A traveler friend had told me about these 'bruschetta-style tapas with toothpicks stuck in them' that I just had to try in Spain. She said, "I think they are called peen-chows or pint-oxe or pin-tox, something like that." Huh? Luckily, a Google search for Spanish 'pin-tox' was enough of a clue to find the information I needed for pintxos.
Pintxos (or pinchos) are small snacks typically served in Spanish bars, particularly popular in Basque country. These finger foods have an array of toppings placed on crunchy bread, spiked with a toothpick and displayed buffet style.
We were strolling through the charming beach town of Sitges when I peeked my head into Lizarran, a pintxos bar. Before deciding to enter for my very first pintxos experience, I watched others partake in order to familiarize myself with the system. I didn't want to be the one to screw with the system.
It looked easy enough, even for me; grab a plate, pick the snacks you would like to indulge in and return your barren toothpicks to be counted. You are then charged by the number of fruitless skewers you surrender at the register.
I can do this. I am good at choosing…eating…and even counting. Give me a plate.
We started with four snacks, one sangria and a beer. I could have stopped right then, with a mere 4 toothpicks, but what fun would that be? I decided to turn my Spanish "happy hour" into dinner.
I sensibly grabbed course two of my pintxos dinner, a cheese stuffed pimento pepper. As if adding just one more pintxo would complete my full supper quest.
5 Toothpicks down. Over half-way there.
The third course, which would lead to my 8th toothpick, featured chorizo, cured meat and baby eel.
Of course, with my strange food obsession I couldn't pass up nibbling on a little eel.
Even though eight toothpicks would have indicated the finish line for most people, I went back to pick out a second of my favorite pintxo.
Jam with cheese, pepper with anchovy and chorizo with a padron were all contenders. Actually, if I were being honest, the anchovy one was really not a contestant, it was just a pretty good photo.
In the end the slightly spicy chistorra sausage with charred padron pepper won a second visit to my mouth. Definitely worthy of being toothpick number nine.
Take note of the half eaten baby eel pintxo in the background. Not a fan.
For the record, this experience would have been a ten toothpick venture at the end if the Oreo cookie pintxos weren't sold out by the time I was ready for dessert. Damn.
9 pintxos. 2 cocktails. 1 memorable new adventure (& bucket list check). €17,90.
Have you had pintxos in Spain before? How many toothpicks did you rack up?
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They look great! Pintxos are awesome, and it's crazy how many places just trust people to tell they how many they ate. I'm glad you enjoyed them!
Being that I own a restaurant, I thought the same thing about them just trusting people to redeem all the pintxos toothpicks!
Only nine!! It's so easy to get carried away eating pintxos! Thankfully I didn't count the toothpicks on a pintxos crawl through the bars of San Sebastian where you can find some of the best snacks. Shame the Oreo cookie pintxos had gone – they look decadent!!
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I was bummed about the Oreo cookie pintxos! I adore Oreos
what an excellent way to eat such delicious delights. I've not had the stick version, but I would think it could be like having tapas or hor dourves on sticks.
It is like having a tapas spiked with a tooth pick
Reading this at work and drooling — so much fun!! I had to eat my banana as a consolation prize
A banana is not a great consolation prize, but probably a lot healthier than most pintxos!
Now I have to go on a quest to find the nearest bag of Oreos! Although I am not sure if mine will be half as tasty as the ones in these photos seem to be!
Ha ha! I am a huge fan of Oreos, so I think they are always pretty good, unless they are stale
If you keep making all these great food posts I am going to have to start following your path! Yum!
I can’t help it I have a serious passion for EATING!!
Pinchos were my favorite thing in Spain. I loved all the ones with seafood. I enjoyed just standing around picking a little bit of this and that while having cava. I would have loved the oreo pinchos!
I’m sure I would have loved the Oreo pinchos too
I didn't try these in Spain, although I was in the Madrid area – stayed in a small town called Alcala. We did have some items on toothpicks in a bar in madrid – the items were Chicken Gizzards though. blech!
I had duck gizzards in Seattle. At least they were deep fried
I'm headed to Spain in September for TBEX and then again in November. I'll be having each and every one of the tapas pictured above. I can't wait to eat my way through Spain!
I love Lizarran! Your photos definitely do them justice. They have days where all the pintxos are €1 each, which makes it an even better deal. Yay for pintxos!
Darn, I missed that €1 day! But, I still thought it was a screaming good deal. Yes, YAY to pintxos!
These pintxos looks incredible delicious. I'm so excited to try this. Thanks for sharing! Love it!
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These look so tasty! That Oreo one might be the most amazing looking dessert I've ever seen. So sad that you weren't able to try it!
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I swear I need to go back to Sitges just for that Oreo pintxos!!