The Spanish IV classes at Saint Patrick High School were treated to a special field trip on Tuesday, November 6, when they visited the Café Ba Ba Reeba! Tapas Bar.  Angel Pandorillo, Head Chef at Café Ba Ba Reeba, taught the students how to make paella, and the group feasted on a lunch of tapas.

Pandorillo chose Griffin Lucas, a Saint Patrick senior, as his assistant, and Lucas demonstrated how easy it is to make paella.  Following the paella demonstration, the group was treated to lunch, which consisted of two types of paella and a variety of tapas, including goat cheese baked in tomato sauce, mushrooms stuffed with manchego cheese, and beef skewer with horseradish cream and red onion.

Tapas can be practically anything from a chunk of tuna, cocktail onion and an olive skewered on a long toothpick to meat with sauce served piping hot in a miniature clay dish.  They are served day in and day out in every bar and café in Spain, and they are so much a part of the culture and social scene that the Spanish people invented the verb tapear which means to go and eat tapas!  Tapas keep the Spanish fueled for their long journeys from bar to bar before their mid-day meal and in the evening before dinner.

At most high schools, taking a foreign language can be a boring task, involving memorization and constant repetition.  The World Languages Department at Saint Patrick High School strives to make sure that their students learn more than just how to speak the language.  Through activities such as this field trip to Café Ba Ba Reeba, the students at Saint Patrick are exposed to more than just the Spanish language.  They get to experience some of the customs, traditions, and even the foods that help make up the Spanish culture.