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Snacks, tapas and finger food. As a result of eating on our feet at receptions, gallery openings and cocktail dinners, bite-size snacks, shot glass appetizers, spoons, tapas and the whole gamut of finger food are having a moment. Several establishments offer this sort of dish on their menu as a quick and tasty snack, to accompany a pre-dinner drink or even to make up a real meal. EN
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he world of gastronomy is currently going through two completely opposed trends. On the one hand TV programmes have imposed chefs as the yardstick of how things should be done and pop ularised at times very complex cooking techniques. Every housewife (or househusband) now has a siphon and agaragar in the kitchen and speaks of TV chefs Thierry (Marx), Cyril (Lig
nac) and Ghislaine (Arabian) as if they were peers or friends. Haute cuisine, ceremonial meals and Michelinstarred food seem to have a rosy future. Aperitifs and tapas On the other hand, urban and busy lifestyles, shortened meal times and the increase in single households have brought about a new way of eating: in one word, snacking. In practice snacking means anything that doesn’t have to be consumed at the table and that can be eaten out of regular mealtimes or instead of them. The North American influence is clear (burgers and bagels), as is the Asian one (dimsum, bento and kebabs), but there are also Euro pean snacks, such as sand wiches, pizzas, tapas, fish and chips or currywurst. Luxem bourg has not yet seen the rise of food trucks like other coun tries, but many restaurants and
bars offer small plates that can take the place of a meal. The origins of Spanish tapas are disputed and unclear. People speak of an 18th century inn keeper who placed slices of ham or cheese on top of glasses so dust wouldn’t get in, of 19th cen tury labourers who having eaten a snack were able to make it to lunchtime or even of public health measures brought in to stop people from drinking on an empty stomach. Whatever its roots the tapa (which comes from the verb tapar, to put a lid on) is a small portion of cold cuts, cheese or olives that comes with an aperitif. The big Catalan chefs have turned it into a meal in itself by offering choice and increasing the size of the portions. You can now have a whole meal made up of several small dishes, some of them very refined. One of the first Spanish estab lishments in Luxembourg was Rafael near the station. On top of its traditional menu, the res taurant offers a large selection of tapas served in half or full portions: salt cod fritters, octo pus salad, garlic chicken, stuffed peppers, mushrooms and, of course, jamon iberico. People like to share these smaller dishes in large groups so they can try out all the different flavours. The most recent arrival in the sector is Una Mas in the city centre. The owner, a Luxem bourger who is passionate about Spain, had the idea to offer a classic menu of cold tapas (mar inated anchovies, sheep’s milk cheese, hams, gazpacho) and hot tapas (fried calamari, mus sels in tomato sauce, patatas bravas, tortilla) as well as a series of gastronomic tapas made with sophisticated prod ucts such as scallops or foie gras. Another original touch here is
that the cold tapas are served in three sizes: shot glasses (mini portions that accompany a drink), half portions or full por tions. More options mean you can try more products. Across the ocean The Spanish may have invented tapas but the Mexicans don’t lag behind in terms of snacks and finger food. Over there tapas are antijitos and are consumed with a cocktail or aperitif or during meals. At Mamacita you can enjoy a bowl of nachos (corn chips) served with an excellent homemade guacamole or with frijoles (mashed and refried pinto beans served with shredded cheese). Tacos, which are cornflour pancakes, are filled with marinated chicken, guacamole and salad, fried scampi and lime or chopped sweet potato, squash and sheep’s milk cheese. There’s also the more traditional beef and kidney bean tortilla and a slightly more formal sitdown menu of fajitas, chilli, burgers, salads and burritos. Heading north from Mexico, snack food becomes all about burgers. And burgers have liter ally invaded the restaurant scene. At Urban there are classic burgers and a rotating “burger of the week” made with interest ing ingredients such as blue cheese, chilli and vegetables. At Independent Café burgers are served on a magnificent terrace, while Steiler makes an original tuna burger. And there are more than 15 different burgers on offer at Café Bel Air. All these venues are careful not to exclude nonmeat eaters and offer a range of (not always suc cessful) vegetarian burgers too. At Bagels and Burgers, there’s FLYDOSCOPE
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