MY KITCHEN IN SPAIN: EATING ON THE CAMINO

In honor of Santiago Day (July 25), I have a guest blogger this week, Daniel Searl, who’s just come to visit me after completing 115 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago, from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (northwestern Spain).

Daniel on the Camino.
Daniel (full disclosure—he’s my son!) coordinates the Camino de Santiago Global Program for Westminster, a K-12 school in Atlanta, Georgia. Daniel just finished his 16th year at Westminster, teaching Spanish, coaching basketball and soccer, and coordinating an annual student trip to Guatemala and to Spain for the Camino de Santiago. Each year, a group of 12 students and three teachers complete the final stages of the Way of Saint James with the goal of connecting with people from all over the world, disconnecting from the speed of life, and eating great food. Here’s Daniel's depiction of the CaminoCats path, shown through images of the food they ate. (All photos are by Daniel Searl except where otherwise noted.)

Vieras, sea scallops. (Photo by Kamille Harless.)

Yellow arrows mark the path, but the main symbol of the Camino de Santiago is the scallop shell, or viera. You will see the iconic scallop shell all over Spain, as everyone’s Camino de Santiago starts at a different place and follows a different route. Our group headed north from Madrid with a quick stop in Segovia. Coincidently, group leader, Kamille Harless, ordered these beautiful (and tasty) scallops for lunch, not realizing the viera is the symbol of the Camino. These scallops were baked and served in their shell.

First day on the Camino for this group of Westminster students and teacher.

Snacks en route.

As we continued on the road to Sarria, a couple of the students discovered some great Spain snacks. At a roadside stop, Matthew Adams enjoyed these tapas of jamón serrano and a pincho de carne plopped on top of bread. Típico! The bread all over Spain is so good, and it goes with anything (well… everything).

Sarria - Km 115

Our 115 kilometer trek started in Sarria, and what better way to fuel up for the long walk than chow down on a big burger! The locally sourced meat was tasty and filling, even if our group of Americans did have to ask for the ketchup and mustard to go with it.

Mercadoiro, Km 97.2

The first day on the Camino was exhilarating and exhausting for the group. We learned quickly to pace ourselves, stay hydrated, talk to a lot of people and make a lot of stops. Oh - and grab a bite to eat every chance you get. This chicken and avocado sandwich was a perfect pick-me-up to fuel the final 5km into Portomarin.

Merluza (fresh hake) and fries.

Portomarín Km 92 Our team meal in Portomarín took place on the patio of our little hotel, and it brought one of the best meals we had on the Camino: merluza (fresh hake)! The fish was seasoned to perfection (doesn’t take much) and ‘en su punto’ - breaking into bite size pieces without falling apart. So good!

Melide, Km 52. 2 The longest day of our pilgrimage took us from the east side of Palas del Rei across 30 km of views, woods, creeks, trails, people, hills and 48.268 steps, according to the health tracker on Kamille’s watch. Thankfully, about ⅔ of the way through, we walked into Melide and got ushered into a restaurant for pulpo y pimientos. The boiled octopus accompanied by grilled and salted pimientos de Padrón hit the spot and lifted our spirits to continue putting one foot in front of the other. Tasty and motivating. Gracias Melide. Gracias pulpo y pimientos.

Carrilleras with patatas fritas.

O Pedrouzo, Km 18

What’s for dinner tonight? A chunk of meat with fries. Cool, say the kids. The chunk of meat was carrillera de ternera, a piece of beef from the cow’s cheek. Tender, juicy, tasty. Served with its own gravy, the carrillera melted in your mouth and mixed well with the patatas fritas, the ever present fries that aren’t French but Spanish. And

Santiago is only a few kilometers down the road.

Galicia's famous mussels. (Photo by K.Harless.)

These mussels were another treat from the sea that kept us entertained and well fed. The best deal at any restaurant in Spain is the mussels. They are relatively cheap, you get a large serving, the taste is fantastic, and you can spend the rest of the afternoon dipping bread in the leftover sauce. Highly recommend!

Squiggle of squid.

Seafood and mariscos are ever-present along the Camino de Santiago and our group found another round of squid at our final destination. The little calamares on the last day were easy to eat, tasted great and filled us up.

Symbolic scallops.

Santiago de Compostela, Km. 0.

The end is just the beginning. We wrapped up our Camino food experience just where we started – with scallops on the half shell. These zamburiñas, a variety of small scallops, were raw with lemon and a little salt, served in their iconic shell. A perfect way to wrap up the walk.