Food for Thought Along the Way

[Arn]

Well you asked for it and here it is!

I know of the fantastic libations and ceremonies of the vine I can expect on My Camino...now what superior epicurean delights await me and my fellow peregrinos!

Is there a bread...I must try...a soup I must taste. Can there be a tapas bar that's rated the best.

Come on folks...give it up for the Class of 2008.

Oh and a special request...What about Chocolate. Where or what is the best chocolate desert or other concoction we may find?

Buen my taste buds are a quivering Camino

Arn

 

[Deirdre]

Well, I'll start!

One of my very favourites is gambas al ajillo... shrimp in garlic oil. the tiny shrimp are flame broiled in garlic and olive oil... served hot, hot, with bread for dipping.... with a glass of rioja (sorry, wrong thread, but they can't exactly be separated!) Anyone who is spending a little time in Madrid, must go to El Abuelo in the barrio Santa Ana... a tourist spot for sure but well enjoyed by the locals as well.... gambitas to die for!

Comida muy buena en el Camino,

 

[MermaidLilli]

Arn, this is going to be a popular thread, for the Spanish food is glorious.

-Pimientos de Padron (small green peppers fried in olive oil, salted, and served as tapas. I wonder if I can bring back some seeds and grow them here. hmmmm
-Pulpo a la Gallega - Octopus so tender.... sprinkled with olive oil and paprika (pimenton)
-Chocolate con Churros -especially in cold weather... chocolate so thick that you can stand your spoon in it.... but dip the churro in it instead.
So there you have a great meal... appetizer, main dish and dessert.
And this is just the beginning.
Yummmm
Lillian

 

[sillydoll]

The rastafarian hospitalero/chef at Arroya San Bol made us the most amazing dinner including a Risotto and Pimientos de Padron. He warned us that one of the peppers might be very hot - but he couldn't tell which one. Apparently, women in the markets know how to check for the hot ones but he didn't. A French pilgrim got the hot one and had to grab his glass of vino to releive the burn!

This is a mural on one of the walls around San Bol's refuge. I think Arn and VT are the guys in white. (And, if you look carefully you can see me doing my pub trick in the background!)

 

[MermaidLilli]

That's right, I forgot that about those peppers. The saying goes:
"Los pimientos de Padron, algunos pican, algunos no"
Spicy,
Lillian

 

[spursfan]

Since most of the suggestions are region-specific and gourmet, let me just redress the balance with the basic rations that I walked on each-and-every day: a bar of chocolate or two (typically Nestle but can't be too choosy), fruit such as apples, bread and a mixture of water and the orange drink made by Coca-Cola. Crucially available almost everywhere and little room for choice (it was quite disorientating walking round the big supermarket in Leon).

 

[William Marques]

Do not forget the chocolate museum in Astorga.

The pulpo in Galicia tastes of nothing much except paprika. The calamares throughout Spain are better to me.

Jamon - the best you can get is worth paying for. The VdlP passes close by Guijuelo just before Salamanca. A ham town which smells of jamon as you walk in and as you sleep at night. Not just ham they have the best pork in Guijuelo I have ever tasted.

You can get a great chocolate in the Hostal Reyes Catolicos. Sitting on the terrace ignoring the snotty waiters and having a chocolate and looking at the cathedral is a great view.

 

[vinotinto]

What about Chocolate

My young German friend Robert always had a bar of fine chocolate on his person. You can pick them up at supermercados all along the Way. There are also various other chocolate treats, such as a small pastry/chocolate (and I think marshmellow) sandwich that I liked.

A couple of dietary musings:

I actually had pizza a couple of times - once at the Pizza Hut in Burgos, and another time at a hilltop city later on in the Camino. Nice! Too bad they don't have root beer, because that's my favorite w/pizza. Had to settle for Pepsi or vino.

Can't forget the underground restaurant outside of Leon, where I actually got to cook part of the meal for everyone (seasoned meat) on a grill at the table. It was one of the only times I had a rose vino, but it was excellent.

The best meal I had was in Santiago, at the Casa Camilo. It was a massive seafood dinner: razor clams, small clams (mussels?), small fish (trout? smelt?), and a huge platter of whole crabs, crab legs, shrimp, and so on, capped off with white vino - ahhhh.

The Cafe/Restaurante Casa Manolo in Santiago is, according to my Spanish pilgrim friends, a place where pilgrims eat after the Camino. I had a nice lunch there with them.

The best breakfast I had was at the Parador, the 5-star hotel right next to the main Cathedral in Santiago. The buffet was superb. I stayed there one night, because after all that pain, I figured I deserved it (hehe).

The O Beiro Vinoteca in Santiago is a good place for vino and vino-related food.

There's a cafe just up the street from the pilgrim office in Santiago where I had that Galician witch's brew - the flaming concoction made in a cauldron. That's where my Spanish friends and I toasted each other and said our farewells before leaving Santiago.

There are lots of vino stores in Logrono, along with two streets that are famous there for cuisine. If you swing by the Planeta Agua store for supplies, they should be able to send you in the right direction.

I always had ice cream/gelato cones in the bigger cities. Yummy!

For some reason, I got hooked on sardines and bread while on the Way, along with nectarines. Easy to find and carry, I suppose.

Coffee is awesome over there - almost always made from a huge espresso-type machine. Not much in the way of filters, grounds, and drip along the Way.

In one small town where everything else is odd, the bar served the best pilgrim meal I had on the Way - fresh veggies in the ensalada, and the pork chops were to die for. Cheap price as well... :arrow:

 

[Arn]

Smackin' ma Lips already!

Gosh, mussels, calamari, octopus, crap, shrimp,pork and CHOCOLATE!

But...what no lamb?

There's got to be a rack of lamb somewhere!

VT wasn't scrapping pigeon crap off his boots...that was sheep sh*t!

Buen watch ur step Camino,
Arn

 

[Arn]

oops...that's crab...not crap.

Well, it's cold here in VA and with a fine wood fire going and, since I've not been on the Camino yet...I thought that after reading the foods I've got to look forward to I'd make some right here that I will savor on the Way.

How about homemade garlic soup...yep...got a mug full right now and a semi fine vino with cheese and crackers to boot.

The garlic soup is sssssoooooooo goooood! Can't wait to try the Camino variety.

Got two chocolate pieces for desert.

Buen Camino my friends,

Arn

 

[sillydoll]

When you get to Santiago - and your Spanish has improved - you can buy the recipe book called:
"Gastronomia en el Camino de Santiago" by María Zarzalejos

Here is an online translation of a review of the book:

The book is an invitation to walk the Camino de Santiago from the range of feelings that exudes this mythical route. The author, Mary Zarzalejos, puts to the test the five senses of the traveler a piece of real luxury that addresses the approach to routing from multiple viewpoints.
The book tackles the Camino de Santiago under the different angles that have helped to forge the legend of this universal route.
The volume deals with the history and the works that the fate of peoples have left strewn along this path, while describing the many varieties of culinary specialties of each land by the passing pilgrims. It has a section on traditional recipes and provides a brief overview of wines, Appellation of Origin of each of the lands of the Camino de Santiago. An annex on traditional products and other literature complete the work.

Introduction historic
Aragón
Navarre
La Rioja
Burgos
Palencia
León
Lugo
A Coruña
Epilogue
Traditional Products
Bibliography

 

[vinotinto]

VT are the guys in white

Either that, or I'm passed out on the floor behind the table... :wink:

The garlic soup is sssssoooooooo goooood! Can't wait to try the Camino variety.

You'll be the belle of the albergue after quaffing that stuff, especially during communal discussions. I'd hate to be the pilgrim in the bunk above you...(hehe).

 

[Arn]

VT wrote:I'd hate to be the pilgrim in the bunk above you..

My Brother...after a day of hiking along the Way and a night of tipping a few as we eat fantastic meals (you remember the line: where every day is a holiday and every meal a banquet), do you really think you'd be able to climb up into the top rack.

Any way...VT if we were together along the Way....only God knows what may be the result.

Semper Fi
Arn

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Lamb? You want lamb?
You´re not going to find it on a pilgrim menu, because it´s expensive... at least by pilgrim standards. But if you feel like lashing out on a big treat, go to the El Rueda restaurant on the Plaza Mayor in Sahagún, where they specialize in Lechazo... leg of lamb roasted in a clay pot, in true Castilla-Leon style.

We´re not talking big, rangy practically-mutton American lamb, we´re talking week-old, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth lamb, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, with roasted red peppers and fried potatoes on the side. A fine wine list to make it all sing together. It´s about 20 Euros per person, and the place doesn´t open til way late so pilgs usually miss out... but it is SO worth it, if you are not staying at a place with a curfew.

 

[Arn]

Rebekah wrote: Lamb? You want lamb?

So now you think I studder!

yes, I said lamb and by then price won't matter. If I have to find a non-curfew location just to savor some quality lamb...I'm there!

So...Rebekah...do we add this to the places you're willing to guide me to?

Salud,
Arn

 

[Rebekah Scott]

arn
If you stay long enough in the neighborhood to eat all the meat promised, I´ll be sure to take you there. Long as you help pick up the tabs!
We´re always ready to help out a hungry pilg. Or even a thirsty one!

Reb
(gin and tonic always on hand, for health reasons.)

 

[crackmrmac]

"El Rueda restaurant on the Plaza Mayor in Sahagún, where they specialize in Lechazo... leg of lamb roasted in a clay pot, in true Castilla-Leon style."

Will keep this in mind, Rebekah.

Brian