The Top 5 Galician tapas to tickle your tastebuds
Eating tapas is popular in many parts of Spain, and A Coruña is no exception. The streets of the narrow isthmus between beach and port are packed with restaurants, and most offer a variety of Galician tapas to choose from.
What are tapas?
Tapas are small servings of food which cost a fraction of the price of a full portion. If you’re feeling hungry you can get a full-sized serving (ración) or a media ración (half-portion).
In some parts of Spain it’s common for friends to order a few raciones or media raciones between them and share; in Galicia you’re more likely to order what you want and eat it yourself — and while you might offer your companions a taste, they’ll probably say no (at least in my experience).
Of course, every area of Spain has regional dishes, and Galicia’s specialties are often things you’ll have never heard of before, with Galician names.
What are the Best Galician Tapas?
1. Tequeño
It looks like a cylindrical stick of hot bread until you bite into it and discover the melted cheese inside.
2. Raxo (ra-sho)
Small pieces of pork are cooked with garlic and a few herbs and served on a bed of round potato chips.
3. Zorza (thor-tha)
Similar to raxo but spiced up with paprika. It scores 0.5 on my personal 0-10 scale of spiciness (“not spicy”) but my Galician friends think it’s just got a bit too much bite. They choose raxo with a Roquefort sauce instead.
4. Pulpo
Sure, you’ve probably heard of octopus, but Galicians know how to do it right.
The octopuses are frozen for at least two weeks after being caught to break down some of the hard tendons, and then they’re boiled in a large pot, cut up with scissors and served on circular wooden platters with olive oil and a bit of paprika.
Our favourite restaurants for pulpo are Pulpeira de Melide in A Coruña and Pulperia Ezequiel in Melide.
5. Pimientos de Padrón
These tiny peppers, between three and ten centimetres long, are one of those products that just can’t be faked.
They come from the small region of Padrón in the province of A Coruña, and have the strange quality that a very small percentage of them are spicy. While you can get cheaper, knock-off peppers from different regions or other countries, these phonies are never hot — and may actually be guaranteed non-spicy.
In restaurants, you’ll get the real deal, though you’re more likely to see this dish as a ración than as a tapa.
There are plenty more tapas to choose from, including callos (chickpeas with tripe) filete (schnitzel speared on a toothpick with potato and red pepper) and tortilla española (potato omelette, a personal favourite).
What’s your favourite tapa? Leave a comment below.
Yes, I thought the same about frozen seafood, but freezing the octopus is better than what they used to do, which was to pommel it.
It all looks so tasty! And that’s really interesting about the pulpo being frozen. I’ve always thought of restaurants serving frozen seafood as cheap and nasty. That’s the kiwi mentality I think. Fascinating that it’s different for Octopus.
I am dying to taste all the above food items that you have shared, all looks very delicious. Thanks for sharing all the information about the tasty foods of Spain.
Linda, thank you for sharing their delicious tapas. Indeed I too love their pimentos. I like also squid, pan, soupa, baked potatoes and fries. Yum yummy