Having friends over for cocktail hour? Prepare some tapas for a casual evening. Present these little Spanish dishes on the table so that everyone can serve themselves over the course of the evening. Here are some tips for organizing an aperitif or a tapas meal and some ideas for cooking them. And above all, don’t forget the sangria!

Authentic tapas

Tapas are an assortment of bites and appetizers that are served in Spain to accompany beer, wine or sangria as an aperitif, or even for a full meal, depending on the number of small dishes presented. The formula is much more informal and less structured than a cocktail-style dinner. 

The procedure to follow for a tapas evening

1. Make sure there is always something to eat on the table or counter.
2. Vary hot and cold dishes and remember to serve as many meat recipes as seafood or vegetables and leave a nice place for cold cuts.
3. Bet on variety. There must be dishes for all tastes, but without being excessive.
4. Cook only a few dishes and plan tapas to assemble or have things from the store on hand, such as roasted nuts, olives or cheeses. The frozen appetizers you usually reserve for receptions also turn into express tapas.
5. Plan the number of tapas

For an aperitif: 2 to 3 tapas

For a full meal: 4 to 5 cooked tapas and 1 or 2 uncooked side dishes

Just like in Spain

While it’s all about what inspires you to create your variety of tapas, it’s worth taking notes from Spanish traditions to set your menu up with some classics:

Seafood: grilled octopus, sautéed shrimp, fried squid, fresh anchovies

Vegetables: sautéed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, pickled olives

Potatoes (so popular that they are set apart from other vegetables): potato omelette, patatas bravas, fish or ham croquettes.

Viandes et charcuteries: jambon Serrano, chorizo, prosciutto

You can also simply set up a beautiful platter of cold cuts and cheeses accompanied by a good olive oil. Here are some of our tapas recipes to inspire you: 

• Tapas platter
• Spanish-style potato stew
• Shredded fresh salmon tapas with prosciutto chips

To drink, please

Traditionally, tapas accompany drinks as an aperitif, and not the other way around. It is therefore essential to think about what you will offer your guests to drink. Beer and wine do the trick, but to be really Spanish, prepare a good homemade sangria, a mixture of wine, fruit and carbonated water, and plan an alcohol-free sangria for guests who do not drink.