Comments on: Rias de Galicia (Barcelona, Spain) – Reference Seafood

By: Antonio Santamaria

Antonio Santamaria — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:00:13 +0000

Oh, yes, sprikle salt on the octupus, in crytsal form, or kosher salt, to taste too.

By: Antonio Santamaria

Antonio Santamaria — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:58:52 +0000

I lived 14 years in Barcelona and Pablo is correct in the way octopus is cooked. For the best results with a fresh octupus, clean thoroughly, beat it with a bat, a dough roller or some other wood implement. What he did not mention is that the potato is put into the boiling water at the same time the octopus is put into the water. When the potato is so cooked that it starts to fall apart when poked with a fork, the octopus is ready to eat with the best virgin olive oil you can find and hot Spanish paprika.

And to return to the wood implement. There is some fact (or lore) involved in this. Supposedly, using metal on an octopus makes it taste bad or somehow negatively affects it, which is why, in most places I ate octopus, it was served on a thick round wood “plate” and to pick up piece of it to eat, you usually are supplied with toothpicks.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:56:02 +0000

Hi all,

My name is Pablo and I live in Barcelona. Just a brief comment about the way of cooking the octopus. You can buy it fresh or frozen. If it’s fresh yo have to spend time beating the octopus with a wooden tool trying to break the tissues. Be careful if you don`t want to break it.

If its frozen there is no problem because this freezing period breaks the tissues.
This mas the octopus meat tender and a little bit gelly.

Then the octopus is boiled with potatoes and served.

Everybody here freezes the octopus and the is boiled.

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By: ChuckEats

ChuckEats — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:30:13 +0000

Michael, I suppose that’s a question for a cook (as I assume you are) – but I can describe the sensation in more detail: it was very tender, barely warm in the center, and quite slimy. Maybe it was steamed, or boiled, and allowed to sit afterward? Its flavor was also quite intense for octopus.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:00:38 +0000

Thank you for consistently posting your reviews, they are always interesting. A thought on the Galician style Octopus: is it really possible to “barely cook” this? Usually there is way too much collagen in the muscle to allow for this cooking method.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:24:56 +0000

I think those Barnacles look like King Tutankhamun’s shriveled up penis Lol, but having said all that the rest of the sea food does look great IMO

By: Henjie

Henjie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:49:53 +0000

Drooling over the octopus!

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:06:26 +0000

Those Barnacles look awesome! I am so envious!!!