wineless in corktown

Coming back to this colder part of the planet was great in many aspects, but regarding our basic gastronaut needs, it essentially was a total disaster. Imagine a place  where a government board picks which wines its citizens can drink, and which ones they cannot. Well, that place exists, and it is far away from Africa, although you could easily think I was referring to some third world nation. Welcome to beautiful Ontario, or would it make more sense to call it Offtario?

Once in a while it is possible to find some exceptions, even a hidden oasis able to provide a quite satisfactory menu. In certain cases they do know how to successfully upgrade food that regularly I wouldn't even consider to feed my dogs.

wooden spoon

That's all what it means. Spaniards would say cuchara de palo, but Galicians provide a much more melody and phonetics friendly way to express feelings, and culler de pau is a good example.

If hungry while driving down road PO-317, it may be wise to visit this kind of hidden eatery, like so many others all over the Galician twisted geography.

As far as I remember it was April when we first dropped by. 

a galician sunny encore

Right between my Basque September end of the summer and my Aussie November spring I was able to spend a few days in Galicia, the Iberian Northwest corner, also known as Gallaecia by the Romans or Galiza by Castelao, a local nationalistic icon. This is some sort of neutral territory with the capacity to regenerate my system, just as if I was in Switzerland getting new blood like a true Rolling Stone. 

In many ways it becomes an addictive exercise of "back to basics", and octopus or polbo in Galician language, can be a genuine part of it. Another unavoidable  ingredient is a good albariño, and this time it had to be the new Pedralonga vintage, which I picked up that same week.

Fish had to come next, and raia (stingray, aka raja clavatta) was the chosen one. It was only boiled and surrounded by potatoes with a plain allada (from allo: garlic), adding a little bit of flavour. For this specific dish a tiny bit of lard is usually used in the mix.

Something I find fascinating about this fish, besides its unique flavour and shape, is its gristly bone structure.

Our refreshing dessert was nothing else than an amalgamation of fruit from the property, mainly raspberries, blackberries and grapes, plus natural yoghourt and a leaf of mint.