History and origin
The toasted slice that sums up the spirit of Almería's bars
The cherigan starts with a very particular piece of bread: a thin slice of barra, cut lengthwise on the bias and toasted. A layer of alioli brings the creaminess; then come the tuna, cooked ham or anchovies of the earliest known versions. The right balance owes less to abundance than to the contrast between crunchy bread, garlicky sauce and salty topping.
Its best-supported history leads to the Parrilla Colón, the bar attached to Almería's Café Colón. According to the testimony of a former employee collected by researcher Antonio Zapata, the establishment opened in the early 1950s. Its manager, González, was nicknamed "el Sheriff"; the sobriquet became "cheri", then "chérica", one of the many spellings still seen on chalkboards. This is oral memory published by the Institute of Almerian Studies, and it should be told as such.
The tapa long ago moved beyond its first formula: some bars add cheese, egg, cured meats or smoked fish, and the spellings keep multiplying. That flexibility is part of its culture: a cherigan is recognised by its toasted bread and its alioli more than by any single topping. The nickname, though, does smell of westerns — the Tabernas desert is only a step away for anyone tempted to follow that trail — even if no document links the tapa to the film shoots.
