Spritz time in Venice
**PARIS FRANCE) **
The French have a habit of having their apéritif (or l´apéro) before dinner. The most traditional is to ask a glass of wine accompanied by cheese or a piece of charcuterie . There are also those who ask for vermouth, beer or champagne. Depending on the establishment in which it is taken, the accompaniment also tends to vary. The Frenchi Bars à Vins Restaurant (Rue du Nil, 5-6) offers a good craft wine list and delicious homemade charcuterie . At Septime La Cave (Rue Basfroi, 5) they offer small plates of smoked duck and foie gras with smoked eel; while at Da Rosa Rive Droite (Rue de Seine, 62) they serve Spanish tapas where Iberian ham and good charcuterie are never lacking. With the same format, at La Buvette à Camille (Rue Saint-Maur, 67) he prepares some delicious Galician sardines and some olives from Lucca for the aperitif.
Cheese and wine, the perfect marriage!
**VENICE ITALY) **
To speak of the aperitif in Venice is to speak of the Spritz, an orange cocktail with a slightly bitter and aromatic taste. The Venetians take it before lunch and dinner, to whet their appetite. I know made with white wine, sparkling water, campari or aperol (according to what you want sweeter or more bitter) and a slice of orange. To accompany the Spritz, a tramezzini, the Italian version of the English sandwich, carpaccio or a little fish the scota deo . Our favorite places to enjoy it are the Caffe Centrale Venezia (Frezzaria Pool, 1659/B), where they prepare it with a special foam; Osteria Al Timon (Fondamenta Ormesini, 2754) where they are served with crostinis of different flavors (very similar to our tapas); and the Osteria Ai Do Pozzi _(Castello, 2613) _.
Spanish-style crostinis or tapas
**LISBON PORTUGAL) **
In Lisbon there is an appetizer that is served in all restaurants before the main meal is served. It is known as a couvert and is usually a small plate of cheese, pate with bread, cod salad, snails or olives, among many other things. Important: This appetizer IS PAID (even if you don't ask for it). And sometimes you get a scare in the account. It's not home friendliness. If you don't want it, you can set it aside without touching it.
Another type of appetizer is the one that is taken in the wineries of the city, where you can accompany the tastings with petiscos. The Venha Vinho store (Travessa da Bica Grande, 4A) or the restaurant Ha Piteu (Rua da Atalaia 70) are two good places to start. There are also those who dare before eating with a few shots of ginjinha, a cherry liqueur that is very typical of the city and easy to find in the bars of Baixa and Barrio Alto.
The appetizer that always pays (even if you don't ask for it)
**BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA) **
Argentines also take the aperitif before meals out of habit. It is the moment in which they meet with friends and have a drink with a snack. The most typical thing is to order a very cold beer, a wine, a fernet with a cola or even a vermouth. To eat as an appetizer, they have a weakness for bites. They could be described as a dish that is between the Spanish tapas and the Italian antipasti. The traditional ones are prepared with different types of cheese and sausages, such as salami, salami or black pudding, as well as salty sticks, olives, beer peanuts , etc. Although now you can also find more gourmet products.
Picada of field cheese, farm salami, leberwurst and roquefort.
There are many restaurants specializing in this tasty snack. It is essential to try the Garcia's Coffee (Sanabria, 3302), which include more than 25 different ingredients; the Bar de Cao (Avenida Independencia 2400), which offers traditional snacks of various types and sizes along with a delicious homemade beer; The Federal (Carlos Calvo, 599), the bar that in 1864 installed the ritual of picada and vermouth ; or La Poesía (Chile 502), in the San Telmo neighborhood, which in addition to serving minced meat, has varieties with mussels, prawns and fish; and another vegetarian.
The fries that are not missing
**BERLIN GERMANY) **
Whenever a German wants to go for a good aperitif, he will go to a tavern where they serve a good wheat beer. In Berlin, the most famous for these hours is the Berliner Weisse , light and refreshing. It can be taken alone or with a little fruit syrup. To accompany, bars offer saure gurken (strong pickles), rollmops (rolled herring fillets), brathering (fried marinated herring) or soleir (eggs cooked in vinegar) . Our three favorite bars in Berlin for tasting good beers are Heiden Peters (Eisenbahnstr. 42-43) , Newton Bar (Charlottenstraße 57) and Hopfenreich (Sorauer Str. 31) , a bar dedicated to craft beer where they serve potato salad and fish as an aperitif. A curiosity: in some Bavarian bars they accompany the appetizer with a large radish known as Radi.
If we look for the German term that is associated with our aperitif, we would speak of Imbiss . Your name comes the term imbiz which means "to take a bite". However, this word today refers to street food stalls serving currywurst or weisswurst, brezel or frikadellen (meatballs). Although why not? They can also be a perfect snack.
A very German snack
**ATHENS, GREECE) **
Like the Spanish, the Greeks love to have an aperitif. Although they usually change the cane or the glass of wine for a shot of oúzo, the most typical brandy of Greece. This anise-flavored drink helps whet your appetite and is often accompanied by a selection of appetizers called mezze. , which would be the equivalent of Spanish tapas. Olives, sausages, ntakos, taramosalata, marinated anchovies, cheeses such as feta or graviera, dolmadakia (vine leaves stuffed with rice and spices) or fried fish are the most common appetizers. We love the ones served at Abibayio (Herakleidon, 3), Sholarhio (Tripodon, 14), and Mezze Glyfada (Leof. Dimarchou Aggelou Metaxa, Glifada). A note: the Mezze tradition is not only typical of Greece, but also of other Balkan countries such as Cyprus and especially Turkey.
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Greek mezze with dolmadakia