Pintxo (pron. pin-cho) means thorn or spike and is a reference to the very first style of Spanish tapas. There are plenty of stories about how tapas originated. The one thing we know for sure is that it all originated in Spain ...

In the 17th century there lived a King, Alfonso the Wise. One morning, Alfonso was feeling particularly unwell (after a night on the sherry), and the Royal Doctor was called to his bedside. Upon examination, the Doctor advised King Alfonso, "You must rest and recover. When you next entertain, you must consume food like bread, ham or cheese with your wine." The Doctor assured him that if he followed his advice it would prevent the terrible ‘illness’ from occurring again.

The King followed his Doctors orders and placed a piece of bread on top of his wine glass (this is where the word ‘tapas’ came from - tapa means ‘cover’ or ‘lid’) and he ate as he sipped his wine. Feeling better after following the doctor’s orders, the Wise King declared, "From this day forward, no wine is to be served in any of the taverns in the land unless it is accompanied by something to eat."

The owners of the taverns complied with the Kings orders and began offering bread with different toppings. To keep it all in place, they would secure it with a thorn or spike (called a ‘pintxo’ – pin-cho).

The people of Spain came to enjoy the concept of eating these small bites with their wine and soon began serving pintxos and other small dishes (known as tapas) to their customers.

... And so began the tradition of eating tapas. And it all started with the humble PINTXO!