Be romanced by Galicia’s food and wine

Filed Under EN

This wine is so special that it has its own festival in Cambados. Events
revolve around the town square, the elegant Praza de Fefiñáns with its grand
16th-century mansion, Pazo de Fefiñanes. Booths celebrate the vineyards of
the Rías Baixas along with tastings, competitions and the solemn swearing in
of Knights of Albariño who are sent off to ensure it is the “rightful ruler
of all wines”.

For another pazo with vineyard attached, head to the nearby town of
Villagarcía de Arousa. Pazo de Rubianes is a palatial mansion set in
stunning formal gardens with one of its key plants the camellia from which
they extract a skin-nourishing oil. They also produce excellent albariño
wine.

Inland, the valleys of Ourense see ribeiro, an old wine favourite coming back
with a vengeance. Casal de Armán is a leader in wine tourism here, offering
tastings, vineyard tours plus a hotel and restaurant that serves up fabulous
food with an eye constantly on a ribeiro wine to marry perfectly with it.

Also look out for the bravely named Crego e Monaguillo (Priest and Altarboy),
and the excellent Quinta do Buble and Pagos del Galir Selección Rosa Rivero.

^{Galicia’s sumptuous wine variety makes visiting a vineyard an

absolute must}

If wine is taken seriously in Galicia, you only have to stroll through a
market to see that the same can be said for food. Check out the cheese
stalls for Ulloa, San Simón and Queso de O Cebreiro. The star, though, is
the hills of Galicia’s distinctive mammary-shaped cheese, Tetilla.

We are also in pie heaven here with Galicia’s version, the empanada,
being another delight upon which to snack. Resembling pasties and stuffed
with seafood, meat, cheese, vegetables or fruit, folks will walk across town
to the bar with the finest version.

The copper vats around the market are boiling octopus which is then snipped on
to a wooden board, dusted with paprika and drizzled with olive oil. The
rivers and estuaries of Galicia deliver up their silvery load for the
markets each day. Try scallops, fat sardines, delicious spider crab, nécora
(velvet swimming crab) lobster or the highly prized percebes. These
are the goose barnacles that folk risk life and limb for.

The Spanish have also managed to put the best of all they grow, fish or hunt
into a can or a jar. The fjord-like Rías Baixas are rich in phytoplankton
which give a special flavour to the molluscs feeding here.

^{New experiences: enjoy a delicious seafood appetiser}

A plate of almejas (clams) simply opened on a hot plate and given a
squirt of lemon juice will see a happy Galician but there is nothing like
the opening of a can for a special occasion.

And it is the method of collection and canning of the clams that produces such
a vastly different product.

Tasty tips:

Cambados is home to an extraordinary group of women who venture out at low
tide, buckets and spades in hand, to discover and deliver in back-breaking
fashion the clams which are cleaned, steamed and then canned with all the
respect of caviar.

Stock up on rodcaught tuna (bonito del norte) or ventresca, the best cut from
the belly, or mejillones en escabeche (plump mussels in a spicy sauce),
berberechos al ajillo (cockles with chopped garlic) or navajas (wiggly razor
clams). Often beautifully labelled, you can deck out your kitchen cupboards
as a fancy deli.

Away from the sea, lacón con grelos is the classic winter warmer. We throw
away our turnip tops but here the greens are boiled with ham from native
Galician pigs and floury local potatoes.

Try veal in a traditional stew (carne ó caldeiro), roast kid (as in baby goat)
is excellent and look out for the churrasco (grilled meat) restaurants.
Galician emigrants took their original barbie recipe with them and made it a
hit all over Latin America. It has come home again, so if you need a break
from shellfish heaven, a true meat feast awaits.

Tour operators who offer holidays to Galicia include:

Ramblers
Holidays

Kirker Holidays

Vintage Travel

Saga

Individual
Holidays

You can share your experiences at www.ineedspain.com,
and follow the conversations at www.facebook.com/SpainInUK
or www.twitter.com/Spain_inUK

Visit the Telegraph’s
Galicia homepage to discover more about this secret corner of Green Spain

Open all references in tabs: [1 – 9]