Birthday Celebrations Tapas Style

For my birthday this year, I decided to go Spanish style - the tapas way! And what a fun theme to play around with! I tried to go as authentic as possible, but added a twist here and there. Although not traditional, I served three courses of tapas, one for starters, the next to serve as a main meal and finally something sweet to finish the night of with.

To make the celebration more special, I purchased Spanish sparkling wine, Cava Brut, as well as a Spanish red wine called Vino Pomal Rioja Crianza. Both bottles were surprisingly smooth on the palate and went extremely well with the mains tapas platter I served. But first things first....

For decorations I kept it simple by printing the menu in the form of the Spanish flag, with the first flag stating the origin of tapas. I also used this as a game - I informed the guests that there will be a quiz, with the answer right in front of their eyes. The quiz, or one question I asked during the evening, was relating to information on one of the printed flags. The prize - a bottle of wine!

For welcome shots, I attempted a shooter call 'The Spanish Flag'. For some reason my concoction did not create the layers to represent the red-yellow-red combination, and in the end it was one big red shooter, however, with the strawberry liqueur it was nice and sweet, and a great way to start the birthday celebrations!

Together with the starter tapas platter I served delicious Sangria, it was surprisingly good, given I'm a wine purist! This starter platter comprised a variety of Spanish (and non-Spanish) snacks. The Spanish snacks I was able to get hold of were olives (Spanish style), Serrano ham, Chorizo wheels, Manchego cheese and cream cheese with Spanish chili. The other snacks were gherkins, almonds (I tried really hard to get Marcona almonds, but a failed attempt at the end of the day), salami (Italian and Swedish), white grapes, tomatoes on the stick, figs, Baguette slices, bread sticks, salted crackers, smoked Dutch cheese, fig jam, smoked red pepper pesto and mashed avo.

As I served the main meal tapas platters, we popped the bubbly and opened the divine Spanish red wine. For the mains, I served five dishes, of which four were authentically Spanish. Although all dishes are traditionally served warm, I served it cold as I prepared everything in advance, and it worked perfectly! The first dish was tortilla de patatas, a traditional Spanish omelet with egg and potato, including onions, garlic, red peppers and chili flakes. This dish is made by frying the potatoes and onions until almost cooked, then adding the red peppers and garlic, and lastly adding the whisked eggs and chili flakes. Once combined, bake in the oven until cooked, then cut into squares.

Next up, the infamous croquetas de jamón serrano, which is Spanish ham (Serrano ham) croquettes served with garlic aioli. Third on the menu was Spanish chicken pintxo, which is chicken skewers, marinated over night in a Spanish marinade, then grilled to perfection. I decided to serve the chicken pieces loose, instead of in skewer form. Firstly to save time, and secondly, it was way easier to take one delicious chicken piece at a time than eating a whole skewer and not having space for the remainder of the delicious food. The chicken pieces was accompanied by a chimichurri sauce.

​The last authentic Spanish dish was patatas bravas, which is basically roasted potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce. Last but not least, roasted cauliflower served with aioli. All of these Spanish dishes were absolutely delicious and it was difficult to decide which dishes were worthy of a second bite, to still leave enough room for the amazing dessert platter!

Finally the non-traditional dessert tapas platter, full of authenticated Spanish dishes. It was so difficult to choose which Spanish desserts to serve, but in the end I decided on four delicious desserts. Since my husband bought me an ice cream machine, I always try and incorporate an ice cream or sorbet into the menu, and this time around I was intrigued to make a Spanish ice cream called helado de canela, which is mainly a cinnamon flavoured ice cream. I so enjoyed making this dish and it had the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, with a bit of a kick! Not suitable for children!

The next big Spanish dessert was the crema catalana, almost like a crème brûlée, only Spanish style. The main flavours of this dessert are citrus and cinnamon, which was surprisinglyl good. A very nice alternative to the traditional crème brûlée. Next was torrijas - Spanish style french toast, by using cinnamon infused milk and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I also served this with honey that every guest could drizzle over as they please. Lastly, what other than churros, served with warm chocolate sauce! This was the perfect way to end the night!

The Invitation