If you have an upcoming trip to Barcelona planned, your schedule is probably packed with tours of the beautiful Gaudí architecture, trips to the beach and walks down Las Ramblas. However, there is one crucial experience you can’t miss while visiting this beautiful city – tapas! This traditional Spanish meal consists of small plates of food best eaten when shared and paired with a nice wine or beer. They can be a nice quick snack before a larger meal, or you can make an entire meal out of the different dishes. There are so many to choose from that it will be hard to resist having tapas for every meal! Here are some signature dishes on tapas menus to help you eat your way around Barcelona!
Croquetas
A crispy shell with a creamy interior, croquetas make a great snack and can be offered with a variety of ingredients. Typically filled with cured ham, other popular types can include chicken, mushroom or cod. These tasty bites were originally a way to avoid wasting food scraps, all of the leftover meat or vegetables were mixed with a bechamel sauce and then fried until crispy. This is a staple to try when having tapas!
Bomba
Similar to croquetas, bombas consist of fried potatoes stuffed with ground beef and topped with sauce. The topping is usually a combination of aioli and spicy sauce, and it is important to note that the level of spice may be high depending on where you are eating! This is one of the most typical tapas dishes from Barcelona, as it originated from the fishing neighbourhood of the city, Barceloneta.
Jamón Ibérico
Jamón, which translates to ham in English, is a traditional cured ham dish with meat originating from the Iberian peninsula. The pigs from this region will consume olives, acorns and chestnuts their entire lives. The ham is then cured for a period of time and the result is meat appearing in a dark red colour and can be thinly sliced. The rich taste and smooth texture of the meat make this a delicious addition to any tapas meal.
Patatas Bravas
A tapas dish that you will surely find on any menu in the city is Patatas Bravas. They are something so simple, yet delicious and it won’t be easy to resist them everywhere you go. The dish consists of fried potatoes topped with brava sauce, a spicy and often garlicky mayonnaise. These are great as a side with a drink before dinner!
Pan con Tomate
When you take two great ingredients and combine them together, you are guaranteed a tasty dish. This is what the Spaniards did when creating Pan con Tomate when translated to English, ‘Bread with Tomato’. A piece of toasted bread with a topping of tomato combined with olive oil and salt makes for a delicious snack at any time of day. You will often see people having this for breakfast or as tapas in the afternoon, so whenever you want it, you can have it!
This is just a small list of typical dishes you may find on a tapas menu when you are visiting Barcelona. There are many other yummy options that you can try and the great thing about tapas is that when sharing you can have small bites of multiple plates! If your mouth is watering just thinking of the meals you can have in this Catalonian city, then get started on planning your trip!
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