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Washington, DC.- One of the things Americans love the most about Spanish cousins is the tapas concept. Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers or bite-size snacks that accompany your favorite drink of choice, be it wine, beer, spirits or sodas. When you have them as part of your day to day, you don’t miss them; however it is when you do not, that you realize how valuable and unique they are. This, in fact, is something I just realized a month ago, as I was travelling from Madrid through Pamplona, Donostia and Hondarribia on my way back to Barcelona. Tapas, which mean “lid” or “cover” in Spanish, are amazing.
In the northern regions of Spain, like Navarra or the Basque Country, they call them pinchos (or pintxos in Basque), and even though they each would like to have pinchos considered as different to tapas, for a tourist they are not. Whatever you want to call them, they are fabulous, and there is one specific tapa which is my favorite: the so-call pa amb tomàquet, a Catalan name for a traditional way to prepare bread with tomato.
It is the simplest dish in the world, but one of the most terrific: take a slice or a hunk of rustic bread, toast it, and smear it with half a garlic; then rub a cut tomato right onto the toast and finally add olive oil and salt on top. Eat it. That’s it, that simple (you can eat it also accompanied with cheese, ham, tortilla or something similar).
It is not the first time since I arrived to the US, I had to prepare pa amb tomàquet before a barbecue, a dinner, or a gathering with friends. People from all over love it and ask me to prepare it for them time and time again. It is a simple tapa, and an easy way to identify where I come from.
Yes, even though it could seem frivolous trying to explain Catalonia through the pa amb tomàquet, I have discovered it is a good means for introduction to my nation. All of us need symbolic references from nations and cultures. Scotland is famous for its whiskies and men in skirts playing the bagpipes, Ireland is known for its dark beer, Switzerland for its cheese and chocolate, Italy for its pasta, China for its rice, Japan for its sushi, and so on and so forth.
Gustau Alegret 
>A què esperes per muntar un bar de tapes?!?!?!?!?!
>You know Gus, Casa Alcalde's pintxos are amazing!!
>Ole, ole y ole!!!… I love all these "lids" he he… Y como decimos algunos "VIVA EL PAN TUMACA" he he he
>A Mallorca en diem pa amb oli i és quasi tan bo com el pa amb tomàquet. Però, atenció, com totes les coses bones, el pà amb tomàquet està reben atacs intolerables, que no hauríem de permetre. Per exemple, en alguns restaurants o cafeteries no et donen un pà amb tomàquet autèntic (que consisteix en unes llesques de pà fregat amb mig tomàquet madur, per una sola cara de la llesca i amanit amb una mica d'oli i sal -i potser una punteta d'all- al mateix moment de servir-lo.En comptes d'això, hi ha delinqüents gastronòmics que et donen un pà pintat amb un pinzell d'una mena de polpa de tomàquet, que no té res a veure amb el que ha de ser. Estic muntant una campanya de denúncia d'aquest abusos, i un associació de damnificats del pà amb tomàquet bord, del qual aviat en tindreu notìcies. Visca el pà amb tomáquet!(si voleu saber-ne més, no us perdeu una joia bibliogràfica dels anys 80, signada per Leopodo Pomés, que es titulava justament aixì: el pà amb tomàquet)
>You know I absolutely agree with you, and the recent "Tapas Day III" in less than six months in the US looks like a good proof.Let me add that tapas seems to be originated in the south of Spain, in Andalusia, as a mean to cover the wine with a dish and avoid the flies to get in the glasses.And it's so deeply rooted in the Andalusian culture that not only we have tapas, it's the only place in Spain where you can get them in every bar, FOR FREE. Y olé.
>Zeta, I'm from Andalusia and, sadly, that's how it used to be but not really anymore, except in certain places you have to know… 😉
>Hi Ahc,I'm also Andalusian (granaíno) and I can assure you you can find tapas for free all over the place. Let's meet in Granada an see 🙂