Bocadillos
"Ethnic food"- I'm not quite sure what that term means, though I think it has something to do with being politically correct- is something you have to think about twice before going to an ethnic restaurant. The ingredients are almost never the same, the chef probably took his cooking course on the internet and, what's worse, we're sold "ethnic" food that has nothing to do with the real thing. This is known as "fusion" food.
As a Spaniard, I must say, what I eat at Spanish restaurants in the U.S. has nothing to do with authentic tapas, the kind you would see in any bar in, say, Madrid or Sevilla. (I shudder when I hear the word tapas tused o promote a restaurant, since it often has little resemblance to the real McCoy). Never mind the fact that the Spanish tapas experience is very different from eating in an American "Spanish" tapas restaurant, which tend to have a very formal feel, and which give you a bill at the end of your meal with lots of zeros at the end.
At one of these kinds of restaurants, my companion and I were served the following: a teeny sliver of anchovy, a serving of octopus, some small potatoes, (small servings are the hallmark of fusion cuisine), slivers of peppers, some cod with garbanzo beans...and some sad, little mushrooms. I may have forgotten something else, but everything in the list above, plus wine, added up to 110 dollars, or the cost of a dozen burritos and Negra Modelos in Taqueria Cancun.
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