travelswithalice

May 18, 2014

The modern Spanish conquistadores

Tsikiteo is the Basque term for the pintxos bar-hop. Pintxos is the Basque variant of the generic tapas. Tapas is the culinary tradition that has done for Spain what Philip II's armada failed to do: conquer the world.

Small plates are taking over the dining tables of the world. That for me is a really good thing. There are however, some forks in this great gastronomic march that I find myself taking with some trepidation.

I have to take issue with mindless dedication to newness. Okay, gazpacho served in a glass tumbler. This sort of makes sense since gazpacho is mostly liquid. And it's cold. Nevertheless, it brings to mind the not so cheerful picture of old people slurping soup from a cup.

But it was, after all, at the Café of "El Goog" a.k.a Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum, so okay, I'll take that as chic.

However, when even at a pintxos bar in San Sebastián, one is required to sip salad through a straw, that for me is a bridge too far. One which I'd really rather cross when I get there.

This is molecular gastronomy gone wild. And Ferran Adria and his El Bulli crowd have a lot to answer for.

Me, I prefer food I can bite into and chew on, thank you very much. As in, ... well I don't rightly know what they're called. (The x's and the k's in their names have got my tongue all in a twist.)

But therein lies the genius of these pintxos bars: I don't have to say anything. I just look and point. And enjoy!