I mentioned yesterday that I really enjoyed going to a bar with some friends and having a bit of food with some beer.  Tapas are, of course, popular in other countries, especially in North America and Great Britain, where they have taken on a bit of a fad and sit down restaurants serve tapas as the main meal.  This is not really how it is done in Spain. 

The history of tapas is interesting and has no one story that is proven to be the real start of the tradition.  What I´m more interested in is how it works today in the city of Madrid.  You should be aware that if you are visiting or planning to live in Spain that the eating hours are tremendously different than nearly any other part of the world. 

Breakfast is usually a small meal in the early morning.  Lunch generally is eaten between 1 and 3 PM, but in Madrid it tends at times to be even later than that.  Dinner is generally eaten after 9 PM, but many restaurants don´t even open until 10 PM.  So there are long gaps between meals and between work and the final meal of the day.  Thus tapas.

Many people will tapear on their way home from work and stop at one or more bars for a caña (small beer) and some free or purchased tapas.  Usually eaten while standing up, these small dishes help to tide you over until your dinner at home or in a restaurant. 

They can also be eaten as a main meal among a group of friends, and I´ve seen this done many times.  Last night four of us could not decide on where to go for dinner and it was almost 11 PM, so we headed of to a place that served good tapas.  Here we sat at a nice table (in a heated room, no less!) and shared some terrific food. 

When looking for a good place to go, follow the locals.  Remember that the free tapas will small.  But if you are dining later, that´s all you need.  Have fun!