Tapas

During a recent 10-day trip to southern Spain, in addition to site seeing and relaxing, I spent a good amount of time enjoying the local cuisine. The majority of our 10 days was spent in the Andalucía region, located in the southernmost part of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Being surrounded by the Mediterranean, it’s no surprise that seafood is a main staple of the local gastronomy – some local favorites include sardinas (sardines), bacalao (salted cod), paella de mariscos (paella with shellfish), merluza (hake) and pescaíto frito (deep-fried fish in olive oil, seasoned with salt). 

While you can buy fish at the grocery store, you can also find it at markets, such as el Mercado Central (featured above), in Málaga. I personally found the markets much more fun to explore than the grocery stores, as they're filled with a variety of colors and smells - and if you're lucky, a vendor just might let you sample what they're selling.

In addition to snacking on local treats found at the markets, throughout the week we tried a variety of different tapas. Now, you may be asking: what are tapas? From my experience, tapas can be almost anything, served as a snack size portion. Some of my favorites, and most commonly found on menus throughout Andalucía, include tortilla española (spanish omelette), pan tostado con jamón Serrano (bread with Serrano ham), pimientos de Padrón (deep-fried or roasted chili peppers) and berenjena frita (deep-fried aubergines) - all washed down with a glass of sangría.

Tapas