Pictured: Spanish cooking lessons with Fatima Soriano. Photo by Sarah Emily Miano

“Say we are in Madrid…” Fátima Soriano is mid-sentence when she notices one of her six guests struggling with an eggplant. She guides, without breaking stride. “We share everything, and talk loud; we eat a lot of bread, and drink wine; we have dessert, and then we go”.

Soriano ensures everyone gets acquainted. Then, aprons donned, the cooking lesson begins. In her snug galley kitchen, she curates a charcuterie board while assigning tasks (all hands on deck). Pan tomate first: toasted baguette rubbed with raw garlic and ripe tomato, finished with Spanish EVOO and sal de Ibiza. Every class, tapas change, so long as they’re “authentic and easy to make at home.”

Here comes pulpo, Galician octopus warmed with onion and bay leaf, then sliced and piled over potatoes, doused with olive oil and sweet pimentón. A montadito of Roquefort and Cava over ciabatta bursts with fizzy flavor, demanding seconds. Fried, salted eggplant with sticky honey follows. As everyone nibbles and Rioja flows, Soriano advises: “Don’t expect a chocolate martini. You get wine with steak.”

History threads her stories: Andalusian tavern-keeers once covered wine glasses with bread to keep out flies and dust—tapar, to cover; those makeshift lids became Spain’s exported food craze. Her Tarta de Santiago, a flourless Galician almond cake circa 1577, is a staple here.

The market half of Taste of Spain, in its third year, stocks what Soriano couldn’t find when she moved to Sarasota in 2004. Bottles of Tempranillo line wooden wine racks. Shelves hold jarred conservas and canned seafood: sardines, mussels, scallops. “Even when we have parties, we just open cans,” she says. Charcuterie includes serrano and jamón Ibérico de bellota, acorn-fed, lineage unbroken.

Moorish tiles and woven baskets awaken a hunger for Spain. Soriano offers one last piece of advice for visiting. “Don’t go if you can’t follow it,” she says, referring to late-night meal timing, “or you’ll miss everything.” Luckily, she brings Spain to Gulf Gate—Wednesday nights, at a reasonable 6 pm. Show up hungry.

Taste of Spain Gourmet Market, Tues-Fri 10:30am-5pm, Sat 10:30am-4pm, Tapas Cooking Class Weds, Grab-n-Go Paella Thurs, 26667 Mall Dr, Sarasota.

Pictured: Spanish cooking lessons with Fatima Soriano. Photo by Sarah Emily Miano