House of travel Spain, Portugal, Greece & Turkey 2017 | Page 8

6 TIPS
for your
Mediterrane an
Holiday
From tapas to
pintxos and mezze Music and dance Siesta time
European dining is a social affair.
Devouring what Kiwis would
refer to as shared plates, they
are traditionally known as tapas
and mezze and are designed to
encourage conversation. Second only to eating, Europeans
love to dance! By nature, the locals
are both passionate and energetic,
resulting in gregarious street
parties. Having consumed all that delicious
food, dined with friends, and with
dancing and partying expected
by nightfall, it’s little wonder the
Mediterranean people need a siesta.
Flamenco’s home is Seville, in the
heart of Andalucia, while next
door, in Portugal, Fado music
can be heard wafting through the
narrow lanes of Barrio Alto’s old
town. It mostly tells of heartbreak,
but its melancholic notes are
particularly stirring. Zorba, Greek
belly dancing, can be found in both
Greece and Turkey. This former
folk dance is a mixture of fast and
slow movements, with beguiling
costumes and manoeuvres. In
Greece the locals will encourage
you to partake, whereas in Turkey,
where the style is a little more
elaborate, it’s a dance best left to
the experts! These short power naps originated
in Spain but are also common in
Italy and Greece. They’re often
taken in the early afternoon,
typically after a lengthy lunch. Most
businesses will close for a couple
of hours, with families returning
home to share a full meal together
before taking an afternoon kip. This
is partly due to the scorching mid-
afternoon sun, which can get too
hot for conducive work. By 4pm,
businesses are ready to re-open and
will often stay open well into the
evening, when the nights, although
balmy, are more agreeable.
Tapas is essentially a variety of hot
and cold dishes, best described
as finger foods that are shared
between diners. This could be
while sitting at a sophisticated
restaurant, or more commonly,
while hunched over a bijou bar with
friends. Similarly, pintxos (literally
translates as thorns or spikes) is
so-called because the bite-size foods
are eaten with a cocktail stick; the
shape of which indicates the price,
and when you’re full, you simply
pay by the number of skewers
you’re left with. Mezze, albeit
Turkish, is similar to Spanish tapas,
with plenty of olives, feta, falafel,
hummus and heavenly dips.
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