Thursday, April 30, 2015

What is Tapas

Dick Howard Owner of 3 Tapas locations in 

North Carolina and Florida


Tapas Restaurant Fort Myers
Cork and Barrel Fort Myers
The Cork and Barrel Lounge, Table 64 in North Carolina are the first Tapas style Restaurants for Owner Dick Howard and Executive Chef JR. With the success in North Carolina Locations Dick and JR ventured to South West Florida Fort Myers with a new much larger Tapas location. With this help of Chip (Bar Manager) Alicia (General Manager) the Cork and Barrel Fort Myers was born. 

Charcuterie Plate
Poached Pear & Prosciutto
Shrimp & Grits
Stuffed Piquillo Peppers
Stuffed Avocado

What is Tapas?

Tapas Restaurant Fort MyersThe serving of tapas is designed to encourage conversation, because people are not so focused upon eating an entire meal that is set before them. Also, in some countries it is customary for diners to stand and move about while eating tapas. Stop In and Find Out Why We Are One Of Fort Myers top Tapas Restaurants

About Tapas Dining

Tapas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtapas]) are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as chopitos, which are batteredfried baby squid). In select bars in Spain, tapas have evolved into an entire, and sometimes sophisticated, cuisine. In Spain, patrons of tapas can order many different tapas and combine them to make a full meal. In some Central American countries, such snacks are known as bocas. In Mexico, similar dishes are called "botanas."
Tapas Restaurant Fort MyersThe serving of tapas is designed to encourage conversation, because people are not so focused upon eating an entire meal that is set before them. Also, in some countries it is customary for diners to stand and move about while eating tapas

History

Tapas Restaurant Fort Myers
Tapas Bar and Restaurant at Target Plaza Fort Myers
The word "tapas" is derived from the Spanish verb tapar, "to cover".
According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry (see below for more explanations). The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. The tapas eventually became as important as the sherry.
Tapas have evolved through Spanish history by incorporating ingredients and influences from many different cultures and countries. Most of the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Romans, who introduced the olive and irrigationmethods. The invasion of the North African Moors in the 8th century brought almonds, citrus fruits and fragrant spices. The influence of their 700-year presence remains today, especially in Andalusia. The discovery of the New World brought the introduction of tomatoessweet and chili peppersmaize (corn) and potatoes. These were readily accepted and easily grown in Spain's microclimates.
There are many tapas competitions throughout Spain. There is only one National Tapas competition, which is celebrated every year in November. Since 2008, the City of Valladolid and the International School of Culinary Arts have celebrated the International Tapas Competition for Culinary Schools. Various schools from around the world come to Spain annually to compete for the best tapa concept.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Stuffed Avocado



Stuffed Avocado by Cork and Barrel Fort Myers.

This stuffed Avocado is stuffed with Lump Crab tossed, Juilienne Cucumber, Mango Spicy Mayo and Topped with Parmesan Reggiano Cheese. Cork and Barrel Tapas Restaurant in Fort Myers offers some of the best local ingredients in this Tapas style stuffed avocado.

Avocado
Lump Crab
Juilienne Cucumber
Mango
Spice
Mayo
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

 Avocado is Loaded With Heart-Healthy Monounsaturated Fatty Acids. In fact, 77% of the calories in it are from fat, making it one of the fattiest plant foods in existence. But they don't just contain any fat… the majority of the fat in avocado is oleic acid.

What Is Oleic Acid?
Oleic acid, or Omega-9, is a pale yellow, oily liquid with a lard-like odor. It is also a monounsaturated fatty acid. Fatty acids are the main components of food fats, oils and fat deposits in animals and man. Besides the work they do inside the body, monounsaturated fats like oleic acid are less susceptible to spoilage than some other fats, which makes them useful in food preservation.

Oleic Acid Health Benefits
Oleic acid reduces blood pressure, increases fat burning to help with weight loss, protects cells from free radical damage, may prevent type 2 diabetes, prevents ulcerative colitis and generates brain myelin.

Avocado Health Facts:
You might be inclined to call it a vegetable, thanks to its green hue and savory taste, but the avocado is technically a fruit, and even more specifically, a single-seeded berry. A fruit is "the matured ovary of a flower," according to University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources. Fruits consist of a tough outer layer (the skin or rind), a middle layer we typically think of as the flesh of the fruit and a casing around a seed (or seeds). Avocado is further classified as a fleshy as opposed to a dry fruit, and a berry rather than a drupe, which has tough pits or stones, like peaches.

An Avocado Has More Potassium Than A Banana
A single avocado has 975 milligrams of potassium, while a banana, well-known for being loaded with potassium, delivers just half that, with 487 milligrams per large fruit.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Charcuterie Plate

Charcuterie Plate



About:

This no-cook app is perfect when you're pressed for time -- Simply shop, plate, then sit back, relax and enjoy a festive bevvie while your guests graze happily.
The more meat you offer, the more people will eat. For a cocktail party, if you set out only one choice of meat, an ounce per person will suffice. With two or three different meats, plan for two ounces total per person. More than three, three ounces. For a dinner party or a gathering lasting longer than a couple of hours, double these amounts. Pick three meats: a dry-cured meat (e.g. serrano ham, the Spanish equivalent of proscuitto), a cooked sausage (e.g. San Daniele mortadella, a mild, crowd-pleasing Italian-style veal bologna) and a dry-cured sausage (e.g. soppressata).
If you like, add a fourth, non-pork option like bresaola, a beef dry-cured to the point of perfection. This one's definitely a luxury, but well worth it. It was Picasso's favourite, after all.
Pick three cheeses: a soft cheese (e.g. riopelle, a cow's milk cheese, similar to brie, from Quebec), a blue cheese (e.g. Roquefort Papillon Noir, a blue cheese par excellence, which is made by the aristocracy of Roquefort producers from ewe's milk aged in mountain caves) and a hard/sharp cheese (e.g. Picobello, a uniquely nutty, sweet Dutch cheese with a texture similar to Gouda but a more complex taste and longer finish).
If you're going to add a fourth cheese, splurge on a conversation starter like Testun Occelli al Barolo, a raw aromatic sheep's milk cheese from Piedmont in northern Italy. It is covered in wine must from the Barolo grape and aged 18 months.
When laying out your meat and cheese selection, you can serve the meat and cheese together (as we have), or arrange them on two separate platters -- the choice is yours!
Place sweet garnishes (e.g. dried pineapple, apricots, honey) next to the salty cheeses; and pickles, cornichons, olives and other acidic accompaniments next to the meats.
Nuts pair especially well with cheese. A drizzle of honey makes them the perfect partner for salty cheeses, in particular.
Shopping List
a dry-cured meat
a cooked sausage
a dry-cured sausage
a pork alternative (optional)
a soft cheese
a blue cheese
a hard/sharp cheese
a conversation-starter cheese (optional)
fresh or dried figs
dried apricots
almonds or pecans (candied or original)
dried cranberries
honey
fig jam
aged balsamic vinegar
grapes
cornichons
bourbon chicken-liver pate
olives
walnuts
honeycomb
dried pineapple


Charcuterie Plate at Cork and Barrel Ingredients may vary




Arrangement of Various Cured Meats, Cheeses & Garnishes

At Cork and Barrel Fort Myers we offer some of the best local ingredients

Cork and Barrel Tapas Restaurant Fort Myers