Entertain with tapas: Start with a good
cookbook. Photo courtesy Knopf.

You can serve a multicourse dinner of small tapas plates. It’s the opposite of our recent tip on buffets, but is just as much fun.

Spain is full of tapas bars, which feature a wide variety of hot and cold appetizers and snacks. From foods as basic as a bowl of mixed olives and a plate of cheese to fried baby squid, what was originally a menu of Spanish bar foods evolved into an entire meal.

Mixed seafood; ragouts of meat, sausages and beans; colorful salads; tortillas (Spanish omelettes) with ham and peppers; banderillas, or Spanish skewers; and empanadas, savory filled pastries, are just a few items found at a typical tapas bar.

But tapas aren’t limited to Spanish specialties. They can be Asian- or Greek-inspired, or gourmet dishes with foie gras and escargots. Goat cheese and arugula join Spanish Manchego cheese and olives. Pretty much any food you like can be served tapas style: a small portion on a small plate.

Tapas are an exciting eating experience for people who like a variety of foods, but don’t want the temptation of a buffet meal.

TAPAS COOKBOOKS
To get started, peruse a tapas cookbook:

 
TAPAS: THE NAME

The word “tapas” comes from the Spanish verb tapar, “to cover.” Why a “cover”?

According to the leading interpretation, a piece of bread would often be placed on top of a drink as a cover, to protect it from fruit flies. At some point the bread was covered with chorizo, ham or other food. Soon, drinkers would order a glass of sherry or wine specifically “with a cover.”

Thanks to an innovation from Fusion Brands, you can now elevate a cake plate or fruit bowl with Serveitup, a white porcelain base with a suction cup that provides a secure lift.

In an instant, you can put a fancy or everyday plate or bowl, up to 12 inches in diameter, atop the Servitup pedestal and serve with panache. There are two sizes: You can stack a smaller plate atop a larger one for a multi-tiered plating presentation.

Want to put your food on a pedestal? There’s a store locator on the website. Or, head to Amazon.com for the:

Roasted piquillo chiles stuffed with tuna,
crumbled Manchego cheese, capers, parsley
and a touch of lemon juice. Photo courtesy
DeLallo Foods.

We’ll start you off with a suggestion: piquillo peppers. They’ve been a favorite in Spain for centuries, for tapas, stews and other recipes. We picked up some piquillos from Roland and Delallo.

Delectable and easy to use straight from the jar (DeLallo) or can (Roland), their vibrant color and piquant, roasted flavor make piquillos a welcome ingredient to enliven winter cooking.

Use them instead of roasted red bell peppers—they’ll bring an extra depth of flavor. The wall of a piquillo is much thinner than a bell pepper, with a richer, sweeter flavor and a hint of spiciness. When purchased in cans or jars, they’ve typically been fire roasted, adding a touch of of smokiness.

Use piquillos on sandwiches and in salads; with drinks, cut and rolled onto a toothpick (you can add an olive, caperberry or cube of cheese to the toothpick); and by all means, stuffed. The shape makes piquillos ideal for stuffing; the Spanish stuff them with everything from seafood to vegetables. We’ve been filling them with everything from leftover rice and other grains to potatoes, goat cheese, feta and tabbouleh, to tuna, egg and potato salads. Delicious! They also add a sweet touch to chili.

TIPS FOR USING PIQUILLO CHILES

Roland Foods suggests:

 
RECIPES

DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENT CHILES?
Check out our Chile Glossary.

This Hot Caramel Buttered Rum recipe combines smooth aged (añejo) rum with Van Gogh’s Dutch Caramel Vodka. It’s a fine drink to sip as you relax at the end of the day.

Or, have it at the end of dinner: It’s a cocktail and a dessert in one.

HOT CARAMEL BUTTERED RUM RECIPE

Ingredients Per Cocktail

Preparation
1. Combine first six ingredients—butter, sugar, honey and spices—into a large mug, Irish coffee glass, or other handled vessel. Mix together with a spoon.

2. Add rum and vodka.

3. Pour in hot water (1/2 cup to 1 cup, to personal taste) and stir vigorously until the mixture has dissolved. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

Find more of our favorite winter cocktail recipes.

Even six or eight people can enjoy serving
themselves buffet-style. Photo by Nancy
Louie | IST.

In the catering and restaurant worlds, food serving styles are classified as table service or buffet service. Both styles are used in the home, as well.

Many of us tend to think as the professionals do: table service for fewer people and buffet service for larger groups. The number of guests is usually the main factor in determining the serving style.

But think of buffets for smaller groups, whether a small cocktail event or tea party or a small gathering of as few as six friends or family members. Guests enjoy serving themselves. You, the host, can set all the food out at once and spend more time with your guests.
 
 
A REVIEW OF SERVING STYLES

Table Service

With table service, the food is served individually plated or family style, where communal platters and bowls are passed. A variation is when a parent or other adult prepares a plate for each diner from the head of the table.

The formal variation of this is French service, where dishes are brought to the table to be shown to the diners, and then carved and portioned at tableside by a butler or maitre d’.
 
 
BUFFET SERVICE

Buffet service is a self-service style where guests serve themselves from a sideboard or table. It can be a formal setting, a picnic table at a backyard barbecue or something in-between.

At a formal restaurant or catered buffet, there can be staff on hand to serve guests from behind the table (which takes the fun out of it, in our opinion), or simply to carve and serve roasts.

As with family-style service, guests have the ability to take only what they really want, and in the quantity they want it. (The down side is that people may also reach for seconds and thirds, “because it’s there.”)

No matter what the setting, buffet food can be formal or casual—while some people like fancy food, salads and sandwiches are popular buffet items. We like pasta bars for dinner, with guests able to create their own dishes by combining pasta, sauces and garnishes. The same works with burger and hot dog bars, taco bars or any other theme.

No matter what the food, a buffet is an opportunity to provide more condiments—chutneys, mustards, olives, pickles, relishes, different sauces—than table service. The result: You use up what’s in the fridge and pantry, and provide a larger symphony of flavors for guests.

For brunch, consider a yogurt bar and a cereal bar, with different types of fruits, nuts, seeds and milks (for example, rice milk and soy milk in addition to cow’s milk). The popularity of chains like Cereality and The Cereal Bowl—where customers top cereals with as many toppings as they like—prove that you don’t have to cook for days to show guests a good time.

Please share your favorite buffet ideas.