Back by popular demand: A FOOD entry
THE 'INTERESTING' STUFF
I ate a few interesting things while on the camino. Octopus (“pulpa”) is real delicacy in the Galicia region, with “pulperrias” in towns throughout the area. We stopped in one very crowded pulperria for lunch one day, and took a seat amongst the locals to sample our own plate o’ octopus.
Served steamed with a red spice drizzled on, it was definitely an odiferous meal. Did I like it? It was edible, pretty spongy. That is, unless you are eating the tail end of an arm. Then it’s crunchy…and not in a good way. I ate about a third of my plate, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy it. Frying it probably would have helped. Or soaking it in butter and garlic, like escargot. I loved escargot when I was in France, and realized then and there that I could eat a shoelace if it was soaked in butter and garlic.
Another delicacy in Spain is pig’s ear. This did not sound good to me, but I HAD to try it and so I did. Unfortunately, I can’t really tell you what it tastes like because I was so overcome with the texture issues. Just as you’d expect from any type of ear, biting into pig’s ear means getting a mushy, fleshy bit and a hard, structural bit (cartilage?) There is no escaping the knowledge of what you are eating. The texture is all ear. I didn’t even swallow the one bite that I took. I’m usually not terribly wimpy about this stuff. (In fact, I actually really enjoyed tucking into guinea pig in Peru). But this was just…wrong! It was all WRONG.
AND THE GOOD STUFF
I did have some absolutely delicious meals while in Galicia, however. I had the WORLD’S BEST omelet at some little refuge/café along the camino. I have no idea what they did to that thing, but I ummmmmmmm’d my way through the entire thing. If this is the difference between farm fresh food and food that’s been hauled in the back of a truck for hundreds of miles…I’m moving to the country. This omelet was UNBELIEVABLE. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to photo-document this meal until I was almost done, so the photo at right is a bit gross. But YUMMMMMM!
I also loved the kebabs in Spain. I had a favorite kebab spot while in Granada, which I ate at very frequently considering the price (cheap!), the atmosphere (with seats on a centuries old plaza) and the delicious food. I also ate kebabs in Madrid, Morocco, and other places, but nothing compared to the kebab shop in Santiago. (Sorry, I forgot the names of these places).
I am seriously tempted to buy a big spit and raise livestock in my backyard so that I can attempt to recreate this delicious meal at home. :)
GOODBYE SPANISH FOOD
In truth, I didn’t love Spanish food. There were some delicious dishes, and tapas bars are a lot of fun (bottom left: tapas bar in Santiago). But it’s very meaty, and that’s not my thing.
As usual, I did enjoy the culinary oddities, and Spain does have plenty of them. Santiago is known for a special type of cheese that they produce locally, and is very openly referred to as breasts because of their shape. In fact, the individual cones are usually topped with little nipples. Seriously! (The one I photographed doesn’t show this, but most do.) Very interesting.
And Santiago, being close to the ocean, is known for its seafood. When you eat in a nicer Santiago restaurant, you often are able to select your dinner from an assortment of live sea creatures (like you do with lobsters in the states). One of the more curious options was these little tube guys—pictured in the bottom right—which were squirming around like little blind worms. Yuck! I didn’t try it—I should have—but I did stare at them through the window for awhile. No idea what they are.
So that’s it for the food entries. In the end, Spanish food was interesting, at times good, but I wouldn’t count it in my top 10 locales for great food.
I ate a few interesting things while on the camino. Octopus (“pulpa”) is real delicacy in the Galicia region, with “pulperrias” in towns throughout the area. We stopped in one very crowded pulperria for lunch one day, and took a seat amongst the locals to sample our own plate o’ octopus.
Served steamed with a red spice drizzled on, it was definitely an odiferous meal. Did I like it? It was edible, pretty spongy. That is, unless you are eating the tail end of an arm. Then it’s crunchy…and not in a good way. I ate about a third of my plate, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy it. Frying it probably would have helped. Or soaking it in butter and garlic, like escargot. I loved escargot when I was in France, and realized then and there that I could eat a shoelace if it was soaked in butter and garlic. Another delicacy in Spain is pig’s ear. This did not sound good to me, but I HAD to try it and so I did. Unfortunately, I can’t really tell you what it tastes like because I was so overcome with the texture issues. Just as you’d expect from any type of ear, biting into pig’s ear means getting a mushy, fleshy bit and a hard, structural bit (cartilage?) There is no escaping the knowledge of what you are eating. The texture is all ear. I didn’t even swallow the one bite that I took. I’m usually not terribly wimpy about this stuff. (In fact, I actually really enjoyed tucking into guinea pig in Peru). But this was just…wrong! It was all WRONG.
AND THE GOOD STUFF
I did have some absolutely delicious meals while in Galicia, however. I had the WORLD’S BEST omelet at some little refuge/café along the camino. I have no idea what they did to that thing, but I ummmmmmmm’d my way through the entire thing. If this is the difference between farm fresh food and food that’s been hauled in the back of a truck for hundreds of miles…I’m moving to the country. This omelet was UNBELIEVABLE. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to photo-document this meal until I was almost done, so the photo at right is a bit gross. But YUMMMMMM!
I also loved the kebabs in Spain. I had a favorite kebab spot while in Granada, which I ate at very frequently considering the price (cheap!), the atmosphere (with seats on a centuries old plaza) and the delicious food. I also ate kebabs in Madrid, Morocco, and other places, but nothing compared to the kebab shop in Santiago. (Sorry, I forgot the names of these places).
I am seriously tempted to buy a big spit and raise livestock in my backyard so that I can attempt to recreate this delicious meal at home. :)
GOODBYE SPANISH FOOD
In truth, I didn’t love Spanish food. There were some delicious dishes, and tapas bars are a lot of fun (bottom left: tapas bar in Santiago). But it’s very meaty, and that’s not my thing.
As usual, I did enjoy the culinary oddities, and Spain does have plenty of them. Santiago is known for a special type of cheese that they produce locally, and is very openly referred to as breasts because of their shape. In fact, the individual cones are usually topped with little nipples. Seriously! (The one I photographed doesn’t show this, but most do.) Very interesting.
And Santiago, being close to the ocean, is known for its seafood. When you eat in a nicer Santiago restaurant, you often are able to select your dinner from an assortment of live sea creatures (like you do with lobsters in the states). One of the more curious options was these little tube guys—pictured in the bottom right—which were squirming around like little blind worms. Yuck! I didn’t try it—I should have—but I did stare at them through the window for awhile. No idea what they are.So that’s it for the food entries. In the end, Spanish food was interesting, at times good, but I wouldn’t count it in my top 10 locales for great food.