For the last six years this date has become a very special one, where the main goal is having a great time. This year we spent it in Poio, a little town in the Ria de Pontevedra, where by now we have a couple of places I can say we adore.
After a few "aperitivos" this long lunch started with mackerel, which was basically hidden under a colourful mini-garden. A "fried egg" was meant to be the following stop, which ended up providing much more than a plain fried egg could ever dream with.
Another classic in our Galician diet is a good plate of "chipirones", so we couldn't afford not to try them after such a revealing egg moment.
The produce was truly brilliant, but the engineering behind it was even better. "Merluza" (hake) was about to arrive, and again it was tremendously full of flavour.
Meat was also on the list, but this time it did't really feel as such, given the lightness and delicacy of the whole combination of ingredients: caramelized veal sweetbread on a truffled pure; simply brilliant.
One more time we decided to go the albariño way, and again we explored one we didn't know; the result was certainly impressive. This one came from Cambados, and is was apparently the first release.
It was time for cheese, and we got a five piece exercise, in order to keep our good shape. The suggested combination was perfectly balanced: Italian Carlina with soybean shoots, French Comté with muesli and honey, Basque Idiazabal with raisins, French St. Paulin with pistachios, Sicilian Ubriaco di Nero d'Avola with orange, and finally Canarian Majorero with green apple.
"Queimada" is not the kind of drink you expect to drink before dessert. I particularly never was a big fan of it, but taking a few elements away, and twisting a little bit the traditional practice, it became another winning moment of this phenomenal meal. In this case it was cold and it basically had no alcohol left.
Having three options and being able to take the three of them is not the usual thing, but when dining in Poio almost anything is possible. Of course we didn't hesitate, and our combined efforts proved we were right.
Chocolate somehow always makes life more enjoyable, doesn't it? But we didn't forget we want to be healthy, so we could not forget some fruit, which for some reason seems to be a perfect complement to ice cream.
And this wasn't purely ice cream. It had to include something else that would make it more valuable. They simply called it "leche, cacao, avellanas y azucar (milk, cacao, walnuts and sugar)", which used to be the slogan for a well known Spanish spread. As you probably can see, they went a little farther than what that boring name was anticipating.
It was time to finish so, after our ice coffee, we entered the finale: more chocolate and pineapple lollipops made a perfect ending to this magnificent fourth day of September.
"Costa da Morte" (Coast of Death) is how this Atlantic area of Galicia is known. Luckily our trip to this remote destination only had to deal with vacational life, which in this occasion I must say was sublime.
We were basically by Barizo beach, which is part of the Malpica municipality, where fishing is one of the main activities. So, our main lunch nutrients were going to come entirely from the sea, except for dessert.
"Mejillones (mussels) en escabeche" were the beginning of this costal tour. "Escabeche" is a sauce where the mussels rest for, ideally, over a day. It is often made out of fried onion, oil, vinegar, rep pimenton, and "laurel" (bay leaf).
We decided to try a "centola do pais" (local spider crab), which was marvellous. Since the process of eating this type of crustacea is a complex one, we were provided with the right equipment, just like if we were professional surgeons.
Another new albariño, for us, became our liquid companion through this ceremonial trip: a 2007 Davila M-100 from O Rosal, made out of loureiro, caiño blanco and albariño grapes. Quite a gracious choice.
A plate of warm "almejas a la plancha" made the following step of the way to our digestive heaven, before we moved into fish territories.
I chose monkfish and Lyn went for a fantastic "lubina a la gallega", which for me was the star of the day.
The conclusive phase was going to be shared by "cañitas" and "mirabeles", which happen to be a common pair in our Galician gastronomic adventures.
After so much freshness and flavour I had to get a black coffee with ice, in order not to fall asleep. A siesta at that stage would have been a perfect solution, but we had more places to explore around Malpica.
My favourite home made desserts should always include meringue and some fresh tasty fruit, among other elements. One very good example is the one we had only a few weeks ago.
A lot of egg whites was a great way to get started, but perhaps not terribly exciting. The colourful component came from our own raspberries and strawberries, which we mashed together to make a quite nutritious sauce.
Once the oven was on we only had to introduce the meringue in order to make it a little crunchy. I'm not a big fun of dried meringues, so the interior had to be humid. This was a very fast step.
The top of the meringues was slightly brown, but not too much. We were almost ready to finish.
While the oven was on a small pot of egg custard was cooking. A few mint leafs and hazelnuts we had picked earlier were going to be our topping and final decoration. Everything else was waiting for us.
In this trip we made it twice to the little town of Betanzos, known for their runny tortilla. This time we started with the unavoidable Padron peppers and a plate of "calamares".
A "crianza" bottle from Ribera del Duero was going to be our discovery of the day: Pago de Carraovejas, 2008. A few minutes later the "gambas al ajillo" arrived to complete our starters.
Our tortilla was the most elevating moment of the meal, even if it looks like such a simple, and even boring, recipe. At home we always add a ton of onion, but in this kitchen the usually don't. Nevertheless I still love it.
I also had "carne asada" after the tortilla, so I was rather full by dessert time. However, I felt my system needed something sweet, and again our choice was a very unsophisticated one, but quite common around Galicia: "almendrados". And as the name suggests, their key ingredients are almonds.
