Tapas began as a literal cover. The word comes from the Spanish verb tapar, to cover, and this episode traces how a slice of cured ham laid over a glass of wine grew into a dining style known around the world. We go through the competing origin stories: King Alfonso X of Castile’s royal decree requiring snacks with wine, King Alfonso XIII’s windy visit to Cadiz, and the fruit fly theory popularized by Joy of Cooking, which also looks a lot like a clever way to sell more sherry.

From there we look at how innkeepers used pot covers topped with food samples as visual menus for travelers who couldn’t read, and the darker theory that pork tapas served as a loyalty test for conversos during the Spanish Inquisition. We follow the ingredients from the Roman introduction of olive cultivation to the Columbian exchange that brought tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, and end with Valladolid’s World Tapas Competition and small-plate traditions in other cultures.

• Why the word tapa means cover, and the practical problems it first solved
• Royal legends involving King Alfonso X and King Alfonso XIII
• The tavern economics of giving away salty ham and chorizo to sell more drinks
• How New World crops made dishes like patatas bravas possible
• Valladolid’s World Tapas Competition and global equivalents like meze, sakana and cicchetti