October 19, 2011
In Jaca, a city 15 minutes away, there is one week in November dedicated to tapas. There are 45 restaurants who participate in the competition for the best tapa. Tonight I went with my neighbors and host mom. We went to 3 different restaurants. Each one has the tapa/s they have made especially for this week. There are different categories you can win in like presentation, taste or significance. At every place one tapa and a drink is about 2.50 (euros that is). The first place we went there were two tapas. The first one was shrimp with some kind of pate it tasted like and a cracker kind of thing. The other was vegetable rice with squid and a crisp with a lot of foam, not sure what made it foam. Although they were tasty, I think they looked a little better than they tasted. The second place we went to was my favorite. First we had baby mussels in a really good sauce, probably some of the best mussels I've had in my life. After there were two tapas. One was a mini crepe with a piece of meat and foie, all with a orange, caramel flavor. The other was a calzone of some sort but much lighter with jamon (prosciutto) in a vegetable puree. All of them were SO good. The last place I think was going for significance or presentation. There was this huge structure and story all for a little tapa with potato and some fish eggs. There was a rock with a glass of bubbling and exploding white, liquid with a seashell underneath. Then the tapas were displayed on a bridge next to it. It was supposed to symbolize Jaca, the white exploding stuff being the mountains and snow melting under the bridge (there is a famous bridge in Jaca) and then the shell is the symbol of the trail of Santiago (a trail that goes all through the Spanish Pyrennes that takes about 25 days and the middle of it where the Cathedral of Santiago is is Jaca). The tapa was pretty good but definitely overpowered by the inedible things. We ended up voting for the second place. The whole buzz of the city was so great, everyone so excited to go eat great tapas all night.
In Jaca, a city 15 minutes away, there is one week in November dedicated to tapas. There are 45 restaurants who participate in the competition for the best tapa. Tonight I went with my neighbors and host mom. We went to 3 different restaurants. Each one has the tapa/s they have made especially for this week. There are different categories you can win in like presentation, taste or significance. At every place one tapa and a drink is about 2.50 (euros that is). The first place we went there were two tapas. The first one was shrimp with some kind of pate it tasted like and a cracker kind of thing. The other was vegetable rice with squid and a crisp with a lot of foam, not sure what made it foam. Although they were tasty, I think they looked a little better than they tasted. The second place we went to was my favorite. First we had baby mussels in a really good sauce, probably some of the best mussels I've had in my life. After there were two tapas. One was a mini crepe with a piece of meat and foie, all with a orange, caramel flavor. The other was a calzone of some sort but much lighter with jamon (prosciutto) in a vegetable puree. All of them were SO good. The last place I think was going for significance or presentation. There was this huge structure and story all for a little tapa with potato and some fish eggs. There was a rock with a glass of bubbling and exploding white, liquid with a seashell underneath. Then the tapas were displayed on a bridge next to it. It was supposed to symbolize Jaca, the white exploding stuff being the mountains and snow melting under the bridge (there is a famous bridge in Jaca) and then the shell is the symbol of the trail of Santiago (a trail that goes all through the Spanish Pyrennes that takes about 25 days and the middle of it where the Cathedral of Santiago is is Jaca). The tapa was pretty good but definitely overpowered by the inedible things. We ended up voting for the second place. The whole buzz of the city was so great, everyone so excited to go eat great tapas all night.
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