Spain·Galicia
Pulpo a la gallega
Galician-style octopus
Boiled octopus sliced and dressed with olive oil, coarse salt and paprika, served over boiled potatoes.
- Preparation
- 20 min
- Cooking
- 1 h
- Total time
- 1 h 35 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Servings
- 4
Resting the octopus in its water: 15 min
Ingredients
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Preparation
Tips
- Freezing the octopus (or using it already frozen) is today's most common way to tenderise it; the traditional alternative is pounding it.
- The octopus should rest covered in the hot water for about 15 minutes; do not take it out earlier.
- Serve it warm, freshly cut: the paprika and oil go on just before bringing it to the table.
- It is traditionally served on a wooden plate.
Variations
- Octopus with cachelos and ajada: instead of sprinkling paprika, it is dressed with an oil heated with garlic and then mixed with paprika (a variant found in Spanish tourism-board recipes).
- You can mix sweet and hot paprika or use only one of them, according to each diner's taste.
Story of the recipe
Pulpo a la gallega: where it comes from.
Pulpo a la gallega, known as pulpo á feira or polbo á feira, takes its name from being traditionally prepared and eaten at rural fairs and pilgrimage festivals. The provinces of Ourense and Lugo are especially famous for it, and in Lugo it plays a prominent role in the patron-saint festivities.
It was prepared by the pulpeiras (polbeiras in Galician), specialised cooks who boiled it in large copper cauldrons; many of them later opened octopus restaurants across Galicia.
Sources
By RecetarioMundo.