Tapas are thought to have several origins. One of them, which I find very amusing, is that in Andalusia, people ate their meals outside, and served sherry with their meals, whose scent attracted insects. To protect the contents of their glasses, they had the brilliant idea of putting a small lid over them, which looked like a small plate and was called tapa. In restaurants, waiters would come and drop a few olives, a piece of sausage or other appetizing morsel on the tapa, which earned the famous little appetizers their name.
