OK, I promised it, and even though I'm not a big fan....here it is:

PULPO A FEIRA
Galician-style octopus

Ingredients:

1 octopus
1 bay leaf
Paprika
Olive oil
Salt

Scrub the octopus well in cold water to clean it. Using a pestle, beat the sucker to free any sand. Scrub again until completely clean.

Once dried, the octopus should be placed in the freezer for two or three days to tenderise the meat. After this time, remove from freezer and defrost.

Cook the octopus in boiling water with a bay leaf until tender (check with a fork). The cooking time will depend on the size of it. Once tender, remove from the pan and leave to cool.

Chop the octopus into slices with scissors and season with salt and paprika, finally drizzle with some olive oil.

Boiled potatoes make an ideal accompaniment, and do serve it on a wooden board, if possible…

….and with lovely Alvariño or Ribeiro wine (I've just recently started to favour the latter myself…. )

As my wife sometimes writes her recipe for her friends, I’m puting on here her receta de “Tocino de cielo” and “Leche merengada”. Sorry, in Spanish!!

TOCINO DE CIELO.

Ingredientes :

*250 g de azúcar
*1 y ½ vaso de agua .
*La corteza de un limón pequeño .
*2 cucharadas de agua
*8 yemas .
*1 huevo entero .

Se baña el fondo de una flanera con caramelo líquido (solo cubrirlo , no demasiado ) .

En un cazo se hace un almíbar , con un vaso de agua , los 250 g de azúcar y la corteza del limón . Cuando rompe el hervor se añade el otro medio vaso de agua y se tiene cociendo veinte minutos a fuego medio .

En una ensaladera se ponen las ocho yemas , el huevo entero y las 2 cucharadas de agua fría y se bate todo junto . Cuando el almíbar preparada esté casi fría se va añadiendo poco a poco a esta crema sin dejar de remover . Se vierte en la flanera y se pone, tapada con papel de aluminio , al baño maría encima de la lumbre unos 10 minutos (contando desde que el agua comience a hervir) , después se coloca otros 10 minutos al baño maría dentro del horno y sin el papel de aluminio . Se saca del horno y se deja enfriar dentro del agua hasta que esta se enfríe . Entonces se saca y se vuelca sobre una bandeja .

LECHE MERENGADA .(para aprovechar las claras del tocino de cielo )

· SE cuece un litro de leche con cuatro cucharadas de azúcar , canela en rama y dos trozos de corteza de limón . Cuando comience a hervir se retira del fuego y se espera a que esté templada .
· Se baten cuatro claras de huevo con una cucharada de azúcar hasta formar un merengue .
· Cuando la leche este templada se cuela , volcándola sobre una ensaladera y se le añade el merengue removiendo un poco .
· Se coloca en el congelador hasta que este muy fría .
· Al apartarla se echa en el fondo del vaso leche líquida y sobre esta se pone parte de merengue . Puede añadirse canela molida encima .

Thanks Pim,

I have made pulpo a la gallega 3 times this week and am getting ready for a fourth. If I could only find a nice bottle of Alvariño to accompany it. I did, however, recently find Estrella de Galicia at a local store, so I've been able to wash-down the pulpo with an appropriate beverage.

Salu2
Shawn

I have had great results cooking 'pulpo' in my pressure cooker. A 1-1/2 pounder takes about 40 minutes. When I told my Galician friend who taught me to cook it, he did not re-coil in horror so I guess I took that as having his blessing.

Also, don't forget to 'scare' the octopus by dipping it three times into the boiling water at the start of the process. I am told that this is essential. Some people swear by putting the cork from a wine bottle in with the pulpo to tenderize it.

Hello, I´m newbie here and I would like to know if anyone knows the difference between "Cocido Madrileño" and "Cocido Gallego". I have eaten both, and in my opinion, the "Gallego" is several times better, but as a matter of fact I don´t know the difference in the way do you prepare them, since both seem to have the same ingredients.

Thank you everyone.

One difference is the ingredients used. Here are some of them:

Cocido Madrileño includes lots chickpeas (garbanzos), cabbage, carrots, blood sausage

Cocido Gallego has White beans (judías), and just a handful, grelos (green vegetable typical of Galicia), generally no carrots ot blood sausages.

Both stews have different kinds of meats and chorizos, though there is probably more meat in the Cocido Gallego. Potatoes are abundant too.

The way you eat them is different too:

Cocido Madrileño:
Noodle soup made from the broth
Second course of beans, meats and vegetables
Everyone seems to have their own way of eating the seocnd course. Some chickpeas and meats by themselves, others mix everything together with vegetables. Lots of combinations.

Cocido Gallego:
First the cocido. Meats, veggies, the works. Once again you can choose how you want to mix.
Then the soup. You can have "Caldo limpio" which is just the broth, or regular "caldo" which has grelos and potatoes, etc.

I can't which I prefer. I love them both!

By the way, for all of you "cocido gallego" fans out there, I recommend going to the Feira do Cocido in Lalín (Pontevedra). It's a large town halfway between Orense and Santiago. They celebrate it every year on the Sunday before the weekend of Carnaval. This year I believe it's February 19th.

I could you a more exact recipe for the Cocido Gallego if you want.

Just ret'd from Madrid. We stay on Calle de Barcelona just a few blocks from Sol. We had a kitchen, so we bought groceries, wine, beer, etc. at El Corte Inlges supermarket, on Sol. The food was excellent. We also ate out very often, our favorites was the Chorizo sausage, Jamon Iberica, Potates Bravas, & Garlic Soup. The wines were great to. Of all the major European capitals I've been to, Madrid's food was clearly the best.