Spanish tapas in Orgiva Spain

Today, while eating tapas at a Cuban restaurant, I was reminded of the tapas I had in Orgiva Spain a few years ago. While touring near Costa del Sol, along the Mediterranean coast, my husband, Steve, and I along with our German friends, Hans and Bea Scheuermann, wanted to find "an authentic" tapas restaurant. We found the perfect spot and excellent tapas in Orgiva!

Our first challenge in our quest was locating a place for tapas. None of us speak Spanish and there were virtually no English speakers in the town. I called to some teenage girls, asking for their help. They understood my question and pointed me in the direction of a tapas bar. Once in the bar, we discovered that there were no printed menus. ..neither Spanish nor English. In Spain different bars are known for the tapas they serve. Patrons know the specialties of each bar. But, how were we going to order?

While we collected our thoughts, we ordered cafe au lait. The waitress understood that, when accompanied with hand signals!

While sipping the coffee, we came up with a terrific solution. Whenever food was delivered to the bar and about to be delivered to a guest, I told the bar tender/waiter "una par favore" and pointed to our table. This worked very well. Sometimes we could only guess what we were eating, but it was always tasty.

Sometimes guests at the bar got into the act by telling me, through gestures, that a dish was very good and I should order more for our table. Great fun! The picture was taken of some of the tapas. They were all excellent - most were very simple and often surprising.

One of our favorites and one that we saw many families eating was simply couscous served with small pieces of meats. I'll give you an easy, slightly Americanized recipe in my next blog. In the meantime, buy some couscous and chicken broth along with green peas or other vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and/or corn. Small sausages, too, unless you follow a vegetarian diet.

Never have people been more friendly and helpful. Other patrons even allowed me to take pictures of their food!

With no menu, we did not have a clue as to the cost of the tab we would have for lunch and cafe au lait. The bartender gave me the news, but I couldn't understand. So, I just gave him 20 Euros and he gave me 7 Euros change. This was, by far, our least expensive meal in all of Spain and definitely one of our best and most authentic.