Every day is tapas day

 

Spanish tapas are enjoyable, easy and happy way to taste different kinds of snacks. Tapas have their orgings in traditional Spanish way to cover wineglass with a piece of bread. Tapas are normally small dishes, generally cheese, olives, bread, ham and different kinds of fish or seafood. It is more and more common also in Finland for people to have some tapas when they come together. This tapas culture goes nicely with Finnish down-to-earth, easy-going and seasonal way to make and have small dishes.
   At the same time there are interesting opportunities to taste different kinds of wines with tapas. Baseline is to have just small doses for each dish. So one can seek for the best combination with food and wines.

Plate of different kinds of tapas.

 

Tapas during Christmas time.

Tomato salsa on plate.

Vegetable bundles for Easter time.

Stuffed red onions.

Scampis with vendance roam on rye bread.

Shrimp assortment.

Spoonful of dried stockfish.

Pheasant mousse genelli.

Dates with candied ginger.

Cava with cold smoked salmon in whipped cream.

Cava with shrimps.

Pimientos rellenos with wines.

The World Tapas Day
Every year people are celebrating World Tapas Day all over the world, saluting Spanish culture and gastronomy with tapas. In Finland nearly 40 restaurants and their customers took part in the celebration in June. One special event concerning the World Tapas Day was a contest among 19 restaurants. They created special dishes of fusion cuisine to make “The Best Tapa of Helsinki”. Contest was carried with the help of The Spanish Tourist Office, Kokkikoulu Espa and Catalonian region of Empordà.

The winner of the contest was restaurant Jord in Helsinki with their Baltic herring. The cook behind the dish was the head chef Sylvester Soisalo. Sylvester’s recipe for the winning dish was:
Baltic herring is first cured, then pickled, whilst the cucumber skin turned in oil and the rest of cucumber cut into cubes before being compressed for maximum flavour. Malt bread soil, plain yoghurt and seasoned buttermilk sauce with dill oil compliment the fish to complete the plate.

Text and photos: Heikki Remes
www.viinimies.com
Photo Baltic herring: Jord