Pulpo a Feira

Galicia's best known dish belongs to inland fairs rather than the coast. Octopus is boiled in a large copper pot, dipped and lifted several times at the start so the skin sets rather than peels, then left to soften. When it is ready the pulpeira lifts a tentacle out, cuts it into coins with scissors straight onto a round wooden plate, and finishes it with coarse salt, sweet and hot paprika and a heavy pour of olive oil. It comes with cachelos, boiled potatoes, and young Ribeiro wine drunk from shallow white bowls. Cooking it is a recognised trade, and the pot outside a stall is the advertisement.

What you actually see

• The copper pot - octopus dipped and lifted at the boil so the skin holds.
• Scissors and wooden plate - the cutting done in front of you, plate to plate.
• Paprika and oil - sweet and hot pimenton with coarse salt and a generous pour.
• Ribeiro in bowls - young white wine drunk from shallow white ceramic cups.

When to go

Fairs and village festivals run mostly from June to September, and the octopus stalls set up early and cook through the afternoon. Inland market days are the honest version. Outside festival season it is on menus year round in Santiago, Lugo and Ourense, though the theatre of the copper pot is missing.

Honest expectations

A full ration is not cheap, and coastal tourist towns charge noticeably more than the inland fairs where the dish belongs. Texture divides people: it should give under the tooth, and a poorly cooked one is rubbery. Summer fairs mean queues, communal benches and eating standing up, and the hot paprika catches out anyone expecting it to be mild.

Nearby

Santiago de Compostela, the Ribeira Sacra canyons and the Rias Baixas coast.