If Spain were a large kitchen, who would be head chef?
Well, that would be a job-sharing opportunity, with the title going to three of the best gastronomic champions in the country. Plaudits would have to be dished out (sorry!) evenly between Catalonia, Galicia and of course the Basque region, between them a knowledge and understanding of Seafood like nowhere else in Spain.
Let’s eat!
Cooking – Catalan style
A little mixed up, but delightfully so. Catalonian roots are both French and Spanish, and it shows in the food. I like to think that everywhere in the world there is an indigenous stew…and Zarzuela is the Catalan offering. Fish, unsurprisingly is the meat of this dish and the French Bouillabaisse is about the closest you will come to it.
Added to chicken and a Romesco sauce, this is full of ingredients and really is a meal in itself.
A mixed platter for two!
A lighter side
I prefer the lighter Suquet, which in Catalan means Suc, or juice. So, juicy fish stew it is! It’s more of a soup with added prawns and mussels, lobster if you’re lucky, surrounded by a soup involving fish stock, saffron and almonds to thicken it.
To drink?
Penedés will provide you with an excellent white to drink with your meal or as an aperitif, served ice cold. Nothing better than a glass of cold Cava to sip along with your harbour-side Suquet, or perhaps you would like to try making it at home? Buy the ingredients locally from the fishermen and have a go back in your holiday rental.
Browse through these holiday homes for rent in Catalonia.
Merluza a la Gallega
Good food guide – Galicia
Take the pilgrims route along the Santiago de Compostela and you will notice that the symbol of St James is a Scallop shell. Everywhere in Spain you will find restaurants with their roots firmly esconsed in Galicia, Gallego is the name of the cooking game!
We could wax lyrical about the bounty from here, the cheese for example is second to none – but the seafood is the winner every time.
What can you expect?
A typical menu might include the following dishes – bib on?
- Empanadas – pies made from flaky pastry stuffed with tiny eels
- Sardines fresh from the grill
- Pulpo Gallega – little octopus stained red with paprika in a piquant sauce
- Santiaguiños – local lobster
- Sea Urchin, simply fried in Galician butter
Crayfish, clams, crab, cheese to follow, this must be Heaven!
A glass of white from the Rias Baixes
To wash it down?
Ribeiro or one of the delicious bottles from the neighbouring Rias Baixes, Albariño from Cambados, or just go for the jugular and try the Orujo, but keep it for last thing at night as a nightcap – it is set alight – queimada – similar to a Zambuca and ensures a good night’s sleep!
After an Orujo or two, you might need to retire to one of these Galician holiday homes for rent!
Seafood Paella - you're in Spain!
Back to Basque
Right, down to the harbour.
What are we buying? Mussels, Crayfish, Eel, a bag of mixed white fish, back to your apartment and throw it all together.
Fry off some celery, carrot and onion, add fish stock and your bounty from the dock, simmer and serve – crusty bread, a zingy salad and a glass or two of cold Rioja…..you’ve just made Basque Ttoro – have another glass as a celebration!
Sizzling Pil Pil
Been to Spain and had Pil Pil? Of course you have – that delicious cazuela set down in front of you sizzling with olive oil hot dried chillies and garlic – a choice of salt cod, or prawns…mmmm.
Those dried Chilli peppers are everywhere, a Spanish village of whitewashed houses is incomplete without colourful strings of Peppers hanging from the terrace. Photo opportunity!
Grouper and Octopus
Dinner gong
What’s on the menú Basque style?
- Txanguerro – spider crab served in the shell, smothered in garlic
- Kokotxax – Hake and clams, with garlic and parsley starring as the sauce
- Angulas – little sweet elvers, pickled or lightly tossed in a pan.
- Artichokes with clams
- Prawn croquetas
Txakoli is the label to ask for when it comes to the wine menu – sparkling, dry and just perfect with those prawns, or clams, or what the heck, have the lot!
Even if you can’t pronounce most of the menu, just point at whatever looks tasty! Or look around, what are the locals eating? The best recommendation!
To feel like a local, take 5 minutes and look through this list of holiday rentals in Basque country.
flickr accreditation to
Vanessa Pike-Russell/Lil’ Dee/csaavedra/Xosé Castro
