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Galicia

Galicia, in northwestern Spain, is a Celtic-tinged region of rugged coastlines, green hills, and Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage hub ending the Camino de Santiago. Known for seafood—pulpo a la gallega—and bagpipe music, it has a distinct identity, with Galician rivaling Spanish in use. Its economy mixes fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism, while its misty, mystical vibe evokes Ireland. Galicia’s wild beauty and ancient roots enchant visitors.

Galicia

Featured Dishes from Galicia

Almendrado

Almendrado

Filloa

Thin, crepe-like pancake, may have sweet or savory toppings or fillings

Fresas con crema

Fresas con crema

Strawberries and whipped cream

Marron glacé

Marron glacé

Marron glacé is a confection originating in France or Italy that consists of a chestnut candied in sugar syrup and glazed. It is an ingredient in many desserts and is also eaten on their own.

Melindres

Melindres

Small doughnuts, covered in icing

Tarta de queso

Tarta de queso

Tarta de Santiago

Tarta de Santiago

Torta de Santiago or Tarta de Santiago (in Spanish), literally meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with its origin in the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago. The ingredients mainly consist of ground almonds (almond flour), eggs, and sugar, with additional flavouring of lemon zest, sweet wine, brandy, or grape marc, depending on the recipe used. The Galician for cake is torta whilst it is often referred to as tarta, which is the Spanish word for it. It has a round shape and can be made with or without a base which can be either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.

Aguardiente

Aguardiente

Aguardente or aguardiente (Spanish) (Basque: pattar; Catalan: aiguardent; Galician: augardente) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is typically consumed on the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and in Iberian America (Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas). The word is a compound of the Iberian languages' words for "water" (agua in Castilian; aigua in Catalan; água in Portuguese; auga in Galician) and "burning"/"fiery" (ardiente in Castilian; ardent in Catalan; ardente in Portuguese and Galician). A comparable word in English is "firewater", though the English term is colloquial or humorous, whereas aguardiente is stylistically neutral in Spanish.

Queimada

Queimada

Queimada is an alcoholic beverage of Galician tradition. Queimada is a punch made from Galician aguardente --a spirit distilled from the byproducts of winemaking—and made with sugar, lemon or orange peel, and coffee beans. Variations of queimada may include cinnamon or apples. It is traditionally prepared in a hollowed-out pumpkin or a ceramic or clay pot. Typically, while preparing the punch a spell or incantation is recited, so that special powers are conferred to the queimada and those drinking it. Then the queimada is set alight, and slowly burns as more brandy is added.

Almejas a la marinera

Almejas a la marinera

Clams in a sauce with white wine, paprika, garlic and onion

Calamares a la plancha

Calamares a la plancha

Caldo gallego

Caldo gallego

Caldo galego or simply caldo , also known as caldo gallego (in Spanish), meaning literally "Galician broth", is a traditional soup dish from Galicia. It is essentially a regional derivative (with added beans and turnip greens) of the very similar caldo verde, the traditional soup dish of neighbouring Portugal. Ingredients include repolo (cabbage), verzas (collard greens), grelos (rapini), or navizas (sweet turnip greens); potatoes; white beans; and unto (lard). Additionally it can contain fatty pork, chorizo, ham, or bacon (compango). It is served hot as a starter, often as part of almuerzo (lunch), and sometimes dinner. Traditionally it was usually served in cuncas (earthen bowls).

Capón de Vilalba

Capón de Vilalba

Castrated male chicken, common during Christmas, from Lugo, Galicia, Spain

Carne o caldeiro

Carne o caldeiro

Beef skirt steak and potatoes

Chuleta de cordero

Chuleta de cordero

Empanada gallega

Empanada gallega

Galician savory pie filled with chorizo, pork, tuna, sardines, seafood, beef, tomatoes, peppers, vegetables, garlic

Fabada asturiana

Fabada asturiana

Fabada asturiana, often simply known as fabada, is a rich Asturian bean stew, originally from and most commonly found in the autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, but widely available throughout the whole of Spain and in Spanish restaurants worldwide. Canned fabada is sold in most supermarkets across the country. Fabada is a hot and heavy dish, and for that reason, it is most commonly eaten during the winter and as the largest meal of the day, lunch. It is usually served as a starter but may also be the main course of the meal. It is typically served with Asturian cider or a red wine. Fabada is made with fabes de la Granja soaked overnight before use; lacón (shoulder of pork); pancetta or bacon (tocino), morcilla (a kind of blood sausage from Spain); chorizo, olive oil, sweet paprika, garlic and salt.

Fabes con almejas

Fabes con almejas

Fabes con almejas is a clam and bean stew that originated in the principality of Asturias in the 19th century as peasant fare. It is a lighter variation of Asturian fabada whose primary ingredients are sausage, beans and pork. The traditional recipe for fabes con almejas calls for small clams, fava beans, onions, garlic, salt, saffron, bay leaves, olive oil, parsley, bread crumbs and sometimes sweet paprika.

Guiso de carne

Guiso de carne

Meat and vegetable stew

Higado encebollado

Higado encebollado

Liver and onions is a dish consisting of slices of liver and bulb onions. The liver and the onions are usually sautéed or otherwise cooked together, but sometimes they may be sautéed separately and mixed together afterwards. The liver is often cut in fine slices, but it also may be diced. Liver and onions is widely eaten in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and in Germany,[citation needed] where it is usually eaten along with boiled or mashed potatoes. Beef or veal liver is common in the US; veal or lamb liver are the usual choices in the UK. In the French traditional recipe the liver is fried with butter and bacon. In Catalan cuisine olive oil is used, instead of butter, and fried garlic is added to the mixture. In Italian cuisine, the fegato alla veneziana (lit. 'Venice-style liver') recipe includes a dash of red wine or vinegar and the fegato alla romana ('Rome-style liver') a dash of white wine and is cooked in lard.

Lacon con grelos

Lacon con grelos

Ham hock, either fresh or salted, and turnip greens

Mejillón de Galicia

Mejillón de Galicia

Mussels from A Coruña and Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Percebes

Percebes

Goose barnacles, also called percebes, turtle-claw barnacles, stalked barnacles, gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. Goose barnacles formerly made up the taxonomic order Pedunculata, but the group has been found to be polyphyletic, with its members scattered across multiple orders of the infraclass Thoracica. Some species of goose barnacles such as Lepas anatifera are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts. Unlike most other types of barnacles, intertidal goose barnacles depend on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding, so are found only on exposed or moderately exposed coasts.

Salpicon

Salpicon

Salpicon is a dish of one or more ingredients diced or minced and bound with a sauce or liquid. There are different versions found in Spanish and the broader Latin American cuisine and Filipino cuisine. A salpicon is sometimes used as stuffing. In Mexican cuisine and Central American cuisine, the term refers to a salad mixture containing thinly sliced or chopped flank steak, onion, oregano, chile serrano, avocado, tomatoes, and vinegar. The mixture is commonly served on tostadas, tacos or as a filling of poblano peppers. In Honduras, rabbit meat is used. In Colombian cuisine, salpicón is a fruit cocktail beverage made with a base of watermelon and/or orange juice, which gives it its bright red color, and soda water.

Ternera Gallega

Ternera Gallega

Veal from Morena Gallega and Rubia Gallega cattle raised in Galicia, Spain

Androlla

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Androlla

An androlla is a Galician embutido made from pork. It is similar to the botillo sausages of León. It is prepared from the "cueras" (the end of a slab of bacon). Cueras are well cleaned, without the skin; rib meat is added with portions of the diaphragm muscles. It is eaten cooked and is often accompanied by "cachelos" (boiled potatoes). In the regions of León and Zamora, the word "androlla" can refer to any kind of pork sausage.

Arzùa-Ulloa

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Arzùa-Ulloa

Arzúa-Ulloa cheese is a cow's milk cheese made in the Spanish autonomic region of Galicia, with Arzúa-A Ulloa Protected designation of origin status. It is a soft cheese, made from raw or pasteurized milk, has a minimum maturity period of six days, and has a lenticular shape, or cylindrical with rounded edges. Its rind is thin and pliant, medium to dark yellow, bright, clean and smooth. The cheese itself is uniform in color between white and pale yellow. It is soft and creamy without cracks but may have a few small holes or bubbles. The flavour is slightly sweet and grassy. It is similar in flavor to its cousin cheese, Tetilla. Unlike Tetilla cheese, Arzúa-Ulloa has a soft pliant rind, and has a disc shape.

Castaña de Galicia

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Castaña de Galicia

Chestnuts from Galicia

Ensalada de habas

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Ensalada de habas

Broad bean salad

Faba de Lourenzá

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Faba de Lourenzá

Dried Faba Galaica beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) from Lourenzá, Galicia, Spain

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Filloa

Thin, crepe-like pancake, may have sweet or savory toppings or fillings

Grelos de Galicia

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Grelos de Galicia

Turnip greens (Brssica rapa L. var. rapain) grown in Galicia, Spain

Lacón Gallego

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Lacón Gallego

Cured and dried ham made exclusively from shoulders of Celta, Duroc, Landrace and Large White pigs born and reared in Galicia, Spain

Langostinos al whisky

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Langostinos al whisky

Shrimp in whiskey sauce

Miel de Galicia

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Miel de Galicia

Honey produced in Galicia, Spain

Pan de Cea

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pan de Cea

Wheat bread with rounded ends, from San Cristovo de Cea, Galicia, Spain

Patata de Galicia

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Patata de Galicia

Solanum tuberosum L. potatoes from Xinzo de Limia, Galicia, Spain

Pemento da Arnoia

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pemento da Arnoia

Capsicum annuum L. pepper from Boqueixón, Galicia, Spain

Pemento de Herbón

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pemento de Herbón

Green Padrón peppers grown in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain

Pemento de Mougán

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pemento de Mougán

Capsicum annuum L. peppers grown in Guntín, Galicia, Spain

Pemento de Oímbra

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pemento de Oímbra

Capsicum annuum L. peppers grown in Boqueixón, Galicia, Spain

Pemento do Couto

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pemento do Couto

Capsicum annuum L. peppers grown in Boqueixón, Galicia, Spain

Pimientos de padron

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pimientos de padron

Mild green peppers fried in olive oil and sprinkled with salt

Pulpo a feira

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Pulpo a feira

Boiled octopus, salt, olive oil and paprika

Queso Cebreiro

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Queso Cebreiro

Cow's milk cheese from Alpine Brown, Friesian and Rubia Gallega cows, from Pedrafita do Cebreiro, Lugo, Galicia, Spain

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Queso Tetilla

Soft cheese made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's milk, from Galicia, Spain

San Simón da Costa

Side, Snack, Appetizer

San Simón da Costa

Smoked cheese made from raw or pasteurized Rubia Gallega, Parda-Alpina and Friesian cow's milk, from Vilalba, Galicia, Spain

Tarta de Santiago

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Tarta de Santiago

Torta de Santiago or Tarta de Santiago (in Spanish), literally meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with its origin in the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago. The ingredients mainly consist of ground almonds (almond flour), eggs, and sugar, with additional flavouring of lemon zest, sweet wine, brandy, or grape marc, depending on the recipe used. The Galician for cake is torta whilst it is often referred to as tarta, which is the Spanish word for it. It has a round shape and can be made with or without a base which can be either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.

Zamburiñas

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Zamburiñas

Small variegated scallops, for example, cooked in a tomato sauce, empanadas, with pasta