Shapas? Really?

Sherry is making a comeback, we read. And we’re happy about that. Because the fortified wine from Jerez in southern Spain has been the sleeper among wines for years, entirely undeservedly. Hooray, then, for the rise of the sherry bar and the sherry cocktail. But… Yes, there is a ‘but’: shapas.

Not that we have anything against sherry. We love it! And bring on the tapa, too. We’re fond of that ‘little hat’ (Dutch for tapa). The piece of bread with toppings that originally covered a glass of wine in a tapas bar to protect it from possible (fruit) flies. Especially when the glass contains fortified wine from Jerez in southern Spain known as ‘sherry’. And with its flavour palette ranging from bone-dry to sickly sweet, it makes a happy match with so many different dishes. Not least with the fried fish you are served everywhere in Jerez at your table – with a dollop of alioli – alongside your glass.

Sherry can handle flavours that would quickly close the door for other wines. Olives, garlic, chorizo, salty and/or fried fish? A piece of cake for sherry. From amuse-bouche to dessert, there is always a suitable variety to be found. And it also does a fine job as an aperitif. That’s not the issue.

Housewives’ Misery

Every few years, the news comes through that sherry is making a comeback. This follows the drink’s downfall around the 1980s as a result of housewives’ misery (the bottle of sherry in the kitchen cupboard) and diet stress (the sherry diet, anyone?). Entirely deservedly, sherry is finding its way back to wine lovers – as we read in a press release.

The desire for ‘sherry + tapas = shapas’ disappears in an instant

It doesn’t matter that the truth is a little more complicated and that the real breakthrough is still taking its time. Sherry is on its way. A hopeful sign is the growing number of sherry bars, although for now mainly in the States and England. And the fact that sherry is increasingly turning up as a guest in cocktails.
So far, so good. And the fact that there are parties wanting to give sherry an extra push can only be called commendable. Isn’t it time sherry took a higher place on the culinary agenda?

The Big But

But… Yes, here is the ‘but’. Thanks to marketing inventions such as the term ‘shapas’, we’ve already had our fill of eating and drinking. The desire for ‘sherry + tapas = shapas’ disappears in an instant. Had such rebuses – sh from sherry + apas from tapas – not already had their day after the cronut (croissant-donut)? Can you imagine yourself ordering shapas at the sherry bar? It reminds us a little too much of the happas from a certain snack manufacturer. And surely that can never be the intention of a PR offensive?

To quote Glassex: forget shapas and simply enjoy a glass of sherry with a tapa. And then another one.

Text: Marjan Ippel
Image: Sherry.org