour and essence. From techniques, flavours, recipes and ethics I like to believe some of the so called Tapas has some roots to this history. Or maybe none at all… Anyways, I just LOVE a longwinded preamble to history and wanted to share an insight of what must of been a historical culinary pinnacle of a country in the process of becoming what we know of it today. Once Al-Andalus, it grew to become Spain.
The 11th century brought the collapse of the Cordoban Caliphate which divided the land into petty kingdoms which geared a power shift towards Christian kingdoms. By the end of the 11th century came the Kingdom of León on the northern Iberian Peninsula which was founded in 910 had their fair share of repelling Muslim and Viking attacks. They became the strongest Christian kingdom for centuries. Then came feudalism and which evolved into monarchies and more marriages mixed with nepotist rulers, much later came the Spanish Empire from 1492–1976 and blah blah blah… TAPAS!!! WE ARE HERE FOR TAPAS!!! For goodness sake!
Ok, let’s reign it in… SO what I kept on telling people on how Tapas came to be is that imagine you were a Spanish King with all this history from Spain and you have the heavy responsibility on your shoulders to make a change for the better (hopefully). Where to go to think on how to make or become a part of such a rich line of history? Most likely a bar or tavern (taverns are so much cooler, let’s be real).
So King Alfonso X (1221–1284) who came from Castile, which was an eastern county of the Kingdom of León and became king of Castile, León and Galicia. He was such a popular dude that a dissident faction chose Alfonso X to be king of Germany at one point.
His court was just as cosmopolitan as the Cordoban Caliphate with Muslims, Jews and Christians having prominent roles. The legend goes that he was ill and and in order to “heal”, he drank wine and had small dishes in between meals. Which in plain terms sounds like a “hair of the dog” type of thing, but I guess scribes used the more correct version.. So let’s just call it like it is! He was hungover AF and ate greasy foods in between meals and drank some more. Just be honest Alfonso X! Stop playing with us.
Once he got over his hangover he ordered that taverns wouldn’t be allowed to serve alcohol without small snacks or “tapas”. This is one legend that I like to believe is the beginning of the Tapas.
Another strong contender for the history of how the Tapas came to be is by another Alfonso, King Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) known as El Africano (The African, for his strong colonialist involvement in Africa). The story goes he was chilling in the Andalusian city of Cádiz right on the beach where he ordered a glass of wine, as you usually do when you’re on vacation.
The waiter covered his glass with a slice of cured ham to protect the wine from the sandy winds before serving it to Alfonso. He then enjoyed his wine and slice of ham and ordered another but “con la tapa” which translates to “with the cover”. Tapa in Spanish means cover, top or lid, so this is where the term was coined.
Tapas are fun, they can be mixed and combined to make a full meal or plenty of mini snacks. They can be cold or warm; you can find cheeses, olives, fried squid (chopitos), or patatas bravas, albondigas, calamares, croquetas and plenty more. It is hard to pin down the true beginnings of the tapas, as is with any gastronomical advance, but another tale matching King Alfonso XIII is that the original tapas were covering sherry drinkers glasses in Andalusian taverns to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sherry.
Smart move by tavern owners to match salty things like chorizo or ham to activate your thirst. So in tandem with trying to sell more drinks, they served more salty small bites. Before, where alcohol was the main selling point, the tapas became an equal and started a culture of gorgeous bites.
Rewind one more time? The Romans brought along olives and their knowledge of cultivation and their great skills in irrigation. With those skills and Spains stellar atmospheric conditions create a haven for tomatoes, sweet peppers, maize and potatoes which were brought back from the New World (Americas). With muslim culture intertwined with from Al-Andalus, Andalusia has strong culinary roots and another layer of stellar irrigation systems through centuries of knowledge to help with harvesting in arid areas.
As with the Umayyad Caliphate, and the portable pantry that came with, all the way from Damascus brought culinary options to Spain. Since they were near to Asia, they also brought a wealth of gastronomical delights such as rice, coriander, saffron, artichokes, apricots, sugar and aubergines.
Some Andalusian recipes contain chicken, saffron, coriander and cumin which are staple Mesopotamian ingredients. Even techniques from the Fertile Crescent such as pickling and preserving foods in salt and or vinegar. Even those techniques are still used to today with tapas such as boquerones en vinaigre (anchovies in vinegar) or olives in brine. Where I also wrote in detail about preserving and pickling in my post of Power to the Pickle.
In the end, Spain was dragged through countless wars and tough times. Which led to an influx of gastronomical influences that are still cooking today. The strong cultural and religious roots that shared customs through food and drink which provided and passed on generational flavors and inklings through hisorical ingredients that were dropped off centuries ago. From bars, taverns or innkeepers; historical or not there is always a story to tell along with your glass of wine and your tapas.
Bacalao-ly Yours,
The Greasy Pen.
Thank you for reading