It’s 1993, and it’s the night of Bill Clinton’s inauguration. You and some pals are strolling, looking for any late night grub other than a horribly smoky, cholesterol and wrinkly senator-filled steakhouse. And then you see it. A simple neon sign. Jaleo.
“Ja-lay-ow? your friend said as he squint into the softly lit red interior. “No, it’s Ha-leh-oh,” you said, leaning on the year of Spanish you studied during your awkward middle school years.
Founder José Andrés was right in realizing that Washington needed a tapas bar in its once-horrendous food scene. When Jaleo opened in the early ‘90s, it was part of the beginning of a wave of tapas bars that have since revolutionized the D.C. meal.
The tapas dish reminds foodies that small servings and variety are key, rather than having a huge portion of one single kind of food á la Cheesecake Factory. Personally, I prefer a slow, well-digested meal to one that lets me model for a maternity photoshoot after the fact.
And who would argue that variety is not a part of healthy living? Options create more interesting meals, preventing the kind of culinary boredom that leads us to overeat in an attempt to satisfy our cravings. It also provides balance, giving our bodies a wider range of nutrients than we otherwise would receive.
Eating tapas is also social. Think about it: small plates, big selection—it’s bonding waiting to happen. Traditionally, dishes are small and served a few at a time in regular intervals. This allows for the lingering and tasting of the various flavors, while facilitating lively discussion.
The Spanish certainly seem to know this secret about enjoying their food. Spain, in its most romanticized sense, is a land of beautiful, happy people. If Woody Allen taught us anything with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it’s that the Spanish are doing it right.
The whole world has seen a rapid spread of tapas restaurants. All of this is on account of their inarguable quality. On the whole, tapas restaurants are committed to providing the diner with a sensory-rich culinary experience, one in which high quality ingredients are used to make the very best traditional and regional dishes. And isn’t it so much more satisfying to have a small amount of something really delicious rather than stuffing yourself with junk? As is always the case, quality beats quantity.
People eat tapas to get nutrients, to process the food better, and to eat quality food. But what about the ability of tapas and other traditional restaurants to spread an appreciation for different aspects of culture from around the world? Just take a stroll down M street and find wholesome American burgers at Good Eats, delicious Thai food at Bangkok Joe’s, and Ethiopian cuisine at Das. Just as burgers, shrimp dumplings, and wot are part of the global cuisine, so too now are tapas. And as we enrich and add to the global cuisine, we are enriched as a global community. Is it not a benefit of globalization that we are able to appreciate the best aspects of every culture that exists in the world?
Looking at Jaleo’s menu, you may want to bring a map of Spain. Each tapas dish is traditional to a specific region, showing aspects of their cultural heritage that would otherwise remain unknown to most people. The Jaleo menu, for instance, includes Manchego cheese from the La Mancha region, Queso Valdeón from León, and Ostras a la Gallega from Galicia. With the increasing standardization and globalization of our food, it is a bright light when we see relatively unknown or unusual food come to public attention. What better way to incorporate all the best elements of our modern, globalized society?
Spain has long had a food-loving culture. “Eat, Sancho my friend,” Cervante’s famous windmill-fighting hero advised his loyal sidekick. “Support life, which is of more consequence to thee than to me, and leave me to die under the pain of my thoughts and pressure of my misfortunes. I was born, Sancho, to live dying, and thou to die eating.”
