Tapas were originally an accompaniment to which drink?
Tapas verb "tapar", "to cover", a cognate of the English "top". In pre-19th century Spain tapas were served by "posadas", "albergues", or "bodegas," offering meals and rooms for travellers. Since few innkeepers could write and few travellers read, inns offered their guests a sample of the dishes available, on a "tapa" (the word for pot cover in Spanish). According to "The Joy of Cooking", the original tapas were thin slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the
Tapas It is rare to see a tapas selection not include one or more types of olives, such as Manzanilla or Arbequina olives. One or more types of bread are usually available to eat with any of the sauce-based tapas. In Andalusia and certain places in Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Asturias, and Extremadura, when one goes to a bar and orders a drink, often a tapa will be served with it free. As a drink, it is usual to ask for a "caña" (small beer), a "chato" (glass of wine) or a "mosto" (grape juice). In several cities, entire