Polbo!
So I did eat some octopus, and it was quite good. I didn´t really know I was ordering it, though. The thing that is a little difficult about spain is that since Franco ended the regions have been going back to their original languages. And often times they will just put a menu in the regional language. (This is also a real problem with finding your way around as sometimes your map has street names in spanish and the buildings have street names in basque, catalan, or galacian).
Galacian is a mixture of spanish and portugese so you kind of have to guess at things, sometimes the menus will be in both spanish and portugese but generally not at the best restaurants. So Laurie, a girl I met on the train yesterday, and I spent the day together today and decided to get a menu del dia. It´s a three course menu of a starter, entree, and desert that you can get in most towns in spain. They are generally a great deal as they include a drink (beer, water, or wine) and are usually 10 - 12 €.
Anyhow, on with the story. We were pretty much guessing at the menu as everything was in galacian. I guessed right on my starter (fava beans and spinach) but wrong at my entree. See I thought Polbo was awfully similar to Pollo which is chicken in spanish and the octopus here is supposed to be called pulpa de gallega. But low an behold when my entree landed on my table it was octopus, tentacles and all. I´d been wanting to try it though so I dove in. It was fantastic, as long as I didn´t focus on the suctions or the fact that the four peices I had in front of my had come from one of the 2 1/2 inch diameter tentacles from the octopus I´d seen in the refrigeration case upstairs. But really it was good. And as a midwestern girl who didn´t eat seafood 6 years ago I was quite proud of myself.
In addition to the lunch I attended a portion of the pilgrim mass at the catedral de santiago (the end of the pilgram trail). I did stick my fingers in the cloumn of life and hug the statue of santiago but I neglected to knock my head against the head of maestro mateo. I figure I am smart enough without it ;). (legend is that you knock your head against his to obtain some of his genius.
All in all, I am really enjoying Santiago. I have one more day here in which I plan to shop. The jewelry here is incredible.
Galacian is a mixture of spanish and portugese so you kind of have to guess at things, sometimes the menus will be in both spanish and portugese but generally not at the best restaurants. So Laurie, a girl I met on the train yesterday, and I spent the day together today and decided to get a menu del dia. It´s a three course menu of a starter, entree, and desert that you can get in most towns in spain. They are generally a great deal as they include a drink (beer, water, or wine) and are usually 10 - 12 €.
Anyhow, on with the story. We were pretty much guessing at the menu as everything was in galacian. I guessed right on my starter (fava beans and spinach) but wrong at my entree. See I thought Polbo was awfully similar to Pollo which is chicken in spanish and the octopus here is supposed to be called pulpa de gallega. But low an behold when my entree landed on my table it was octopus, tentacles and all. I´d been wanting to try it though so I dove in. It was fantastic, as long as I didn´t focus on the suctions or the fact that the four peices I had in front of my had come from one of the 2 1/2 inch diameter tentacles from the octopus I´d seen in the refrigeration case upstairs. But really it was good. And as a midwestern girl who didn´t eat seafood 6 years ago I was quite proud of myself.
In addition to the lunch I attended a portion of the pilgrim mass at the catedral de santiago (the end of the pilgram trail). I did stick my fingers in the cloumn of life and hug the statue of santiago but I neglected to knock my head against the head of maestro mateo. I figure I am smart enough without it ;). (legend is that you knock your head against his to obtain some of his genius.
All in all, I am really enjoying Santiago. I have one more day here in which I plan to shop. The jewelry here is incredible.
posted by mnlrs at 12:25 PM
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