When you were a child, you were always told to never play with you food, but as an adult, you call the shots -- and you can now play with your food all you want, and this can be done in a classy and innovative way using fancy tools, according to Spaniards.

In a spin on Spanish culinary design with an added ingredient -- a great sense of humor, Washington D.C. has welcomed the "Tapas: Spanish Design for Food," a traveling exhibit currently at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain.

The exhibit is presented by Acción Cultural Española and the cultural office of the Spanish Embassy and houses inventive and unconventional tools for making, serving and eating food, all crafted and showcased by Spaniards.

"Spain loves to play with its food, not just to eat," said Barcelona-based curator Juli Capella, a Spanish architect and designer whose work can be seen in several of José Andrés's restaurants, according to The Washington Post. "Because we were a poor country ... people celebrate the food as a special party."

Among the wonderfully ironic works in the "Tapas: Spanish Design for Food" exhibit is "a two-pronged spoon/pen that can stir your coffee or sign your tab, a cutting board that funnels crumbs to its companion outdoor bird feeder, and a surrealist cup with the handle inside the vessel."

There is also a contraption that allows you to dip your cookie in a small glass of milk without getting milk on your fingers as well as a clothespin spoon that has "snippets of herbs," so that you can further savor your food as you are eating it.

With an edge and a knack for clever originality and inventiveness, Capella was specifically sought out by the Spanish government to put together an exhibition that reflected the country's compelling culinary landscape throughout history and today. 

The exhibit, which features over 200 works, is divided into three sections: The Kitchen, The Table and The Food. The Kitchen features food prep instruments from Spain's recent past and present, and a 3-D food printer.

"The plate is another example of how the playfulness of Spanish culinary design belies a deeper truth-telling. A set of hanging plastic inflatable Iberico hams, designed by Capella, the curator, are a good joke that turns political when you read the label: "El Jamon de la Crisis," a budget alternative to the pricey meat during times of austerity," The Washington Post adds. 

There is even a antiquated spin on a platter with dozens of metal prongs that resembles "a medieval torture instrument that offers a new way to cook meat from the inside out." There is also a "spritzer top" that screws straight into a piece of citrus, converting a lemon into a spray bottle for its own juice as well as goatskin canteens, which are shaped like your average water bottle.

"The innovation in the last few years in Spain is [tableware] designed by the chef, not a designer," Capella said. "The creativity of the chef is not just in the food, but in the experience. The container and the content, for the first time, are designed together."

Click here to see the images of the exhibit.