In the early hours of Friday morning we board a bus to
Galicia. We’ve packed our raincoats and swimsuits, as we know a typical day there
can easily bring 4 seasons to its shore.
After 2 hours the typical Castille-y-León scenery of golden,
straw coloured fields start a transformation and after a 5 hour drive I am
surrounded by lush green forestry that seems to go on forever!
Galicia on sea
I blink my eyes twice to be sure I haven’t been teleported to
Knysna, back in South Africa, but the water seems bluer and the exotic seafood
on the menu cannot be found back home.
As we board the boat we sit down for a seafood feast. Platters
arrive continuously and I am already baffled by the first - Barnacles. I squint
at the … well it seems to possibly be an ingredient to a Harry Potter potion. Although
I've seen pictures of the “percebes” before, I am not sure how to approach it.
After a few laughs and some guidance, I know to break off the tip slowly to
expose the slightly orange flesh and pull it out to finally eat the prawn-sized
meat.
Next, the sweetest crab meat I have ever tasted! Packaged in
the smaller red-orange crab shell, it’s worth every minute of work to extract the meat. It is followed by its bigger
brother, the spidercrab.
The table also enjoys mussels with a fresh onion and sweet
pepper, and of course the famous Galician ‘pulpo’, or octopus – my personal
favourite!
The Percebeiro food group also shows us the entire 'catch of the day' from clams, razor clams, rare giagantic blue lobster and oysters. This, and só much more is exported all over the country daily.
Mussel must see
We stop at the wooden floating island – one of the many surrounding
us. These mussel rafts in Galicia produces 40 % of the worlds mussels. Naturally
clinging to the ropes in the water, or gathered from nearby rocks in winter,
the mussels grow here for 9 months before they are classified.
The proud fisherman tells us more detail about the process
and as we cruise away we see hundreds of other mussel rafts surrounding us.
Wine to match
The second day starts with the anticipated rain – but the
grey clouds only make for great photographs of the green vineyards we visit.
The first Bodega or wine farm Terras Gauda introduces us to
vertical growing vineyards - a must, as horizontal growing, or leaves flat on
top, will cause the vineyards to rot because of the high rainfall. Here the
white Albarñio grape treats our taste buds well!
Afterwards it is up the mountain hills to the Altas de
totrona Bodega. Here I am found drinking the voted best white wine of last year
and, perhaps blowing me away more, an astonishingly beautiful sight.
On the last day we head inland to the valley of El Bierzo
and we’re all very pleased to meet the Mencia grape. Here I am also treated to
preserved products such as roasted sweet red products, ‘drunken cherries’ and
my personal favorite, triple cooked chestnuts in sweet syrup thanks to Prada A Tope.
We arrive back in Castille-y-León just after the sun has set
on another amazing weekend.
With a bottle of wine in my luggage, memories of great seafood and a heart filled with gratitude I say goodnight to the land of Citrus and Saffron…
Liezl
(text & photography)
(text & photography)
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