The Flavors of the St. James Way

The disinterested gaze of cows follows pilgrims along the entire St. James Way. Galicia abounds with cattle, reared for meat, milk, and derivatives such as cheese. The region produces several cheese varieties, of which four have the status of Protected Designation of Origin.

Tetilla cheese is made all over Galicia, while San Simón da Costa is produced near to the Northern Way. The other two are linked to two places that have a close and long-standing association with the French Way: Cebreiro cheese, with its soft, grainy, white paste; and Arzúa-Ulloa cheese, which is tender, aromatic, and very creamy.

In Galicia and its neighboring Asturias, a hearty dish made with beans (or fabas, as they are known in Galicia) will reinvigorate pilgrims, no matter how cold or rainy the day has been. A large, tasty, dried bean variety is grown in the valleys of the region of A Mariña, which sits on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea.

They are Lourenzá beans; the queen of pulses. Their name comes from Vilanova de Lourenzá, an essential stop on the Northern Way. They are the main ingredient in two traditional dishes: beans with clams, and the pork stew known as fabada.

The buzz of bees provides the soundtrack to a walk through Galicia's forests. Depending on the time of year and the place, they flit between the flowers of the five main melliferous plants that grow in this area: eucalyptus, blackberry, heather, chestnut, and oak. The famous Galician honey is made from all these plants.

The Primitive Way crosses the Os Ancares mountain range, and the landscape here is dotted with intriguing-looking structures known as alvarizas, which are a type of apiary. They are drystone constructions which tend to be circular in shape, built to protect the hives from greedy brown bears. Having fallen into disuse, the return of brown bears to these forests has led to alvarizas becoming necessary again.

Anyone who thinks that all greens taste the same has probably never tried turnip greens. This quintessentially Galician vegetable is a type of turnip, from which the richly colored, slightly acidic tasting leaves are eaten. It is used in classic dishes such as Galician stew, or pork shoulder with turnip greens, and is a permanent feature in the pantries of cutting-edge chefs.

Pilgrims who set off in fall or winter from A Coruña or Ferrol for Santiago, via the English Way, will wake up to misty, frosty mornings. This environment is ideal for cultivating turnip greens, and pilgrims can see them growing alongside the St. James Way in Ordres and Santiago, or being sold by locals. They can now be bought in jars and cans too.

The St. James Way ends in a land famed for its bread. Bread is an essential part of any Galician meal, and not just any bread. Traditional Galician bread should be crusty on the outside and spongy in the middle. Although several places are renowned for their excellent bread, one is particularly famous: San Cristovo de Cea.

The imposing Oseira Monastery was founded in Cea during the 13th century, and the town has been associated with breadmaking ever since. The bread, baked in a wood-burning oven, is long with rounded ends, and a slit across the center known as the fenda. Its intense, wheaty flavor is a direct link between the medieval monks, and pilgrims along the Silver Way who stop off here en route to Compostela.

Very few foods can be described as iconic. In Galicia, however, octopus, turnip greens, and especially Herbón peppers, are just that. They appear on T-shirts, souvenirs, and on the menu of any summer terrace. Harvested while still green, they are then fried in plenty of oil, and seasoned. Eating them is like a game of Russian roulette: there's no way of knowing which ones will be spicy.

Before reaching dry land, the legendary boat sailed along the Ría de Arousa estuary. Pilgrims following the Route of the Sea of Arousa and the Ulla River will go past over 2000 mussel platforms. These platforms are floating wooden mussel beds with as many as 500 mussel ropes on each one. 

These bivalves, with their characteristic orange color, feed on a wealth of phytoplankton in Galicia's estuaries. This is what gives them their unmistakable flavor and texture. They can be canned, freshly cooked, steamed, dressed in vinaigrette, preserved in brine, or served in more elaborate dishes.

The sea is of enormous importance in Galician gastronomy, and the region's fish and seafood are internationally renowned. In the port of A Guarda, the first on the Portuguese Coastal Way in Galicia, pilgrims will find fish from the estuaries, lobster, goose barnacles, sea urchins ... and of course, octopus.

This cephalopod's tentacles extend from the sea right across Galicia. No self-respecting festival, fair or pilgrimage, or indeed city street, would be complete without polbeiras, as Galician cooks specializing in octopus are known. They are experts in Galician-style octopus (known as pulpo a la Gallega, or á feira in Galicia): a simple yet exquisite dish.

The landscape of the Winter Way has been molded by a combination of three things: the Sil River, the Romans, and wine. The Romans opened opencast mines (such as the site at Las Médulas), they brought chestnut trees to the forests, and they introduced vine cultivation.

They grew their vines in the valleys of the Sil and the Miño rivers, often on steep, gravity-defying hillsides, earning this form of cultivation the name Heroic Viticulture. The descendants of those wines, transported in amphorae to the Roman emperors, are today's highly prized wines with denominations of origin, from Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra.

The list of Galician seafood is endless, and includes prawns, clams, lobster, spider crabs, and velvet crabs. The St. James Way is associated with the scallop, whose shell is a symbol of the pilgrimage. Goose barnacles (percebes) are one of the region's most exclusive and highly prized seafoods, with their strange, hoof-shaped outer shell.

Goose barnacles cling to the most wave-battered rocks along the Costa da Morte, where the St. James Way ends at Fisterra and Muxía. Shellfish collectors, known as percebeiros, skillfully and bravely pick them off the rocks. The courageous nature of this work is reflected in the high price paid for this sea-flavored delicacy.

If the culmination of the St. James Way is reaching Compostela, the icing on the cake from a culinary point of view must surely be the Torta de Santiago, the city's traditional cake. Omnipresent throughout the city, and in almost any location along the St. James Way, it is difficult not to give in to temptation when it comes to this sweet blend of almonds, sugar, and eggs.

The cake's origins lie in the 16th century, when well-off kitchens demonstrated their wealth and power through exotic dishes. Today it is a popular dessert, crowned with its characteristic cross of St. James, and has been taken all over the world by pilgrims.

This is just a small sample of the numerous products whose quality has been recognized with geographical indications and denominations of origin. They are loved in Galicia and elsewhere, and include wines such as Rías Baixas, Ribeiro and Monterrei, potatoes, Galician meat (different types of beef, Capón de Vilalba, a type of castrated male chicken, and pork shoulder), and vegetables.

The St. James Way has a whole world of flavors to explore.