Chapter 857: The Quintessence of Spanish Culture

Chapter 857: The Quintessence of Spanish Culture
Translator: Lan_ Editor: Efydatia
If one didn't have tapas during their visit to Spain, everyone would laugh at them. It would be like coming out of a bank vault with bare hands. Even if they watched the boldest, most unrestrained flamenco dancer, or fought with the most violent bull, that disappointment would still be irreversible.
Tapas were the quintessence of Spanish food. They could be found everywhere, from gorgeous restaurants to small cafés.
There were two completely different stories about them in Spanish legends.
The noblest one was that an ancient Spanish king had bad a big appetite and disliked European dinner, but preferred simple snacks instead. Thus, the royal cook had made him small dishes of different tastes that could stimulate his appetite. The king had been really happy when he'd tried them.
There was also a more realistic legend. Back in the era when carriages had been widely used, tired passengers and cart drivers had had no time to sit down and enjoy a good meal. They had usually stood at the entrance of restaurants or by their carts and eaten dry loaves of bread in a hurry. Thus, some smart restaurant owners had divided larger portions of food into smaller ones and sold them to those people so they could save time. That was the origin of tapas.
The legends always talked about their good taste though.
Qin Guan entered a restaurant by following his foodie intuition. A crowded restaurant had to be a good one.
There were 50 different kinds of food sitting on the tall tables with toothpicks on them. They seemed to be crying, "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" They looked lovely.
Qin Guan walked over to them with a giant white plate in his hands. Tiny Vienna sausages were wrapped in Spanish rye bread, creating rolls that were smaller than ping-pong balls.
The half-boiled eggs with orange caviar looked like tiny suns. There were several small fried chicken legs behind them. White smooth fish was stuffed into red bell peppers. There were also various barbecued vegetables. One could even ask the cook to grill some pineapples and cucumbers.
If someone thought they were too rich and elegant for these plain ingredients though, the seafood would satisfy them.
King crab meat had been peeled off and mounted on plates, and light, delicious truffles were waiting in large bowls. There was also tuna that had been caught that very morning in the bay. The cook had cleaned it and cut it into pieces.
One could take anything they liked and enjoy their food slowly. There was a label on each toothpick, so the waiter would look at it before the customer paid.
One toothpick cost one to two euros, and about five dishes could usually satisfy a girl. Of course, this wasn't enough for Qin Guan. When he had finally dined and wined to satiety, it took the waiter a full five minutes to count his toothpicks. Wang Liying wished the floor would open up and swallow her.
Qin Guan had eaten enough food for three adults. The waiter, who was not that good at math, felt completely lost as he counted the toothpicks.
53, 52, 53…
"You have 53 toothpicks, sir. That's... 53 euros. Thank you."
That sounds strange.
Wang paid the bill quickly and pulled Qin Guan away from the tables. They left the Spanish restaurant without hesitation. If they spent any more time there, Qin Guan would try everything and die from food overdose before the film festival even opened.
That was why he needed a reliable agent. Xue Wanyi had found the perfect successor.
In July, the sunshine looked like splendid gold in Spain. The White Shell Bay was really beautiful. Although the Saint Sebastian Festival was not as influential as the other three famous European film festivals, it had a history of more than 50 years, so it was still very important among the small European film circle.
It also showed a preference to Chinese films. In 1994, Ning Jing had won the Best Actress Award there. That was why Xu Jinglei was so confident about her work.