After a few weeks in Spain, Madrone’s crew has found plenty of highlights – beautiful beaches, larger cities and smaller villages, and the striking scenery of the rocky coastline of the Rias Baixas. But one of the best things so far has to be the food.
Galician cuisine shares some similarities with food from the rest of Spain, and there are some regional dishes that are available nearly everywhere. Like almost anywhere in Spain (or anywhere we’ve traveled in the country), it’s possible to get fantastic cured ham or jamon iberico. Carved from a cured leg of pork that comes only from Black Iberian pigs, the jamon iberico is rich, salty, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious. Either served on bread in a sandwich, or bocadillo, or on a platter with local cheese, it’s hard to beat.
Unique to Galicia is pulpo a feira, or “fair-style” octopus. First boiled in a copper cauldron until the texture is just right, the octopus tentacles are then cut into bite-sized chunks, drizzled in olive oil, and dusted with local paprika. It’s absolutely delicious, and it seems to be featured on the menu at nearly every restaurant, bar, tavern, and cafe we’ve visited.
Galicia has a large fishing fleet and shellfish industry, so there’s also nearly always very fresh fish on the menu, along with steaming platters of cockles (berberechos), mussels (mejillones), barnacles (percebes), and scallops (zamburinas). And we’ve become partial to plates of fried local sardines (sardinas) and pilchard (xoubas).
A visit to Galicia is delicous!
