Surprised? We already imagine, because it’s normal that it catches your attention let it be in the inland area where we can enjoy the best version of a species that lives in the sea (about 95 kilometers away). But things are like that, and it is not that we are talking precisely about a recent finding, far from it, since This story that we bring you today dates back to the 12th century. There is nothing.
It goes without saying that if you pass through Galicia, it is not that you cannot leave without trying the octopus, it is that you have to do everything possible to make a route that allows you to enjoy the different ways to cook it that exist, but we’ll talk about that another time. Now it’s time to chill the wine, locate the toothpicks and, of course, get the best possible bread. The writer Álvaro Cunqueiro already said it: “the octopus wants to be eaten in the shade in summer, with a good piece of bread to dip on the plate”.
you will turn to dust
Although we can have a great time with the octopus that is embroidered practically throughout Galicia and of the wonders with an autochthonous character that they prepare in places like Bueu (beware of their unmissable octopus omelette), when we talk about octopus a feira his thing is that we move towards the interior to have a great experience.
And this is when names like Aguiño appear, where you cannot fail to visit those markets where you will find spectacular octopus specimens and in whose surroundings there are several places entertaining the staff with this product.
Special mention deserves O Carballiño (Ourense) and Melide (La Coruña), where they say that billing the best octopus in the interior of Galicia. We are talking about two places located 100 and 90 kilometers from the capital of Compostela, respectively. And there what rules is tradition, that is why the octopus is cooked in worn pots, and the pulpeiras, increasingly valued within our gastronomy, are an emblem.
Inland Galicia: Lugo and Ourense (green path guides)
But to discover the reason that leads us to affirm that the best polbo a feira is eaten here, that served exclusively on a wooden plate and it is cut into slices seasoned with coarse salt, paprika and a splash of olive oil (if you accompany it with cooked potato it is Galician octopus), we have to go to the newspaper archive and travel to the 12th century. Specifically, we are going to approach the also from Ourense Monastery of Santa Maria de la Real de Oseira. Do you join the expedition?
Galicia was a fair
As in any good story we need a protagonist, which in this case his name is Diego Arias and he is a soldier who, for his deeds in battle, was decorated with the Marín preserve, where he lived until his wife died. It was then that he decided to take refuge in the Oseira Monastery to become a monk and live there until his time came.
And now is when the second protagonist of the story appears, the octopus. Since this cephalopod became part of the commercial payment that people made from Marín to the monks, who were now the owners of that preserve in Marín that Arias had left them as an inheritance. Keep in mind that at that time it was not uncommon to pay, in addition to money, with some species of the sea in the area. And among all of them, the octopus had the advantage that it was easy to transport and storework that was carried out, thanks to their carts, by the muleteers of the O Carballiño region.
The fact is that, due to the abundance of this product, the monks decided to distribute the goods among the parishioners, which ended up causing something as fishy as the octopus to end up becoming a domestic product. At that time it was the residents of O Carballiño who they were in charge of cleaning and drying the octopus before putting it up for sale. And although they were not aware, they were the forerunners of what is still a tradition in this town of Ourense today.
You can imagine that over time this food acquired an important relevance among the population, which also took advantage of cattle fairs to release the octopuses. And precisely from there comes the name of its famous octopus a feira. However, it was not until 1964 to see the celebration of the first octopus partywhich is when the figure of the pulpeiro (and the pulpeira) is created.
We are talking about a dish that is part of the indoor fair gastronomynot from the coast. As a curiosity, note that today the octopus is still one of the rewards received by those pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago who decide to do the Camino Frances with a stop in Melide. In fact, it is said that one of the requirements that all walkers to Santiago must meet is to savor a plate of octopus in Melide.
And since we are talking about demands, what better time to talk about those wooden dishes that serve as a support for these generous portions of octopus a feira. Well, its use also dates back to the origin of the recipe, since at that time the pulpeiras had to travel from town to town on carts pulled by animals. And let’s say that they weren’t exactly well paved roads, so the safest thing was to use this plate resistant to shocks of all kinds. Over time we would also realize that they are the best because they absorb water and leave only the olive oil on the surface.
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