I recently received an email from a subscriber who shared with me unique bakes from her home region of Galicia, Spain. I have not featured Spanish cuisine on the channel as much as I would have liked, so I thought I’d feature it in this month’s newsletter with the hope that I can make one of these bakes into a video someday.

Take a culinary tour with me of Galicia, and make sure to read to the end where you will find a bonus recipe from the region!

Located in the northwestern tip of Spain, the Galician weather sets itself apart from other regions with its rainy, oceanic climate.

Lined with rocky coasts and dotted with small generational farms, the Galician people have traditionally been fishermen and farmers, living either by the sea or on small holdings between wild overgrown bush land, Eucalyptus woods, meadows, and vineyards.

They even speak their own language in this region, the ancient gallego. Unlike the rest of Spain, there is little-to-no trace of a previous Moorish presence in Galicia. Instead, the Galicians are a Celtic people, the same people who settled in parts of Britain, in Ireland, and in Brittany, France.

Because of its proximity to the sea, seafood dominates much of the cuisine, along with local produce that grows on the small family farms, such as turnips and small green peppers. But, despite being inland, the sea still makes its presence known on the farms. Seaweed makes up much of the fertilizer spread on the fields.

Bitter turnip greens make up the bulk of the hearty winter dishes, such as a Galician soup called caldo gallego, and a stew called cocido gallego. The latter is comprised of turnip greens, along with chickpeas, beef, a variety of pork cuts, potatoes, and sliced chorizo sausage.

One vegetable that grows in Galicia that is sought after in all of Spain is the pimiento de Padrón. This is a 2-3 inch long green pepper that is often fried in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and served as tapas.

Other important farm products grown in Galicia are beef, veal, and milk for cheese, the favorite cheese of Galicia being queso de tetilla. This cheese is molded into the shape of a breast, and its name literally means “little teat”.

Queso de tetilla is ripened for 15-20 days and is a mild, creamy, delicate cheese. It can be eaten as a tapa or even as a dessert, cut into chunks and enjoyed with quince jelly, carne de membrillo.

Before exploring the baked goods of Galicia, some of its more unique seafood delicacies should be mentioned. Octopus, mussels, oysters, and a vast variety of shellfish are harvested along its rocky coasts.

The most unique shellfish harvested are gooseneck barnacles, or percebes. These thumb-length crustaceans can only be harvested in the winter months, and even then, it is a waiting game.

These barnacles attach themselves to the rocky cliffs and percebeiros (gooseneck barnacle collectors) have to wait for a spring tide at the new or full moon to harvest them. Once the weather is clear at low tide, and there are no Atlantic breakers crashing against the cliffs, they can climb down the slippery rocks attached to a rope to collect the seafood delicacy.

But despite waiting for the perfect conditions, they still have someone up high watching to alert the percebeiros when they need to climb up to safety because of high waves.

The saying above shows just how passionate the Galicians are about their baked goods.

They boast a few unique sourdough breads, one called pan gallego that can only be made and sold in Galicia. It is made from a mix of wheat flour native to Galicia (trigo de pais/country wheat) and “foreign” wheat flour from Castille (triticum aestivuum), along with sourdough, brewer’s yeast, salt, and water.

What makes this bread so unique is that it is made at an extremely high hydration, almost 90%. That means that for every 100 grams of flour, 90 grams of water is used. This gives the crumb a wide, open structure with lots of holes and a crunchy outer crust. The “knot” on the top of the loaf gives the pan gallego its distinct look.

Another sourdough from Galicia is the pan de Cea from San Cristovo de Cea. This town has a very long tradition of baking with records dating back to at least the 13th century.

The Cistercian monastery, Santa Maria la Real de Oseira, sat on one of the busy pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela and sold its bread to the pilgrims who passed along the way.

This gave the town the reputation as the “town of good bread” and pan de Cea now enjoys Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) under the EU.

Differing from the pan gallego, the pan de Cea is spongey and firm with very few air pockets. It is shaped into a long, wide form with rounded ends and has a split down the middle.

Outside of the world of bread, the Galicians covet their empanada gallega. This is a large, thin pie made with either a wheat- or corn-based crust. The filling options are endless but popular ones include chicken with onions and peppers, pork with chorizo and vegetables, mussels, salt cod, sardines, or anchovies, and even the previous day’s leftovers.

Empanadas have always been a thrifty way to use up food with every housewife and restaurant boasting their own recipe.

Venturing into sweeter bakes, the tarta larpeira is a treat eaten for the holidays. It is a yeast-based cake topped with pastry cream in a criss-cross pattern and topped with a syrup flavored with anise and lemon.

Bica is a type of sponge cake that comes in many varieties.

In Laza, they make a white bica, made with only egg whites and cream. And interestingly, all bica are a category of sweets called mantecadas, which means they are made with manteiga (clarified butter), instead of mantequilla (regular butter).

And, of course, we can’t mention Galician baking without talking about the tarta de Santiago.

Galicia is home to the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. This is a pilgrimage route that Christians have been walking for centuries. The end of the route is Santiago de Compostella, where the remains of St. James, one of the apostles of Christ, are buried in the cathedral there.

One of the desserts traditionally associated with the pilgrimage route is the tarta de Santiago, an almond-based tart decorated in powdered sugar with the cross of the knights of St. James.

No one knows why this cake has become associated with the pilgrimage, but it is enjoyed by pilgrims, visitors, and locals alike in the the city of Santiago de Compostela.

I hope you enjoyed this culinary tour of Galicia! I really enjoyed learning about this unique region and hope to explore it in person one day. I even have aspirations to walk the Camino de Santiago someday!