Tapas.

"Unlike the jolly, obese American Santa, Saint Nicholas is painfully
thin and dresses not unlike the pope, topping his robes with a tall
hat resembling an embroidered tea cozy. The outfit, I was told, is
a carryover from his former career, when he served as a bishop in
Turkey.

One doesn't want to be too much of a cultural chauvinist, but this
seemed completely wrong to me. For starters, Santa didn't use to
do anything. He's not retired, and, more important, he has
nothing to do with Turkey. The climate's all wrong, and people
wouldn't appreciate him. When asked how he got from Turkey to the
North Pole, Oscar told me with complete conviction that Saint
Nicholas currently resides in Spain, which again is simply not
true. While he could probably live wherever he wanted, Santa chose
the North Pole specifically because it is harsh and isolated. No
one can spy on him, and he doesn't have to worry about people
coming to the door. Anyone can come to the door in Spain, and in
that outfit, he'd most certainly be recognized. On top of that,
aside from a few pleasantries, Santa doesn't speak Spanish. He
knows enough to get by, but he's not fluent, and he certainly
doesn't eat tapas." -- David Sedaris' Six To Eight Black Men

This excessively long quote has nothing to do with what I'm going to tell you about, but I thought of it the other day, and knew that if I were to bring up tapas, David Sedaris should be referenced.

In gearing up for my trip to Spain with the wonderful Miss Ashley, I've been watching "Spain...On The Road Again" -- and while I wouldn't recommend this show to everyone, if you're a foodie who doesn't find Gwyneth Paltrow annoying, add this to your queue. I absolutely am in love with this show. It follows GP, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman (who was recently on Colbert touting his new book that I almost bought at Powells the other day) and the oh so delightful Claudia Bassols (can we say girl crush?) around Spain on a culinary road trip. I bring this up because when the gang was in Barcelona they went to Inopia, and sampled pineapple with lime zest and molasses. I went out, got an impossibly perfect pineapple, which I cut up, put the zest of one lime on and drizzled 3 Tablespoons of molasses over. OH MY GOSH! Try it. Right now. Go get a pineapple - if you don't know how to pick a ripe pineapple, call me and I'll tell you what to look and smell for - and make this and serve it to someone you love.

Oh, and I am so trying to get into Inopia when I'm in Barcelona. ¡Buen provecho!