• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Homemade tastes of the Camino?

Bradypus

Migratory hermit
Time of past OR future Camino
Too many and too often!
On my first Camino a Spanish pilgrim introduced me to patxaran - the Basque sloe and aniseed liqueur. Though it is very hard to find patxaran here in west Wales there are usually sloes ready for picking this time of year. So I have just made this year's batch. Should be ready by the time I finish last year's vintage. :cool: I was wondering if anyone else discovered anything in the food and drink line during their Caminos which they now make at home to bring back happy memories of time in Spain?


IMG_20221001_113750.jpgIMG_20221002_161816.jpg
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
On my first Camino a Spanish pilgrim introduced me to patxaran - the Basque sloe and aniseed liqueur. Though it is very hard to find patxaran here in west Wales there are usually sloes ready for picking this time of year. So I have just made this year's batch. Should be ready by the time I finish last year's vintage. :cool: I was wondering if anyone else discovered anything in the food and drink line during their Caminos which they now make at home to bring back happy memories of time in Spain?


View attachment 134012View attachment 134011


I hope those sloes have been touched by the frost! 😉

What did you use for the aniseed?

I make Caldo Verde, Basque cheesecake, Tarta de Santiago, various tapas including one of my favourites, half a fig with various cheeses, wrapped in serrano (cooked), an orzo dish with chorizo ‘base’, etc … but nothing as creative and colourful as your liqueur, @Bradypus !

Edit:
I just found this recipe:

 
Last edited:
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I didn't know the name of sloe berries, always thought of them as wild plums, they are a kind of plums, but it's nice to know their actual name. Thank you!
As for the food, I learnt "ensalada mixta" from pilgrim's menu, I'm sure everybody knows it. Orange cut in round slices and cinnamon on it- good for breakfast. Developed the taste for olives, best if stuffed with anchovies.
 
I hope those sloes have been touched by the frost! 😉

What did you use for the aniseed?

There has been a little frost about. But I have some in the freezer just now too waiting to be made into sloe gin. I use star anise - six or seven pods to each bottle of spirit. Easier for me to find and use than the tiny grainy aniseed and with an acceptable flavour.

I think Damsons are the wild plums.
We make a jam with them.

Sloes are part of the plum family but very small and astringent. They are the fruit of the blackthorn bush which is often used for hedging fields. I have a friend who eats them raw but to me it is like chewing antiperspirant :) Damsons are larger and sweeter but also make a good liqueur.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Every now and then I get a hankering for tarta de Santiago. It takes me back.



________________________________________

Pilgrim Heart… For those seeking to connect their faith to walking the Camino, and to the life that follows,
 
Every now and then I get a hankering for tarta de Santiago. It takes me back.



________________________________________

Pilgrim Heart… For those seeking to connect their faith to walking the Camino, and to the life that follows,

Then make one! 😉


See here:


Another great thread from @Bradypus ☺️
Methinks he likes to eat … and drink!
 
Last edited:
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
He added bullaces to this ‘collection’ too …
He does love trees 😉
Bullace are very tasty but sadly very rare in my neck of the woods. Used to find them now and again when I lived in Suffolk. When I moved to Wales 20+ years ago I planted a lot of trees around my garden boundaries. Quite a few were cherry plums - myrobalan. Some produce very bland yellow fruit. The rest are bright red and very sweet. Some years there are none and in others there is a glut. The red ones make an excellent liqueur too. Especially if you infuse the fruit in plum brandy.
 
We planted many trees too … including three Cornus Kousa.
They have fruits which look a bit like raspberries, but a lot firmer. One tree in particular fruits really well and I keep meaning to pick and preserve them. But the birds beat me to it every year! It’s a fairly large tree and there’s no way I could ‘protect’ the fruits from the birds. It’s easy enough to put white net curtains over blueberry bushes but I’d never use bird netting 🥺
One year I’ll get there first!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
PS
I’ve been informed that myrobalan are mirabelles.
Oh yum, my favourites!!!
Are your trees native ones?
I don't think so. They are native to southern Europe but they grow well in our fairly mild damp climate. I do see them occasionally in hedgerows or on roadside verges where they seem to have spread naturally.
 
I was wondering if anyone else discovered anything in the food and drink line during their Caminos which they now make at home to bring back happy memories of time in Spain?
It was on my first Camino that I watched Joan happily dancing around the kitchen preparing his evening meal. The meal included Padron peppers prepared in the traditional way with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. I had never before encountered Padron peppers. Following that experience, I moved to Barcelona where they became a regular feature in my kitchen.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I had never before encountered Padron peppers. Following that experience, I moved to Barcelona where they became a regular feature in my kitchen.
They are a delight and so simple to prepare! @Harington very kindly sent me some of her own seeds a couple of years ago and now they are another excellent seasonal reminder of Galicia. Hoping to save my own seed this year to keep things going!

IMG_20220927_165841.jpg
 
They are a delight and so simple to prepare! @Harington very kindly sent me some of her own seeds a couple of years ago and now they are another excellent seasonal reminder of Galicia. Hoping to save my own seed this year to keep things going!

View attachment 134057
Nice! I too hope to have a go at planting them in my garden. I might also add that it was on my first Camino that I too developed a serious passion for Patxaran. There is a lovely albergue in Artieda on the Catalan Camino where they sell several interesting locally produced types of Patxaran in their bar/restaurant. These include one infused with mint and another personal favourite with chili peppers added to the mix.
 
I have a friend visiting Spain right now and he took a picture of his lunch: Seafood Paella and Cheese Croquettes. Man I want to eat that right now haha.
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!

Re Tartas de Santiago, I do make them! I use the recipe from Milk Street: https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/spanish-almond-cake-tarta-de-santiago -- delicious!



________________________________________

Pilgrim Heart… For those seeking to connect their faith to walking the Camino, and to the life that follows,
 
Sad as it sounds I have been to Spain many times over the years but never ate tortilla until my Camino. Swiftly became my go to carbs lol. Also a thing that was a sort of tuna pie! No idea of its name
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
What did you use for the aniseed?
One of the advantages of star anise over green aniseed in making patxaran is that the pods usually float and are easily separated from the sloes when you think the anise flavour is strong enough. That allows for some fine tuning. I removed the star anise pods a couple of days ago and recycled them with a few other spices to make some anisette. A taste which I always associate with walking through France on hot summer days!

IMG_20221009_114330.jpg
 
I didn't know the name of sloe berries, always thought of them as wild plums, they are a kind of plums, but it's nice to know their actual name. Thank you!
As for the food, I learnt "ensalada mixta" from pilgrim's menu, I'm sure everybody knows it. Orange cut in round slices and cinnamon on it- good for breakfast. Developed the taste for olives, best if stuffed with anchovies.
In Spanish they are called "endrinas" and you'll sometimes see this on the label (espinak in Basque)

1665315531154.png
Once surprised a Spanish engineer with that one while surveying for a motorway in England - she said she thought my Spanish vocabulary was "endearing"
 
Oh so many recipes:

Caldo, marmitako and empanadas. Paella (of course) and, inevitably chocolate caliente con churros but my attempt at fabada was a dismal failure.

My daughter makes a divine burnt Basque cheesecake using this recipe.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Bullace are very tasty but sadly very rare in my neck of the woods. Used to find them now and again when I lived in Suffolk. When I moved to Wales 20+ years ago I planted a lot of trees around my garden boundaries. Quite a few were cherry plums - myrobalan. Some produce very bland yellow fruit. The rest are bright red and very sweet. Some years there are none and in others there is a glut. The red ones make an excellent liqueur too. Especially if you infuse the fruit in plum brandy.
Only a couple of years ago, whilst picking sloes (prunus spinosa - appropriately named) and damsons for my ‘hedgerow gin’ I chanced upon what I first thought were bright-yellow damsons which I later found to be Bullace plums. On checking with the one remaining aged local in my hamlet I found that the colloquial Cumbrian term for my fruit-picking was ‘bullasing’
 
On my first Camino a Spanish pilgrim introduced me to patxaran - the Basque sloe and aniseed liqueur. Though it is very hard to find patxaran here in west Wales there are usually sloes ready for picking this time of year. So I have just made this year's batch. Should be ready by the time I finish last year's vintage. :cool: I was wondering if anyone else discovered anything in the food and drink line during their Caminos which they now make at home to bring back happy memories of time in Spain?


View attachment 134012View attachment 134011
Most frequently tortilla de patatas and paella. Also sometimes bocadillos.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
False quince … ?
… very like quince … just smaller …
They’re not that easy to get much fruit-flesh from, are they?
I gave up with them and just add a few bits to an apple pie.
I’m waiting for some real quinces from our daughter’s bush … 😋
 
This time of year I also make a version of dulce de membrillo. The fruit is not the conventional quince. A very similar tasting large fruit from a Chaenomeles cathayensis bush.
View attachment 135502
Thank you for this information, because I could never work out why quince paste (made here) does not taste the same as dulce de membrillo.
 
False quince … ?
… very like quince … just smaller …
They’re not that easy to get much fruit-flesh from, are they?
You are probably thinking of the more common ornamental Chaenomeles japonica. The C. cathayensis fruit are the size of my fist and weigh about 300g each! I have a C. japonica bush too. Pretty easy to spot the difference :)

IMG_20221024_230344.jpgIMG_20221024_233440.jpg
 
Last edited:
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
Red wine with (latish, after 9am) breakfast.
 
I have occasionally prepared pulpo a la gallega. If I hadn't had the real thing, I'd probably think it was amazing, but as it wasn't as good as the real thing, I gave up. I also prepare a kind of stew with beans, chorizo, greens and various other vegetables. It has a kind of Asturias vibe and in spite of being totally inauthentic, tastes bloody good. There has also been a trend in Spain for goat's cheese with quince jam on slices of baguette. This is also very good and very easy to make. Then, of course, there is the availability of Spanish wine. We live in Sydney but I know where to find Mencia.
 
Only a couple of years ago, whilst picking sloes (prunus spinosa - appropriately named) and damsons for my ‘hedgerow gin’ I chanced upon what I first thought were bright-yellow damsons which I later found to be Bullace plums. On checking with the one remaining aged local in my hamlet I found that the colloquial Cumbrian term for my fruit-picking was ‘bullasing’
Cumbrian? But I thought you lived in Wales! Shurely shome mistake.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Please forgive me if I’m being dim/ missing the joke here, but

@henrythedog lives in Cumbria

@Bradypus lives in Cambria (well, a bit south of it, I suppose).

But I’m a bit cognitively challenged atm … very recent general anaesthetic … marshmallow brain …
My mistake. I got them mixed up. I'll keep quiet now, and lay off the Rioja for a bit.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I have been following this thread in the background, really impressed by everyone's homemade tastes of the Camino! There is a dish I'd really like to try making at home, but I don't know what it is called. Maybe some of the skilled pilgrim-cooks here might know?

It is a Maragato dish that my husband tried at La Peseta restaurant in Astorga, translated into English as "cod with garbanzos in green garlic sauce." I have most of the ingredients available but cannot find recipes that fit. The sauce is very green, whereas most other recipes I've found with cod/bacalao and garbanzos don't have the same vibrant green color. This is what it looked like... Thanks so much for any advice! And Buen Camino.

LaPeseta (1).jpeg
 
I have been following this thread in the background, really impressed by everyone's homemade tastes of the Camino! There is a dish I'd really like to try making at home, but I don't know what it is called. Maybe some of the skilled pilgrim-cooks here might know?

It is a Maragato dish that my husband tried at La Peseta restaurant in Astorga, translated into English as "cod with garbanzos in green garlic sauce." I have most of the ingredients available but cannot find recipes that fit. The sauce is very green, whereas most other recipes I've found with cod/bacalao and garbanzos don't have the same vibrant green color. This is what it looked like... Thanks so much for any advice! And Buen Camino.

View attachment 135577

This:

5369D159-5589-4AB9-AAD2-ED976E9549DC.jpeg

or this:1C89430F-D71E-449D-A14E-9E8563643554.jpeg

??

Sorry about the light.
I can try to PM you later with better photographs.
 
Sad as it sounds I have been to Spain many times over the years but never ate tortilla until my Camino. Swiftly became my go to carbs lol. Also a thing that was a sort of tuna pie! No idea of its name
That would be empanada. Very different to the South American versions which are also delicious.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Oh, nearly forgot - pan con tomate. It took me ages to figure out what they did with the tomato. They grate it, on a cheese grater. Get some baguette bread, olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and big tomatoes. Grate the tomatoes into a bowl and mix in a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Light toast the baguette. Slather it with more olive oil (and wipe a garlic clove over it if you like), then heap the tomato gloop on top. Then eat it. Breakfast of the gods. Serve with café con leche and you'll go like clockwork till lunch time.
 
I have occasionally prepared pulpo a la gallega. If I hadn't had the real thing, I'd probably think it was amazing, but as it wasn't as good as the real thing, I gave up. I also prepare a kind of stew with beans, chorizo, greens and various other vegetables. It has a kind of Asturias vibe and in spite of being totally inauthentic, tastes bloody good. There has also been a trend in Spain for goat's cheese with quince jam on slices of baguette. This is also very good and very easy to make. Then, of course, there is the availability of Spanish wine. We live in Sydney but I know where to find Mencia.
I tried pulpo two or three times before giving up. I may have to learn in Galicia some year.
 
Oh, nearly forgot - pan con tomate. It took me ages to figure out what they did with the tomato. They grate it, on a cheese grater. Get some baguette bread, olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and big tomatoes. Grate the tomatoes into a bowl and mix in a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Light toast the baguette. Slather it with more olive oil (and wipe a garlic clove over it if you like), then heap the tomato gloop on top. Then eat it. Breakfast of the gods. Serve with café con leche and you'll go like clockwork till lunch time.
I've done this a few times. The key is the quality of the ingredients. (Isn't it always.)
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
I've done this a few times. The key is the quality of the ingredients. (Isn't it always.)
David, thanks so much for this! Any luck in duplicating the vegetable soup served so often? It seemed to be either squash, pumpkin or carrot and came either pureed or more rustic, with vegetables.
 
David, thanks so much for this! Any luck in duplicating the vegetable soup served so often? It seemed to be either squash, pumpkin or carrot and came either pureed or more rustic, with vegetables.
That one I haven't tried yet. Some day, I may give Caldo Gallego a go.
 
Our family recipe for tortilla de patatas does de facto come from the Camino, as my mother learned it in Valldoreix in the early 1970s from a shopkeeper in the plaza through which one variant of the Camí Catalàn from Barcelona to Montserrat went through at the time. (different route now, because they built a motorway)

We lived just opposite, and our normal afternoon walks were basically on the Camino.

It is the Catalan variant though, and so made with onions as well, and more black pepper than typical, and lightly grilled in the frying pan after it's cooked.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Galician Soup
 

Attachments

  • 20191114_071914.jpg
    20191114_071914.jpg
    934.5 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:
It is the Catalan variant though, and so made with onions as well, and more black pepper than typical, and lightly grilled in the frying pan after it's cooked.
Always better with addition of onions! Interesting to hear stories if early days on the Cami Catalan.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.

Most read last week in this forum

Could I ask what may be naive question. This will be my 1st Camino and I will be mostly staying in alberques. Could you please explain the bathroom/shower etiquette to me? I have no idea what...
Do i need both these apps? I want to spend as little time my device as possible so if one app will do fine that’s my preference.
I was planning to document my journey through my blog (or Vlog, as I would probably take lots of videos). I was thinking of using my iPhone, and I ordered a foldable keyboard to facilitate typing...
I did the Norte in 2017. This set off a wild ride of changes in life - shifting many things. I am now at a new plateau and it feels like the right time to do Camino #2, this time the...
Hi to all, I'm looking for a really, really good place (an artist) to get a Tattoo in Santiago, it could be before Santiago but I presume in Santiago I will be ready to have my first one. The...
My daughter and I will be on the Portuguese on June and July starting in Lisbon. We will arrive in Porto about the 27th of June. We want to stay for three nights. Can we stay in an albergue for...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Similar threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top