Guide to eating in Barcelona

BARCELONA PINTXOS

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In Spain, you can find the ubiquitous Tapas and you can find Pintxos ( pronounced pinchos).

Different words, different foods, same concept. So what’s the difference?

Let’s start at the beginning with the origin of tapas, according to one story, the tapa was the brainchild of King Alfonso X . He was advised by his personal physician to take small amounts of food with wine whilst recovering from an illness. Once cured, the king decreed that no wine was to be served unless accompanied by a snack to avoid alcohol intoxication and the illness caused by this inebriation.
Traditionally, all regions of Spain have had either tapas or pintxos, except Catalonia where the almighty Pintxos is king. The word Pintxos comes from the Spanish verb ‘pinchar’, which means ‘to pierce’ as the snacks were traditionally pierced with a toothpick, to keep the food from falling off the bread. It is also a smart way for the waiter to keep track of the number of snacks the customer has eaten – in many bars you will see locals simply pop the cleaned toothpicks in their top pocket as a running bar tab.
Tapas are normally shared within the group, order a few of them and put them in the middle of the table. A communal dining experience where each person has a small plate with some bread and selects some food from one tapa or another.
However, pintxos are eaten individually and they are usually so small that they would be difficult to share. Each person selects and eats their own pinchos, cold ones are displayed on the bar and hot ones ordered from the waiter.

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On a recent visit to Barcelona we were wandering the narrow back streets of the Gothic Quarter or "Barri Gotic" looking for somewhere to grab a drink and something to eat. As it is a lot of the time, providence took a hand and we were invited to partake of the delights of the El Pintxo de Petritxol by the waitress having a break out the front.
As we had no idea what a Pintxos was we were a little hesitant but "what the hell" she spoke English and we were hungry and thirsty. What an experience it was! Before long we had plentiful amounts of food and drink in front of us and the atmosphere was such we were conversing with all and sundry as if it was our local pub.
Time passed and before we knew it we had spent some hours indulging ourselves. The plates kept being replenished on the bar so there was an ever changing selection of freshly prepared Pintxos to choose from. Each Pintxos ranged in price from 2 to 3 Euros for the cold ones and a little more for specific cooked ones. Just as we felt we could not continue on any further the waitress produced two bottles of "local" liqueur and glasses for us to try "on the house". One was chocolate/coffee flavoured and the other a more Galliano/ herbal flavoured type, both very tasty and easy drinking. After we had finished the first glass and complemented her on the food and service of the bar she started to pour us a second then said with a grin, "ohhh just take the bottles" and left them with us!
I presume they were home brewed as one had no label and the other the label was very worn although the word "Hierbas" could still be read on it. Later I found out Hierbas is from the Baleariac Islands off the east coast of Spain and is considered a digestive to be taken after a meal so it did have some medicinal properties as well as tasting wonderful!
We did return to this Pintxos bar one more time during our Barcelona stay and received the same service and free "digestive" liqueur although with different staff so can only presume it was an accepted part of the experience.
If you find yourself in Barcelona, hungry and thirsty within the Barri Gotic I would love to hear if the tradition is being upheld. Go to their website, here, although only in Spanish there is a map of how to find the place.

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