Food on the Camino

Menestra de Verduras

Now that we've signed up for the easy walking of the last section of the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago with CaminoWays, I can concentrate on the important stuff like food.  I don't expect cutting edge gourmet food on this trip but at least I hope it will be interesting, although by now I know to expect the Menestra de Verduras to be overcooked.

Tapas in Pamplona

I like to know the characteristic dishes of a region so that I can be on the lookout for them.  That's not to say I won't be disappointed, as I was with the suckling pig in Estella, whose crispy skin was like eating plastic.  I do remember that perhaps the most memorable meal was in the village of Uterga, a day's hike from Pamplona.  We stayed at a private hostel (there were no other commercial establishments in town) and the dinner was a delight -- or maybe we were just awfully hungry.

Bodegon Sarria in Pamplona

And of course there were those wonderful tapas at the bars in Pamplona and Logroño.  And those buttery grilled croissants for breakfast along with café con leche every morning that made up for the lack of a big breakfast buffet to get us going.

Tarta de Santiago

Most of the places along our route this time are very small except for León (131,680) and Santiago de Compostela (95,671).  The Camino goes through the remote hills of Galicia which are not very populated or prosperous.  They say many of the Gallegos emigrated to Buenos Aires to escape this hard-scrabble existence (that's how Argentina got their empanadas).  This means that the countryside will be picturesque but there won't be many mercados for me to visit.  If I'm lucky there will be a few supermarkets in the larger towns of Sarria (pop. 13,700), Portomarín (1,690), Palas de Rei (3,656), Melide (7,502), Arzúa (6,315) and A Rúa (4,695).

Shellfish in Santiago

According to Trip Advisor, typical Galician dishes are Pulpo a la Feira (octopus), Salpicon de Mariscos (seafood salad), Caldo Gallego (like Caldo Verde with grelos which is broccoli raab), Empanada Gallega (stuffed with seafood or meat), Queso Tetilla (titty cheese), Tarta de Santiago (St. James Almond Cake), and Albariño white wine.  The town of Melide is also famous for its pulpo even though it is in the hills of Galicia and not on the coast (next time we will have to take the Portuguese coastal camino).  Hopefully we won't be too far away from Padrón (southwest of Santiago) to find their hot peppers on the tapas menus.  CaminoWays also has a list of the 10 Most Delicious Galician Dishes that we can check off as we eat them.

As for wine, there is the white Albariño from the coast and Mencia is a red wine that is grown in eastern Galicia towards Leon.  The region around Rua also produces white wines.  We'll just drink the table wine and hope it is local.  And then there is always cidra...

CaminoWays is supposed to be putting us up in casas rurales for the intermediate easy walking stops and they are known for their "exceptional food".  At the standard hotels I think we get the Pilgrim Menu, which can be of variable quality.  I will let you know how they turn out.