''Gambas con gabardina'' (shrimp in a trenchcoat) is a popular

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

that started to gain prominence in the 1950s, when it was included in the ''Manual de Cocina'', a cookbook published by the

Sección Femenina The Sección Femenina ("Female Section"; SF) was the women's branch of the Falange political movement in Spain. Founded in July 1934 as part of the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU) of the Falange Española de las JONS (FE de las JONS), an ...

and given to all Spanish housewives after they completed their Social Service, the female equivalent to conscription during the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. It consists of

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

coated in a flour, egg, beer and cornstarch

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

(known in French as à l'Orly) and then

deep fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Normal ...

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

. The tails are left during cooking as the shrimp is eaten by hand. The batter may have a yellow tint due to the use of

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

. The name of the dish comes from the way the batter covers the shrimp, as it does so in the fashion of a

trenchcoat A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches. Originally made from gabardine, ...

. A variant popular in Murcia is known as ''caballitos'' (seahorses), as the peeled shrimp takes the shape of this fish through the use of a toothpick which is then used to eat the snack.

References

{{reflist Deep fried foods Shrimp dishes Spanish cuisine Spanish seafood dishes