Tapas Day 2013

by Laura Verrecchia and Alfie Perry-Ward

 

 

Laura: The highlight of the year in Spanish for me has definitely been our Tapas-making afternoon. Three pupils were selected from each Spanish class to take part in the event. We cooked a variety of different traditional Spanish foods such as polvornes (shortbread like biscuits), mini tomato and cheese pastries and a pear and prosciutto salad. They were all delicious and were thoroughly enjoyed by the senior management team who came to try them, and also by the teachers and pupils involved. It was such a great experience, talking to the Headmaster in Spanish was certainly a challenge but great fun. The afternoon also really helped my Spanish skills and I learned lots of new vocabulary which I hope to put into practise when I visit Spain! Thankyou to Mrs Whitaker, Mrs Langtry and Mr Stone for organising such a fun event! 

 

Alfie:  Tuesday, 12th March was an incredibly exciting day for a handful of Year 9 students. Spanish teachers had the difficult task of selecting a few privileged young linguists, myself included, to experience a truly wonderful day of quality Spanish food. Well, we had to make it first.

 

We entered the food and nutrition workplace greeted by the un-mistakable voice of Mrs Whitaker; beside her lay a table of enticing ingredients, a collage of colour and beauty. Ingredients such as chorizo, sundried tomatoes, salad and olives caught the eye of all of us. But our firm desire was tamed by Mrs Whitaker’s insistence of the proper precautions necessary when it comes to health and safety, and rightly so!

We set to work following instructions of typical Spanish Tapas. Joe and I were doing the classic Polenta Gratinada, as others tackled dishes like Empanada and Ensalada con aceitunas. We had an hour or so of preparation before the Senior Management Team and The Spanish Department showed up like wardens to a prison, ready to inspect us like the mean critics they were. We were faced with questions like: ¿Es muy típica en España? and ¿Cómo se llama este plato?

As the satisfied customers left pocketing an extra polenta or two, the Headmaster arrived with a delighted smile ready to dig in himself. As he did, so did we (after much convincing from Señora Langtry). It was the perfect end to a great day of Spanish food and culture.