3 stars

Percebes

5:00 AM

Percebes: ✩ ✩ ✩

While initially quite frightening, percebes, or goose barnacles in English, are actually quite a tasty snack or side dish. Harvesting percebes is a very dangerous and tough job for only the fearless, therefore making the goose barnacles quite expensive and more of a treat for special occasions. They're actually quite salty, which I don't love, but overall I think theyŕe pretty good. They are cooked very simply and not usually served with any sauce here in Galicia. The hardest part, in my opinion, would be eating them. The prehistoric-looking part isn't eaten and is a hard shell. The part that resembles "the stem" of the goose barnacles has the edible part inside. To reach the actual food, you have to do a little work, as with almost all seafood here in Galicia. The way I learned to do it, is by using your nail to puncture a small cut towards the top of the point part of the percebes. Then, wiggle the stem a little and the outer shell of the edible part should just slip off. Then. you bite off the meat and leave the top part. There is a part that you can eat inside of the sharp looking head of the percebe, but many people here, including me, don't like it because of the texture. I also really hate the way that part of the percebe looks, so I steer clear of that part.





 

4 stars

Pulpo a la Feira

7:32 AM


Pulpo a la Feira: ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

This is a very delicious dish with quite an interesting texture. I personally believe that it needs more flavor diversity, but I do enjoy the typical "sauce" combination of olive oil, paprika, and salt. Pulpo a la Feira is one of my favorite dishes here in Galicia, but I don't enjoy it when the octopus is very tough and hard to chew, or when the octopus is too soft and has a somewhat mushy feel. While it does have a unique and interesting texture, if not cooked the right way, the octopus can become too tough and not very appetizing. While definitely a bit terrifying at first, it is definitely worth a try if you visit the Galicia area. Face your fears and just take a bite! In many restaurants, the octopus is cut up smaller and appears much less intimidating. A not so fun tidbit that I've heard is that to ensure that the octopus does not become too touch, you must slam the octopus down on it's head until it dies. That is such a sad story and it almost makes me not ever want to eat octopus again, but I've also heard that putting in the octopus in the freezer can also result in an appealing texture. It sounds a little bit better than the more brutal death. A poor fate for the octopus, but I really love Pulpo a la Feira, as well as many other Galician people.