I love eating octopus (pulpo) in Spain. The canned octopus in olive oil here in the States is excellent, I guess because it comes from Spain. So my question is, why when I ordered octopus tapa at Jaleo (a trendy tapas restaurant in D.C.) was it so tough I had to send it back? Do you all think the octopus caught in Spanish waters is a different type than the ones cooked in the U.S.?

I too LOVE octopus/pulpo in Spain. My favorite place is a small local place (I'm usually the ONLY foreigner/tourist in there at any given time) in Madrid called Mesón A Ria de Noia. It's a gallego (i.e. from Galicia) bar/restaurant which makes THE BEST "Pulpo a la Gallega" I've ever had.

Location: Travel down the hill on Calle de Segovia (it goes under El Aqueducto) which passes next to the Royal Palace, cross the Río Manzanares, and just on the other side of the first glorieta and to the left. The entrance faces the river. It's great. Try it when you want to go for a walk this spring and have a taste for GOOD puplo in Madrid.

Address: Paseo de Extremadura, 1
Tel. 91 526 33 22

Prices (December 28, 2001):
Pulpo a la Gallega: 1,200 pesetas

Saludos, MadridMan

[ 02-24-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

When preparing octopus there is always the risk of "meat hardening" when boiling it. To avoid that,the traditional method was to beat it against a hard surface a certain number of times.

Right now the trick has evolved into the following: put the octopus in a tight plastic bag and put it into fridge (to at least -15ºC).It's enough to soften the meat and it will be ready for cooking.

Poor octopus!!

The pulpo a la gallega at our restaurant is tender and very tasty, a favorite among our Spanish patrons. I never liked octopus until I tried it in Spain. True, the way in which the Spaniards prepare it is wonderful.
And as a previous poster stated: It's all in the way you prepare it to cook!
Yummy, I think I will have some for din-din tonight.

Last week I had the amazing experience of spending Carnaval in Galicia with 2 natives. On Wednesday we went to the town of Viana do Bolo for the pulpo feria. After my friends sampled all of the octopus offered by the Gypsy stands outside, we returned to the one with the best, where we had two HUGE plates of octopus along with potatoes, great bread and so-so red wine. It was soaked in olive oil and plenty of sea salt and pimenton. We took it into the adjacent bar where we ate at long, paper covered tables along side the local families.

They had the most interesting cooking method, where they went from a large copper pot into a smaller cooling pot. Then they would cut it on to the plate with a scissors. The local rule of thumb is to boil it along with a cork in the water. They say it makes it more tender.

That night we went to the Fiesta de Sardinas in A Veiga...

[ 02-24-2002: Message edited by: Mongo ]

You guys wanna hear a funny story? he he. When I was living in the Canary islands, I was walking with a friend of mine along the coast. There was nobody around and we came across a tidepool abot 6 feetwide, 10 or so feet long and about 5 feet deep. Well, in the tidepool we saw a poor little ocopus about the size of a basketball, plus the tentacles. My friend's mother makes a very good pulpo.(exactly how she makes it, I'm not sure) We did not have swim suits with us, and I did not want to ruin my clothes, but I DID want that pulpo. So I got bucka, and found a long wooden stick. This was my first Pulpo hunting experience, so I did not know what to expect. I jumped in the water head first, well, ok, not head first,I actually inched my way in because Ookie(that's what we named the octopus)was staring me down pretty hard. So anyway, I got in the water(sort of) and proceeded to try to spear ookie. Well, to make a really long story not so long, I fell in completely and lost sight of ookie, they move around so fast, and I swear I felt him on my feet, But i started screaming and jumped out of the water so fast! My buddy was rolling with laughter. That night for dinner, what did we have? Tortilla.Ookie survived my ill attempts, didn't even scratch him.

:p Ohh... man! You guys are KILLING ME! A PULPO FESTIVAL IN GALICIA??!?!! ARGH!!!! How did I MISS that one!? I'm going to Galicia alright, but not for another MONTH! ARGH!!!!! "Ookie" a la Gallega .... Mmmmmm.. :p (drooling)