Polpo Gallego

The urge to step out of your comfort zone and discover what makes you happy.

I found out a little later in life that cooking is what makes me happy, but it was love at first sight, and it brings me nothing but satisfaction and opportunities I never even dreamed of!!

It might sound like a cliché, but I encourage you to discover your passion and do exactly what you love. This way, you will never feel like you're working, you'll be more productive, and you'll be more relaxed.

Alina and I had the pleasure of being chosen to cook in Spain, at the culinary fair in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. To take the Bucovinian tradition and taste there. Authentic.

What could be better than sharing the kitchen, the flavors, and the love for cooking abroad?

That was the mission of the entire Gal Bucovina de Munte team, which included chefs, producers, and local authorities.

You cannot go to a culinary fair relying solely on their products, because beyond passion, dishes, and our attention to detail, the quality of the ingredients remains a reliable ally; consequently, each of us packed urdă, lovage, smoked plums, cas, smoked trout, etc., in our luggage.

Among the dishes we cooked were: mititei with scrijele (which were unexpectedly successful), tochitură, alivancă (our lovely translator saved us and brought cornmeal from home, as they only use the white, pre-cooked kind in Spain), papanași, mushroom stew, chanterelle soup, and dumplings filled with brânză de burduf in an onion and sour cream sauce (this was a dessert, and it was among the most appreciated combinations).

Together, we managed to tell the story of Bucovina through our dishes.

We scored a 12 out of 10 :)

Galicia is a very important tourist area from a culinary perspective. The government invests heavily in tourism and supports any action that promotes the region.

Galicians cook a lot of pork, and they do it damn well!

The pig is so important to them that they even built a statue of it.

Polpo Gallego was by far the best octopus I have ever eaten.

It is cooked extremely simply; they don't use garlic, parsley, or other spices.

They basically boil the octopus and then season it with olive oil, lemon, paprika, and salt.

[salivating..]

The Spaniards spoke as much Romanian as we spoke Galician, but we understood each other in 'English-Spanish' most of the time. They are extremely hospitable and proud of their traditions and their country, and I understood perfectly why.

I'll leave some pictures below that speak for themselves.

We thank the entire team for their support!! 🙏

Stay hungry!