College Cooking 101

Mexican fare adds flair to dinner table

Between working hard and scraping for money, it is not every college student's first priority to host dinner parties. However, for those that do enjoy the occasional wining and dining without all the hassle, there is a solution — Spanish tapas, a long-held tradition in Spain.

Tapas can be likened to the Europeanized version of beer with pretzels and peanuts. The word "tapas," also called pinchos or banderillas, translates into snack or appetizer.

Esperanza Luca de Tena, author of "100 Spanish Tapas," said, "It used to be common practice in Spain for people to call into a bar or two just before lunch for a chato de vino tinto (glass of red wine). The first very simple tapas arose from the need to avoid drinking on an empty stomach and consisted of slices of bread topped with raw ingredients and combined with cold meat, cheese, tinned fish and mayo or oil."

As Spain began to modernize and cut back on leisure time, tapas began to replace full lunches. In many areas around the country, this has become the norm. "Tapas have kept an informal spirit through their popular origins as street-food," according to www.spaintour.com.

In many ways, tapas share a history similar to that of the American fast food enterprise, though the ingredients are always fresher, the serving sizes smaller, and the act of going to tapas is most always a social outing. As Emilia Gonzalez Sevilla said in her book, "Tapas, Pinchos, y Tentempies," "The tapeo would be, without a doubt, the best fast food formula if it was not required time and a break long enough to practice with Spanish elegance the art of eating on foot."

So, if students are ready for a not-so-typical snack time to catch up with friends, try out some of these tapas. All you need is a little imagination, a bottle of vino — in tinto (red) or blanco (white) — and a lot of olive oil. Buenas Suerte!

Gazpacho: Cold Tomato Soup — a Spanish Summertime favorite — from www.arrakis.es

Prep time: 20 minutes; Cook time: None

2 green peppers
Tomatoes
Half an onion
1 cucumber
Loaf of white bread with crust removed
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Vinegar (red wine or apple cider)
Salt
Choice of spices to taste — cilantro, cumin, tarragon, basil, lemon or lime juice
Black pepper

Remove seeds from tomatoes and green peppers and mix in a blender or food processor. Add cucumber, garlic, onion and bread (soaked in cold water) and blend well. After blended, put mixture through sieve or cheesecloth to remove leftover seeds. Mix in about one-third of a cup of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt to taste. Add all other spices. Refrigerate for at least one hour and allow flavor to set in. To serve, add chopped tomatoes, pepper and cucumber and eat with sliced bread.

Spanish Tortilla- the easiest and most common Spanish tapa- from www.globalgourmet.com

Prep time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 pound potatoes
1 onion
4 eggs
Olive oil
Salt

Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices. Thinly chop the onion and combine with potatoes. Sauteé mixture over low heat in plenty of olive oil. Once done, drain oil. In another bowl, beat eggs and mix them with the potato mixture. Heat a frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and spread the mixture over the bottom of the pan with a pancake turner and shape the edges. Allow eggs to cook to a golden brown on one side (about three minutes). Next, flip the tortilla. Let it cook on the other side in the same way. Let tortilla cool and serve in pie slice shapes, or cut into squares on toothpicks. Also commonly eaten between bread with a touch of olive oil. Can be topped with Spanish alioli (garlic) mayonnaise.

Spanish Alioli (Garlic) Mayonnaise — Esperanza Luca de Tena's "100 Spanish Tapas"

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: None

2 tbsp. sherry or red wine vinegar
1 egg
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Pinch of sugar

Place egg and chopped garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until garlic is smooth. Continue to blend and add olive oil in a slow stream until the mixture is thick and emulsified. Add vinegar and salt.

The sauce should be creamy and have a garlic bite. If you choose not to use raw egg as an ingredient, use store-bought mayonnaise and simply blend with garlic, salt and a pinch of sugar.