Hi!
I was in Mondoñedo (province of Lugo, Galicia) two weeks ago, during the Feira de San Lucas.
Feira (feria in Spanish) means fair, market and/or festival.
In the feiras there are stands where they cook octopus. The best octopus must be cooked in a copper pot. They boil hundreds of octopus in the same water during a day. The water gets then a special taste. Then they cut the pulpo with scissors and serve it in a wood plate with mild pepper and olive oil.

the pot
the cook
cutting the pulpo
Mondoñedo Cathedral (XIII century)

Oh, man. I kind of wish you would've alerted us of this upcoming (now past) Feira. I might have made some effort to attend it even though it's in far-away Galicia!

At first glance at the photos you posted, I have to admit, it looks a little disgusting to me. But a moment later, when I remember how DELICIOUS are the octopus (NEVER thinking in my life I'd say that - before 14 years ago) I can only salivate. Mmmm.... :p Yummmm....

Wow, oh WOW, Valenciano_en_Madrid, you were SO fortunate to attend this. Galicia is one of my favorite places in all of Spain and to attend such a thing must have been wonderful. If you have more photos I know we'd love to see them.

Saludos, MadridMan (mmmmm.... Pullllllllpo.....)

I have been to several of these "feiras" in the eastern Galician town of Viana do Bolo. They show up on the same day every month when the Gitanos bring the market wagons to town. Viana is too small to support many retail shops, so the Romany folk arrive on the third Thursday? (I believe)with vans full of clothing, food and hardware. Along with them come the pulpo vendors. They set up outside local restaurants. I would go with my Gallego friends from restaurant to restaurant where we would sample the product until we found the best. Then you go inside and order wine, bread and potatoes. Then they bring in the pulpo. If you order pulpo in Madrid, you get a few pieces on a wooden plate. In Galicia, you get huge platters! I have a wonderful series of photos from that time and I hope to go back soon.

I have all things I need to do pulpo in my house and often will buy an octopus from the local Asian market and do it up good!

reading between the lines of this thread it sounds to me as though pulpo is only avaiable in this area of spain is it a delicacy of this region or can it be bought all over spain?

Sorry, I didn't express myself well.
I didn't mean that you can only eat good pulpo only in this area. In fact there is a restaurant in El Plantío(Madrid) where they even use copper pots to cook it like in the Galician fairs. La Gran Pulpería

I meant that it is the most genuine one as this recipe was invented in the Galician fairs.
polbo á feira
pulpo a la gallega
My Galician friends say that the best places to eat pulpo are the cities of Lugo and Orense during its festivals.
According to tradition in San Froilán Festival, in Lugo city, you have to buy the pulpo from the "polbeiras" who are ladies that only cook and sell pulpo. Then you take your wood plate of pulpo and go to a different stand where you sit at the table and you order the drinks and other things to eat like bread, cheese or chorizo, everything but pulpo.
old pictures of San Froilán
San Froilan 2006
web do Concello de Lugo (City Council of Lugo)

MadridMan, I took beautiful pictures of the costa de Lugo (the ancient Britonia). I will post them on favorite places.
Britonia
British Celts in Galicia

Galicia is the Ireland of Spain many had said over times.
But Galician food can be had all over the world.And now even with imported albariños!

i was walking around the harbour in Benidorm searching for a fish restaurant when i saw the sign pulpo and thought hm forum. ( see MadridMan the forum does work) in we went and tried the pulpo it was delicious, i dont think it was authentic pulpo from its region, probably cooked to suit the tourist taste, never the less it was lovely, but im afraid cuttlefish is still the main one for me

As Mongo said, you can get pulpo all over the place, but it's really from Galicia. And Galicians will tell you that the general rule is that the best pulpo can be found in towns inland rather than on the coast. That doesn't mean you can't find it on the coast, just that it is almost more typical inland, which is ironic.

As Valenciano said, "feira" means "feria" or "fair" but here it is best translated as "market day". That's when the traveling salesmen come into town to sell all kinds of products. That's when you see all of those steaming copper pots. But you can also find it at many restaurants.

Gastronomic Fiestas are big in Galicia in the summer too. The "Festa do Polbo" or "Fiesta del Pulpo" is in a town called Carballiño, not far from Ribadavia is where the delicious riberio wines can be found. The festa is in August on the second Sunday in August, so start planning. Carballiño is in Orense and well inland.

If you can't make it for that one, don't worry, you can find pulpo at most if not all the fiestas.

By the way, I love Mondoñedo too. It used to be the capital of the fifth povince of Galicia when Galicia had five! It's also near the coast and towns like Ribadeo and the Playa de las Catedrales.


And don't forget the fiestas.

The February 2008 issue of Saveur magazine contains its annual "The Saveur 100" list which is a list of "our favorite foods, restaurants, drinks, people, places, and things." This year's list contains a reference to the pulpo of Galicia in #15:

"We go to Santiago de Compostela to visit Bodegón os Concheiros, a tavern that specializes in polbo á feira, simmered octopus drenched with Andalusian extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with hot pimentón (smoked paprika) and coarse sea salt. It's one of the most unpretentious preparations of that seafood we know of -- and one of the most delicious."
Sounds delightful!

The restaurant is located at Cruce de Dos Concheiros 2, Santiago de Compostela. The telephone number is 34-98-158-84-11.

You can read the entire list here .