Tapas – A Great Wine Group Theme

Tapas is a great theme for a wine group. A trip to Barcelona inspired the creation of a Tapas based theme for our wine group. In Barcelona we had a wide array of Tapas. From seafood, to grilled vegetables to savory meatballs and everything in between. You have to love everything about Tapas. Creating a theme for a wine group where the ingredients are provided and a group of friends works together to develop a meal is a great way to interact and have a a lot of fun

  • Everyone helped out
  • The food was great
  • Tapas require interaction
  • Feedback on the menu is always good
  • The menu brought back great memories

Tapas Menu

Involvement Is Key

Most people like to help. If you are in a wine group chances are you like to cook, and even if you don’t, you want to help. The way the party worked was:

  • The mise en place had been prepared and the goal was to get the cooking out of the way and serve the Tapas all at once.
  • As people arrived we gave them a drink, showed them the menu and told them what their responsibilities would be.
  • After a “drinks-worth” of direction, the whole group went to work.
  • We set up work-stations with ingredients and cooking apparatus:
    • Annie had the oven station to warm the Tortillas and bread.
    • Jim and Kim had the two stove top stations:
      • Gambas. Peppers & Salad
      • Meatballs & Tomato cream sauce
  • Steve dazzled us with his skills at the fry station:
    • Calamari
    • Ravioli
  • Linda had the wine station
  • Susan was in charge of coordinating serving dishes and utensils
  • Mom had responsibility for dessert
  • I acted like a clueless camp counselor and bounced from station to station pretending I knew what I was doing.
  • In an amazingly short order everything got cooked to perfection and was served all at once.

We started with 10 items and I had intended to cut it down to 6, but the group only wanted to cut one item. The kale salad (the only item close to healthy) didn’t make the cut. (shocking) The crispy squid (Calamari) was a big hit, but I cut it because it is difficult to  make without a sizable fry station.

I made several other changes to make it a better fit for a wine group.  I will make the spinach ravioli and provide them frozen to all three dinner parties. Making ravioli requires having a pasta maker and ravioli mold that most people don’t have. The recipe called for fried ravioli which is easy with my fry station, but boiling water is easier and safer for the average cook.

The Tapas brought back memories of our trip to Barcelona. Linda and Steve just happened to have been in Barcelona at the same time as us and we had a  real Tapas dinner together there. It was one of those nights where the waiter and chef took over and we were smart enough to just shutup and let them do their magic. We had had tapas before, but never quite like the real thing we had that night.

Tapas are fun, whether you are in Barcelona  Spain or Bartlett TN

(Steve, Linda, Susan and Paul in Barcelona with a wonderful array of Tapas)

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