That's what the barman/waiter at the cathedral de vino said when we asked him the difference between pinchos and tapas. He boiled it down to pinchos are more for one person, tapas are more for sharing. There was more but who has the time. The reason we asked is because we went there to taste the pincho they had which was a finalist in last year's pincho and tapas competition. This year's competition starts next week and now I have the map of the competitors I have an idea of what I'll be doing in the evenings now Liz is off to Italy.

We'd had a sidra at the Fontan and walked back, meandering past the Feria del Abril, which was a flamenco thing (unfortunately what we saw was like watching ballet schools putting on shows). Liz mentioned that she might like to try the pincho we saw the other day. So we did. It was called Orillas de Cantabria (The Cantabrian seashore). It came on a steel tray, curved like a wave at one end. A spoon rested on the tray and above it, held suspended over the tray by a wire, was a small cup, the size of a sherry glass, filled with rice. The waiter said you should put the spoon in your mouth for a taste of the seashore, and then afterward eat the rice for a taste of the earth. We did as he said and looked at each other as mouths filled with the tang of seaweed and salt air, the spoon held a bit of sea urchin essence, a tiny shred of seaweed and a few grains of whatever they made space dust from, the sweet that popped on your tongue. It was a little strange, as the crystals popped they filled your mouth with the sense of a rockpool. Then the rice, which was almost a risotto, with earthy wild mushrooms.

The waiter didn't tell us too much about their entry for this year, it's got chicken in, and we'll have to come back next week to taste it, but he did show us the previous year's serving style which was a piece of salmon suspended on a wire over the dish suggesting leaping salmon in a waterfall. I have the map here, there are 77 entrants for the competition, which is just in Oviedo. I may be gone some time...
  ¶ 9:54 AM